In the Essay "Children Need to Play, Not Compete," Jessica Statsky appeals to the worries and fears of parent in order to convince them that competitive sports may harm their children physically and mentally. Statsky states her thesis clearly and specifically at the end of paragraph one. She states that overzealous parents and coaches who impose adult standards on children's sports result in unsatisfying and unbeneficial to children. She goes on to explain that she is also concerned about " all organized sports activities for children between the ages of six and twelve."(500) She defines sports to be any organized activity whether is be contact, no contact, locally organized, or nationally organized. .
In this essay I will evaluate the purpose of Statsky's argument, considering whether her support and logic for her thesis is appropriate, believable, consistent and complete. Although her arguments for her thesis are appropriate, believable and consistent they also have their flaws. .
Statsky provides plenty of seemingly reliable sources to back her thesis. In fact she even uses statistics and statements from the websites of the sports she is using as examples. She relies heavily on writers from newspapers like the New York Times and books and statements from professors of areas relevant to their quotes. All of these supporting materials help to back up her claims made by her thesis. For example, to back her claim that there are psychological dangers in playing sports at a young age she quotes a New York Times sports writer as stating "I've seen children enjoying a spontaneous pre-practice scrimmage become somber and serious when the coach's whistle blows The spirit of play suddenly disappears and sport becomes job like" (qtd. In Coakley 94). She also uses a statistic from Little League Online that states one of the most commons reasons given for quitting a sport is psychological stress.