Introduction
Adolescents’ health beliefs include beliefs about vulnerability and behavior and they underestimate their vulnerability to harm. Adolescents are generally poorly informed about health issues and have significant misperceptions about health. This paper, therefore, maintains that the American Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling need to be incorporated into every Chicago land student’s physical education curriculum.
Discussion
This action is proper and feasible because students will learn a lot from the art of wrestling and this will add more to the their knowledge in terms of health and fitness including weight training and cardio work and the various mixed martial arts and boxing techniques to build healthy bodies and lifestyles. While adolescents have a greater number of acute health conditions than adults do, they use private physician services at a lower rate than any other age group does (Edelman, 1995).
Among the chief barriers to better health services for adolescents are cost, poor organization, and availability of health services, as well as confidentiality of care. Also, few health-care providers receive any special training for working with adolescents. That is why, incorporating wrestling in the physical education curriculum can result in several advantages that may last long after the students have graduated.
For a start, experts in the art of wrestling will be invited to talk on the importance of physical fitness regardless of body size. They will also emphasize the fundamentals and basics of wrestling quite unlike the more physically-draining wrestling that people see on television. Everything will be supervised so that the students are able to understand the basic break falls (bumps) of wrestling so that they will be able to control their landings in a safe manner.
It is important to note that sports are “organized interactions of students in competitive and/or cooperative team or individual enjoyable physical activities” (Humphrey, 1993, p. 3). In the United States, sports are not only a major form of recreation, but are considered a means of achieving physical health. Sports are also regarded as a way for children to learn leadership skills, loyalty, and other desirable traits, and as valuable training in competitiveness and give-and-take relationships.
Greco-Roman wrestling is a kind of wrestling that prohibits attacks below the waist. Because of this, the throws are encouraged as the Greco-Roman wrestler cannot avoid being thrown by just grabbing the other’s leg. The different kinds of movements are characterized in the Greco-Roman such as the bearhugs, headlocks and the arm drags. The suplex throw is used wherein the offensive wrestler lifts his opponent’s in a high arch while falling backward on his own neck to a bridge so that this will bring his opponent’s shoulders down to the mat. In thje Greco-Roman kind of wrestling, the wrestler must still look for ways in order to turn his opponent’s shoulders to the mat for a fall without legs including those of the bodylock and the gut-wrench (Greco-Roman Wrestling).
The American attitude toward sports is revealed by the statistics: over twenty million U.S. children, age six and older, play on organized sports teams—over two and a half million play Little League baseball, more than one million play organized football, and the other seventeen million are involved in such sports as hockey, soccer, swimming, track, and gymnastics (Galton, 1980).
The definitions that have been provided by several people have been a basis for the development of this particular aspect in sports. The general goal of sports development, aside from promoting sports in general, is to essentially build up the community of the people who participate in a garden variety of sports and maintain a specific set of standards to which they should adhere. With this particular vision, the different participants of the sports will most likely be able to enjoy the benefits of an organized and independent functioning body that is all about the development of sports and the other details that come with it.
For some people, they look at sports for sports’ sake. This translates to individuals engaging in one particular sport for the immediate benefits that one may eventually come across with such as education through coaching. This sub-branch of sports is present in organized games and whether the person playing a particular sport is involved in it professionally or otherwise, the idea of coaching will always be present.
The education that can be attained from the profession of coaching is quite diverse as it entails a strict adherence to time, diet and regimen. This, in effect, raises the bar that which the athlete needs to hit in order to compete in organized games, whether they be in the amateur or professional level. Another important aspect of sports is the idea of social integration. This looks at sports as a tool that is beneficial not only to an individual but a extensive group of individuals.
Through sports like rugby, football and cricket, there is a mandatory interaction between two separate groups of players and this interaction is based upon the premise of one team competing against the other. Although this seeming rivalry puts the two groups against each other, the friendships that are built from their interaction with one another are priceless.
This interaction serves as an integrating factor in society where several individuals are able to interact with each other in healthy competition through organized play. The role of sports development also encompasses integral social issues such as crime.
There have been several initiatives for including sports in the programs of delinquent juveniles because of the positive effects that they might have in the offenders. This idea was introduced to the sports development world back in 1999 when they presupposed that individuals who are involved in sports are less likely to exhibit recidivism in the future. There has been no direct scientific link that can back this up but there have been several success stories that merit further study into the topic.
This kind of sports activity in school will definitely be between boys separate from the girls. There would be strict rules about hitting below the waist. This is where the Greco Roman kind of wrestling would be most beneficial. Age range would be above 15 and below 21. Those who are interested must submit a medical approval from his medical doctor who would them have to submit the advice to the principal of the school.
The term “sports development” has been a term that has been defined by several individuals, organizations and politicians across the years. But no matter how divided these individuals are in its definition, one thing can be gleaned from the ideas that have been juggled around by purists: sports development seeks out the betterment of individuals in general through the different means and programs that have been set up for its sake. Sports development can plainly mean that it is the “development of sport for sport’s sake and equally the use of sport and physical activity opportunities for the development of society – sports as a social instrument.” (Sportdevelopment. 2005)
The definitions that have been provided by several people have been a basis for the development of this particular aspect in sports. The general goal of sports development, aside from promoting sports in general, is to essentially build up the community of the people who participate in a garden variety of sports and maintain a specific set of standards to which they should adhere. With this particular vision, the different participants of the sports will most likely be able to enjoy the benefits of an organized and independent functioning body that is all about the development of sports and the other details that come with it.
For some people, they look at sports for sports’ sake. This translates to individuals engaging in one particular sport for the immediate benefits that one may eventually come across with such as education through coaching. This sub-branch of sports is present in organized games and whether the person playing a particular sport is involved in it professionally or otherwise, the idea of coaching will always be present.
The education that can be attained from the profession of coaching is quite diverse as it entails a strict adherence to time, diet and regimen. This, in effect, raises the bar that which the athlete needs to hit in order to compete in organized games, whether they be in the amateur or professional level. Another important aspect of sports is the idea of social integration. This looks at sports as a tool that is beneficial not only to an individual but a extensive group of individuals.
Through sports like rugby, football and cricket, there is a mandatory interaction between two separate groups of players and this interaction is based upon the premise of one team competing against the other. Although this seeming rivalry puts the two groups against each other, the friendships that are built from their interaction with one another are priceless. This interaction serves as an integrating factor in society where several individuals are able to interact with each other in healthy competition through organized play.
The role of sports development also encompasses integral social issues such as crime. There have been several initiatives for including sports in the programs of delinquent juveniles because of the positive effects that they might have in the offenders. This idea was introduced to the sports development world back in 1999 when they presupposed that individuals who are involved in sports are less likely to exhibit recidivism in the future. There has been no direct scientific link that can back this up but there have been several success stories that merit further study into the topic. There are several reasons that the advocates for this type of pseudo-treatment list. These are the following:
For young people, the advocates argue that they cannot be busy shoplifting and guarding a goal at the same time. This particular usage of sports can serve as a means for surveillance for the guilty party. It is also understood that through sports, the delinquents are punished through their involvement in these physical activities.
It has been presupposed that the involvement in sports gives young people the exposure that they need to determine how to act accordingly in society. Through sports, individuals learn about respect for others by being involved in a team game.
They also learn the value of morals and the importance of authority within a given group by obeying the calls of the referees. Sports can also increase their low self-esteem which studies have found out to be one of the common traits of juvenile delinquents. Studies show that “juvenile delinquency prevention programs often fail because they overlook the crucial element of self-esteem and its impact on reducing delinquent behavior.” (Johnson, 1977) The addition of sports into the equation greatly helps these delinquents in coping with their different personal problems.
The idea for this is that when juveniles have been exposed to the benefits of an organized system wherein there is youth management involved, they will then see other opportunities as equally attractive and helpful to them. Through organized play, they may be able to eventually view education as important as sports. It is also possible that these youth may in turn view drug rehabilitation and employment training as important because of the presence of youth management factors in the programs.
Sports development, indeed, must help people improve or develop lifetime sports skills. Continued development would be helpful in their individual lives since this would be through programs of intramural athletics, recreation and competitive intercollegiate athletics.
There are in fact different organizations like Sportsdevelopment.org and other organizations cling to several other aims and goals for them to be able to further push the role of sports as significant as any other social glue. Whatever the goals of one particular organization are, the fact remains that the benefit of a solid and organized governing body for sports development is paramount to the success of achieving the integration that the society needs to be able to fully develop sports as a beneficial addition to any community.
The addition of such organizations is vital to any community whether it be a small-sized or a large-sized one. The implications of the integration of these organizations are that the public will be more aware of the importance of sports in their everyday lives. Should the public respond in a positive manner, the push for the inclusion and the focus on sports development will be successful and the outcome of such a campaign will be the outpouring eagerness of all sorts of youth to join. This is ideally what sports development is all about—the deliberate and focused dissemination of information regarding sports in all kinds of levels.
In the past years, society is slowly beginning to accept some sports where both men and women compete regardless of the traditional gender specific sports notions. Many sectors are encouraging women to participate in traditional “male” sports like bodybuilding and boxing, yet not be stereotyped as lesbians. In the same manner, men are also allowed to participate in traditional “female” sports without being labeled as effeminate. However, for this kind of sports, the wrestling will be confined to boys’ physical education curriculum unless there will be a huge clamor for it from the female population.
Indeed, women are equally capable of doing what the men were also doing. This is proving beneficial especially for the young female athletes in school. Men and women are slowly breaking boundaries by challenging these stereotyping. Even if people encounter male and female roles in their everyday interactions with parents, peers and office workers, the messages about gender roles carried by the mass media also are important influences on a person’s psychological development, especially the adolescent (Huston & Alvarez, 1990). Television might be the most extreme in its portrayal of the sexes, especially of teenage girls (Beal, 1994).
Another highly stereotyped form of programming specifically targeted towards teenage viewers is rock music videos and the sporting events. What adolescents see on MTV and rock music videos is highly stereotyped and slanted toward a male audience. Females are twice as likely to be dressed provocatively in music videos as in prime-time programming, and aggressive acts are often perpetrated by females in music videos. The world of sports is highly-gender-stereotyped and conveys clear messages about the relative power and importance of men and women (Huston & Alvarez, 1990). Males are overrepresented, and females are underrepresented. On virtually any type of program, males outnumber females by approximately two or three to one.
It is important that people are aware of the impact of inequalities to society. Individuals can be pushed to act on the matter by using their experiences in understanding the problem, as most people probably experienced gender inequalities in different levels. But awareness is not enough. It should be raised into a higher consciousness to be acted upon. Society can create laws where people will be protected. In this stage, society will be provided with “weapons” to combat the issue.
It can continue the issue, until it can be eradicated through social change. Although, this task may seem easy, it might take years to fully feel the effects of change for any sociological aspects of life are complicated. It has been revealed that “women’s sports are said to be underreported and underrepresented. If men’s sports receive 92% of air time, women’s sports just get 5% (Duncan). There are also criticisms that tend to trivialize the women’s games.
To eliminate or at least lessen the inequalities in society, a number of families try to bring up children in an environment with minimal gender biases. Susan Witt suggests that for parents to achieve gender fairness in their children, an androgynous gender role orientation has to be adopted in those families.
Conclusion
In sum, the benefits that wrestling will spur when incorporated in the school curriculum are immense. This will be a great move that will improve the conditioning and physiques of students.
Works Cited
Andelman, Bob. (1994). The Art of the Deal. Web.
Beal, C.R. Boys and girls: The development of gender roles. New York: McGraw Hill. 1994.
Duncan, Margaret, Messner, Michael, Williams, Linda. Jensen, Kerry. Galton, L. Your child in sports. New York: Pantheon.
Edelman, M.W. (1995). The state of America’s children. Washington D.C. Children’s Defense Fund.
Greco-Roman Wrestling. Web.
Humphrey. J.H. Sports for children: A guide for adults. Sparingfield, IL Charles Thomas.
Huston A.C. & Alvarez, M. The socialization contect of gender-role development in early adolescence. In R Montemayor. G.R. Adamsa & T.P. Gulotta (Eds.) From childhood to adolescence: A transitional period? Newbury Park, CA: Sage. 1990.
Johnson, P.S. (1977) School Failure, School Attitudes, and the Self-Concept in Delinquents Sportdevelopment. “Providing Sports development reference material for students and practitioners.” Sports Development in British Society. Web.