Competitive sports are increasingly becoming part of the core subjects in school. The inclusion of such sports is a highly controversial issue as some people believe that competitive sports have a profound impact on the child’s overall development whereas others say that they have an adverse effect. I will shed some light on both the views and then give my opinion in this matter.
On one hand, competitive sports are highly beneficial as they teach many of the life skills such as teamwork and acceptance of failures. The main purpose of these sports is to leverage ones’ potential and build unity. Moreover, they teach how failure is a stepping stone to success. These skills are immensely useful later on life. A good illustration of this is a survey published by Harvard Business School, which states that 80% of today’s successful CEOs were active competitive sports players in their childhood. In other words, lessons of sports learnt in the childhood are undoubtedly useful subsequently in corporate life.
On the other hand, there is a negative connotation attached that such sports increase the stress levels. Since competitive sports are highly performance oriented and winning is the ultimate goal, students are likely to remain under constant pressure. Recent statistics published by UK Education Board states that institutes that have introduced competitive sports in their core curriculum have seen a 40% increase in anxiety levels amongst their students as compared to those that have sports only for recreational purpose. Although stress is a concern, it could be argued that it is a person or situational dependent and could be addressed by the school and parents by taking appropriate measures.
After having discussed pertinent points of both views, I have drawn a logical conclusion that competitive sports should be part of the school subjects, however, it is important for the society to teach children to manage the negative consequences associated with it.
Competitive
sports
are
increasingly
becoming part of the core subjects in
school
. The inclusion of such
sports
is a
highly
controversial issue as
some
people
believe that
competitive
sports
have a profound impact on the child’s
overall
development whereas others say that they have an adverse effect. I will shed
some
light on both the views and then give my opinion in this matter.
On one hand,
competitive
sports
are
highly
beneficial as they teach
many
of the life
skills
such as teamwork and acceptance of failures. The main purpose of these
sports
is to leverage ones’ potential and build unity.
Moreover
, they teach how failure is a stepping stone to success. These
skills
are
immensely
useful later on life. A
good
illustration of this is a survey published by Harvard Business
School
, which states that 80% of
today
’s successful CEOs were active
competitive
sports
players in their childhood.
In other words
, lessons of
sports
learnt
in the childhood are
undoubtedly
useful
subsequently
in corporate life.
On the other hand
, there is a
negative
connotation attached that such
sports
increase the
stress
levels. Since
competitive
sports
are
highly
performance oriented and winning is the ultimate goal, students are likely to remain under constant pressure. Recent statistics published by UK Education Board states that institutes that have introduced
competitive
sports
in their core curriculum have
seen
a 40% increase in anxiety levels amongst their students as compared to those that have
sports
only
for recreational purpose. Although
stress
is a concern, it could
be argued
that it is a person or situational dependent and could
be addressed
by the
school
and parents by taking appropriate measures.
After having discussed pertinent points of both views, I have drawn a logical conclusion that
competitive
sports
should be part of the
school
subjects,
however
, it is
important
for the society to teach children to manage the
negative
consequences associated with it.