The importance of youth sports in educational institutions cannot be underestimated because they allow some teenagers to fulfill their potential or improve their personal qualities. Moreover, appropriate physical development is the goal that any education system sets. However, it also is borne in mind that youth sports may also have rather adverse effects especially on a persons psychological state.
It is not quite possible speak about negative influence of youth sport in particular. Probably it would be more prudent to analyze some stereotypical patterns of our behavior that make youth sports work against teenagers instead of helping them. The underlying cause is that we attach too much importance to competitiveness.
In order to substantiate this statement we should first give definition to such notion as “sport” In its most general sense it can be understood as any kind of competitive activity, which is aimed at achieving certain objective. The word “competitive” becomes crucial in this case because competitiveness may also have its negative side. Naturally, some people may object to this statement, by saying that it is a necessary condition for further growth and development. The main problem is that competitiveness among children may easily result in social exclusion (Odland, 220).
Perhaps, it would be better to trace the geneses of this process and its manifestations. Michael Collins in his book “Sport and Social Exclusion” singles out several types of this phenomenon. First, he focuses on the so-called “gender exclusion” which means that teenagers tend to separate from one another because girls and girls do not always in the same sport activities. The thing is that sport is very often viewed as a symbol of mens superiority over women, and it often leads to alienation between them especially it concerns public schools. In order to avoid that school administration should foster tolerance in students. This type of social exclusion can be ascribed not only to the negative impact of youth sports but also to the inefficiency of educators (Collins, 123).
Additionally the concept of competitiveness implies winning or losing. It stands to reason that winners (those who show good results) are very reluctant to accept losers in their company. This form of exclusion can be very hurtful for children with disunities because they may view themselves as “handicapped or someone who is not able to meet certain standards” Such exclusion may lead to chronic depression in the long term. In this case, it is of the paramount importance that teacher encourage such students, who do not succeed in sport activities. Moreover, parents and educators should explain to their off springs that children with disabilities need their support and such exclusion can only hurt their feelings (Biddle, 66).
While discussing negative impact of youth sports one should pay extra attention to the psychological peculiarities of such age group as teenagers. They are very inclined to go to extremes and adhere to the principle “all or nothing”. For them success is determined by the outcome of the game (victory or defeat). If they lose, they are bound to feel discontented though they may have performed very well. This extremeness of their worldview may also result in low self-esteem or even depression. Naturally, it is not very widespread, but if the person, coaching students, does not encourage them, the situation can follow such a scenario.
In the overwhelming majority of cases, a teenagers self-esteem greatly depends on his or her physical appearance. If it does not meet some standards (or stereotypes to be more exact), he or she is very likely to suffer from an inferiority complex. For instance, very often teenagers want to resemble their peers especially if they are athletic or physically attractive. Anything that deviates from this standard is viewed as a failure (or even catastrophe). Certainly, competitiveness makes students work harder, but for some of them it reminds life-and-death struggle. Teenagers tendency to exaggerate is the thing, which makes sport competitiveness very dangerous.
Furthermore, we cannot disregard such aspect as parental expectations. Some parents demand perfection from their children, people often believe that they child must be unsurpassed in any activity (including sports), whereas every teenager wants to come up to his or her parents expectations. Inability to do it is usually viewed as a failure. Unfortunately, parents do not always understand needs and abilities of their children; they are firmly convinced that they have a right to set standards for their children.
We can observe a very curious paradox: negative effects of youth sport (if any) can be easily reduced to a minimum if certain measures are taken by educators and parents. In itself, competitiveness is a very good stimulus for a person to improve oneself. However if we distort this concept and turn it into all-or-nothing philosophy it can act against us.
Thus having analyzed the effect of youth sport on the behavior of teenagers, we can arrive at the conclusion that their negative aspects can be explained by several stereotypical patterns of our behavior and partly to the inefficiency of school administration.
Bibliography
Jerry Odland. “High-Stakes Sportsmanship” Childhood Education, (91),4 2005
John H. Kerr. “Rethinking Aggression and Violence in Sport” Routledge, 2004.
Micheal F. Collins. “Sport and Social Exclusion” Routledge, 2000.
Stuart J. H. Biddle. “Physical Activity and Psychological Well-Being” Routledge. 2000.