On September 20, 2016, in my American Sport in the 21st Century class, we discussed some of the different ways youth sports has on socialization and how much of an impact on the culture in the United States is influenced by sport. In my class we defined socialization as the process by which we learn the culture of society; participation and watching sports are some of the main ways kids really begin to develop into who they will become. Sport plays a major part in the lives of most of the country, and for a lot of us participating on a little league baseball team or Pop Warner football it is where we first begin to form social values and it starts to make us into who we are and interact with other people.
In the article Sports and Socialization it states that although it varies by society, for most people in the western world, participation in youth sports is considered to produce positive socialization effects in children, some of which were discussed in class on September 20th, such as:
Increased academic achievement
Decreased rates of delinquency and deviance
Positive moral development
Creation of friendships
Development of social identity
While participating in organized sport at a young age generates mostly positive attributes there will always be negative aspects such as:
Status in school and the formation of cliques leading to bullying
Negative experiences in youth sports could make kids lose all interest
Not getting enough physical activity once out of youth sport
Risk of injury
Stress and anxiety to perform from parents or coaches
The first half of this video showcases a young athlete's journey from youth to interscholastic sport and the positives she gained from of it.
The article, Youth Sports, goes on to describe some noticeable trends in youth sports since the 1950's like the increase in youth sport opportunities and some of the more specialized sports on the rise. Youth sports have become more institutionalized and less spontaneous like they once were. Commercial training centers have been on the rise for help in skill development and systematic training, while at these centers youth still can engage with other kids but there are no far reaching obligations. There also is a larger number of initiatives for youth at risk to join a team and participate with other kids. For the full article click on this link
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