In many parts of the world there is continuous coverage of sport on television. Some people believe that discourages the young from taking part in any sports themselves. Discuss the view and give your opinion.

Nowadays, in most countries, there are numerous television channels to choose from and these include non-stop broadcasting of sport. Therefore it would appear that many people must be interested in watching sport throughout the day and night. However, it doesn't necessarily mean that watching sport makes people less keen on participating in it. Teachers and parents may be concerned when they see teenagers spending time watching sport on television and fear that they are not active enough. While there may be some justification for this, it is also true that young people are often under pressure, for example to do well in exams. They need to relax and give their minds and bodies a break. In my experience, the young do not tend to watch sport rather that participate in it. The teenagers in my neighborhood regularly play football after school and at weekends they play in matches or go to the tennis courts or the swimming pool. As well as this, they all support various famous clubs and admire sport starts. These stars are their role models and watching them on television encourages participation in sporting activities. By contrast, I have observed that some older people spend their evenings and weekends in front of the television, following sports such as international golf or motor racing. Moreover, many of these are middle aged who spend their days sitting at a desk in an office and who get very little exercise, in spite of the fact that they need it more. In conclusion, although I accept that there are some people who may be discouraged from participating in sport because they watch it on tv instead, in my view, they are not generally the young ones.