The Psychological Effects in Sports

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses both the positive and negative aspects of competitive sports on teenagers. It shows that many positive benefits for young adolescents may result from participation in sports which can enhance their self-esteem and increase their interest in sports. However, the writer also discusses that when young adolescent needs and interests become secondary to pressures and unreasonable expectations from coaches, parents, the community, and even themselves, sports often have the opposite effect.

From the Paper:

"Over the last two decades, there has been a steady decline in the number of middle and junior high schools implementing intramural sports programs. Data from a 1993 national survey of 1,798 middle schools reported 63% of schools offered intramural sports programs for sixth graders, a decrease of 5% in 5 years. The decline was even more pronounced at the seventh grade level, where 58% of grade 7 in middle schools had intramural sports programs as compared with 67% in 1988, a decrease of 9% in five years (Sports in Middle Grades, 2001). Similar decreases were found at the eighth grade level (McEwin, Dickinson, & Jenkins, 1996). The same study found the higher the middle grade, the less likely students were to have access to intramural programs. The general trend seems to be toward smaller percentages of schools offering intramural programs. Given the high percentage of schools that offer interscholastic programs, especially at the senior high level, but also at the middle school level -- why the trend to get rid of intramural sports programs?"

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