Losing is a Part of Life

             Throughout adult life, and even teenage life, everyone has to deal with competition in one way or another. Finding a girlfriend, getting a job, buying a used car, gaining admission to college, earning college scholarships, participating in sports, band, and chorus: all of these involve competition. There is no escape, and only one way to overcome competition's negative aspects: embrace them. The easiest mind to influence is the one that is still growing and does not yet have biases. The easiest way for someone to be able to understand competition and its negative and positive effects is to learn about it while their mind is still expanding. The easiest time for this to take place is when they are a child. Experiencing competition is necessary for kids to be able to deal with the world around them; therefore, children should continue to take part in organized sports during their childhood.
             In her Children Need to Play, Not Compete, author Jessica Statsky writes that "competitive sports pose psychological dangers for children" (The St. Martin's 256). Without being understood fully, competition can be very destructive. If it is understood as an essential part of life and if the outcomes are demystified, it is not nearly as harmful. Competition, itself, is not harmful to kids. What is harmful is when parents do not accept the outcome of their kids' competition. The most important thing in a child's mind is the how the people they look up to feel about things. "Children are easily influenced, and when they sense that their competence and worth are based on their ability to live up to their parents' and coaches' high expectations-and on their ability to win-they can become discouraged and depressed" (The St. Martin's 256). If the parents and coaches did not focus so heavily on winning and losing, competition would not be a problem with kids. If parents could learn to ...

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Losing is a Part of Life. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 09:41, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/88066.html