Importance of Sports for Kids

Importance of Sports for Kids

There has been rise in the last several years in the number of schools cutting back on their sports programs. This is a terrible idea because of the many beneficial things that sports teach young people that are hard to teach in other areas. Sports also encourage children to get out and be active, preventing many kids from early obesity and other health issues that can easily be prevented with proper exercise. There is no reason a kid should ever suffer from a chronic illness, why make those chances higher?

In the last several years schools have lost funding from the federal government. In order to compensate themselves they have chosen to cut back on things they deem "unnecessary", such as Physical education, art, band and sports I know this for a fact because it happened at my high school the year after I graduated. Each of these programs I believe is incredibly important for a child to grow to be healthy adults mentally and physically. Art and band are cultural and mental explorations that allow one to find things about themselves and express it in various types of art forms. They also help kids learn to think abstractly, or "outside of the box". Physical education too plays an important role in children's development. PE helps get kids physically active and often combined with health class it also teaches them how to eat right and exercise properly in order to be healthy then and continue to be in the future. These are just side issues to the one I find most important however, Sports.

Sports are one of the most important things for children to have in their life and here is why. According to an article by Marilyn Price-Mitchell, Ph.D. studies between kids who are active in sports vs. kids who are not active in sports "generally, show that youth who participate in organized sports during middle and high school do better academically and are offered greater job prospects than children who do not partake in sports activities.". She also claims that children involved in sports develop initiative, an internal strength, civic identity, better mastery of skills and superior knowledge of tactics and strategy. Each of these skills developed in sports are important to being successful in the professional, work setting. Marilynn Price-Mitchell, Ph.D. has a good list but I think there are other important skills that she left out, including, learning how to work hard, work as a team, better friendships, perseverance, and confidence to list a few. The games or events that people struggle with teach them to be positive when their behind, or to push themselves even when your ahead. There are countless things that sports do to improve childhood development.

In an article from livestrong.com by Rose E they break down the benefits into three categories, physical, future, and mental. Rose E claims that "Children who play sports learn that physical fitness can be a fun habit, according to (The Young Athlete)." Because obesity affects so many people in the world, it is important for children to find enjoyable forms of exercise to maintain a lifelong healthy weight. The book's authors explain that sports help children understand how their body responds to stimuli. Because of this comprehension, children may also be less inclined to use drugs or alcohol. Athletes tend to appreciate what their bodies can do physically and do not risk ruining their abilities on unhealthy choices. (Rose E).

An article in the Journal of the American Enterprise Institute explains that children who are involved in sports tend to earn a higher income in the future. In fact the research done by economists Bradley T. Ewing of Texas Tech University and John M. Barron and Glen R. Waddell at Purdue University indicated that people who were involved with high school sports when they were younger earn 12 to 31 percent more money than individuals that did not participate in high school sports. Perhaps this is because the individuals that chose to participate in high school athletics were also found to more often reach higher levels of education. The study also showed more likelihood for the participating individuals to more active in society than the non - athletes who were studied. Another study performed by economists Mark Hugo Lopez and Kimberlee Moore at the University of Maryland supports this claim, finding that people who were involved in high school sports are more likely to vote and tend to be more comfortable speaking in public. (Rose E.)

"Sports help children deal with school and social pressure. (The Young Athlete) says physical exertion can help alleviate mental pressures. In addition, sports help to temporarily distract kids from stress. In fact, using physical exercise as a stress relief can help children obtain higher grades due to its concentration enhancing abilities. Youth sports also help children learn how to cope with losing and disappointment." (Rose E).

People might argue that there a several downsides to youth sports that promote development of bad habits or traits in children. People will tell you that sports cause bullying, gender bias, racism, and drug use. The only way I can see sports causing these issues is if that is where the children meet the friends who teach them to behave in such away. These negative things are caused by peer pressure and or poor parenting; none of these things are included or taught by any sport, if anything sports will keep kids away from these things.

Now there are many solutions to schools cutting sports programs that could actually help the schools gain income from their sports programs. One way would be to in fact encourage more kids to play and more people will come to the events and pay admissions to get in so the school can actually gain some revenue from sports.

Another thing they could do is help promote events held by the athletic boosters to raise more money from the community to pay for their sports, this may be more difficult in many areas considering economic hardships but there are usually enough community members with a little extra money to help kids continue to have sports, as little as it may be. They could also just do more fund raising with the different sports so they can raise their own money to be able to continue playing.

Politics being the main cause of this issue may also be the solution. Many people are here to support our sports programs, so enough people together may be able to change the cuts without making any sacrifice to the sports themselves. People could all write to a political leader who could help them fight for a better solution and send the cuts to some program other than sports. This is a great option that we have in our country so take advantage of it. If enough people are demanding with this someone will