Ineffective Argument in Jessica Statskys Essay, Children need to Play,

Jessica Statsky, in her essay, Children need to Play, Not fight attempts to refute the common belief that organise sports are good for minorren. She sees nonionic sports not as healthy pass-times for children, but as onerous tasks that children do not truly enjoy. She also notes that not only are organized sports not enjoyable for children, they may cause irreparable harm to the children, two emotionally and materially. In her thesis statement, Statsky states, When overzealous parents and coaches impose liberal standards on childrens sports, the result can be activities that are neither satisfying nor effective to children (627). While this statement is strong, her defense of it is weak.One of the assumptions Statsky makes is that, One readily apprehensible danger of overly competitive sports is that they entice children into physical actions that are sad for growing bodies (627). This statement rests on the assumption that children would not perform whatsoever physi cal actions that are bad for growing bodies (Statsky 627) without organized competitive sports. This is plainly untrue. Children jump from swings, climb trees, skateboard, pop wheelies and otherwise put themselves in physical peril with alarming regularity. Childrens free and unorganized play very much results in broken bones and stitches, even for the most timid children.Statsky also makes another faulty assumption, which is that competition is an adult imposition on the universe of discourse of childrens play. She says in her article, The primary goal of a professional jockstrap winning is not appropriate for children (629). Children compete to win in the uniform way that adults do, and they do so on their own without any adult pressure. Common playground gam... ...petitive sports can cause lasting harm and take a crap no wins for these children (Statsky 627), then examples of how childhood competition negatively affected individuals old age after the fact would g o a long way to proving her accusation. As Statskys thesis rests on the assumption that adult imposition of competition and composition in childrens sports makes the games neither satisfactory nor beneficial to the children, then lack of benefit must be shown along with lack of satisfaction. The existence of unsatisfied child athletes in organized sports is no indication that children are somehow unfitting to competition and team sports. Works CitedStatsky, Jessica. Children Need to Play, Not Compete. Reading critically Writing Well A Reader and Guide. Ed. Rise B. Axelrod, Charles R. Cooper, and Allison M. Warriner. 7th ed. capital of Massachusetts Bedford, 2005. 627-631.