Intramural Sports

Can you imagine quitting something you have such love and passion for? You may be thinking this is a crazy question and the obvious answer would be no, but that isn't the case for everyone.
While all schools want high performing athletic teams, school’s should understand that not everyone can make the team and when they don't make it all they feel is sad, disheartened, embarrassed, dejected and eventually could lose complete interest in the sport. I propose to you a solution that would make all coaches, students and parents appeared, Intramural sports. Intramural sports are great as they give students who don't make the team a chance to be able to play regularly, teaches them resilience and perseverance to not give up the sport. Playing intramural sports isn't just for fun, it allows you to reap rewards for your health, social life, and even academic pursuits.

The most crucial reason why we should have Intramural sports at our school is for students to maintain good health. Staying mentally and physically fit can be a hard thing to do especially when you are not part of a sports team. For example, the United States is struggling with a widespread obesity problem, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, more than one-third of adult Americans are obese hence, physical activity couldn't be more important for the nation's health. Intramural programs provide a great alternative for those who don't have the time or abilities to compete in competitive school sports teams.
Additionally, Intramural sports at school offer you a variety of sports to choose from and will provide at least three or more training sessions per week which will help you to stay fit. Competitive sports, on the other hand, can be more rigorous in nature resulting in overworking your body and causing potential injuries to the body. Coupled with the fact that intramural sports are a team activity, your commitment to the sport and team will ensure that you turn up for practice. Many people also feel more motivated to exercise when they're playing in an organized program rather than following a personal fitness regimen.
Word Health Organisation (WHO) states that children ages five to seventeen should accumulate at least sixty minutes of moderate intensity physical activity daily, being part of an intramural sports team will ensure children get their necessary recommended work out.

Another imperative reason why intramural sports are beneficial is that it helps individuals develop leadership and team building skills in addition to creating new friendships and building bonds. Intramural sports encourage you to get to know your teammates, set aside individual differences and work together as a team. My sister plays basketball, before joining basketball she thought it would be a way to make new friends. After the first day of training she came back home complaining that all they do is train and do constant drills, “there’s barely any new time to get to know people, the only time I get to talk to people are during break times which only last a minute or two, our conversation is interrupted by the coach telling us to get back to training” she says. These are the kinds of people I believe Intramural sports are suited for. Abe Drabkin, the Director of Marketing for the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA), points out that some researchers say organizational activity prompts the release of the hormone oxytocin, which helps team-bonding.
Furthermore, some may argue that involvement in team sports helps students build character, allowing them to develop a sense of self-control and boost their self-esteem. But others believe that when students play the sport with the sole intention of winning, it could provoke aggression and violence. 

Following that argument, intramural sports might be preferable to the more competitive sports.

In addition to keeping good health, Intramural sports are good for those who are not able to withstand the pressure and stress caused by competitive sports.
Drabkin also states that intramural sports help students maintain health and wellness while managing stress. A survey of more than 400 moms with children in organized youth sports done by The Observer says that culture of competitive sports not only puts unhealthy pressure on children but creates significant stress for parents too. Another survey was commissioned by i9 Sports, a nationwide youth sports league franchise, clearly shows that we need to change the youth sports format and add an element of fun to put less pressure on children and their families. This is significant because it strengthens my argument on why we should introduce Intramural sports at school.
Equally important, being actively involved in physical sport and exercise could help students reduce stress whilst keeping kids physically fit and mentally charged, which then helps students excel academically too. Some research has proven that physically active children do better in reading and math.

In essence, we should introduce Intramural sports at our school as it provides all the elements to mold a successful student. Although it could add extra costs to the school and finding an area to play could be hard but Intramural sports as compared to competitive sports is necessary as it encourages students to stay fit and healthy in a fun way, without causing undue stress. It helps to build new friendships, boost self-esteem and improves your collaborative skills.

Technology at break times

An issue that is hotly debated is whether technology should or shouldn’t be used in break times. I think that by making kids not use their technology, they can be more social with other friends in school and at the same time save their eyes. You could also spend the time doing something physical, because break and maybe PE are the only to times of day during the full 8 hours of school that you can actually do some physical exercise. While some say that using technology at break can have multiple functions and ways to improve your learning, it can also be very damaging to yourself. Students should try and avoid using technology at break times and schools should have specific days where students are allowed on their digital devices.

I think that Schools should not use technology at break because when you use technology at break times and times that you should be taking a rest from work, you can damage your brain more than you think. When you use your brain or eyes for too long at a time, it can damage the way you perform in later lessons. “Downtime is to the brain what sleep is to the body,” said Dr. Rich of Harvard Medical School. “But kids are in a constant mode of stimulation.” This means break times are and should be for taking breaks, not for spending the time on a screen which you probably have been doing on the period before. By doing some sort of physical activity during break time, you are essentially improving your mental focus for the next class. Scientists have proven that performing physical exercise before classes stimulate specific parts of the brain, helping the child stay more focused during the class.

Scientists have proven that taking short breaks is mentally better for learning, so if you do not give you brain a break, what you are basically doing is working it too much. By not taking your eyes of the screen, you are also damaging your eyes by not letting them have a break. Computer eye problems are common. “Somewhere between 50% and 90% of people who work at a computer screen have at least some symptoms of eye trouble.” This shows that even if we are not straining our eyes, even just by working at a computer in school, Computers and technology damage our eyes anyway, so why make it worse? Yes I understand, that using technology at break times and be a way to finish up homework, and yes I know that some people will use them for video games which can be good, which is why I am proposing the following; Schools should assign a specific day, either once a week, once every two weeks, or once a month, depending on how much the school uses technology in their curriculum.

As an add on to all of this, by not using technology at break times, you can socialise with people, and if you want evidence on this, “Socialising during lunch is a desirable activity and should be included in the time allotted. Socialising allows time for students to relate to others, provides a break in routine and allows students to return to afternoon classes refreshed.” Says Dr. Conklin. Another reason here why not using technology at break times helps you academically. Socialising is a natural habit, and right now what we are doing using technology as an excuse to keep to yourself.

All in all, while using technology at break can be a way to do things you couldn’t at home, it is harmful to you and by not using technology, you can, and will be overall a better student in class, save your eyes and use break times for break.

Having The Freedom To Choose The Sports Done in P.E.

I take the position that middle school students should be allowed to choose the sports we do in P.E. While kids get the required amount of physical exercise with the variety of sports given to us, middle school students are not enjoying P.E. classes because of the sports they don’t enjoy or are struggling in. The UWCSEA P.E. department should allow the freedom for middle school students to choose their own sports units in the P.E curriculum, because firstly, middle school students are starting to not enjoy P.E classes, and are pushing themselves to do things they don’t want to. Secondly, students’ self esteem is becoming lower because of how uncomfortable they feel when they’re doing the sports they’re not good at.

One critical reason middle school students should be allowed to choose their P.E curriculum is because students are starting to not enjoy P.E classes, and P.E classes are meant to be fun. Penelope Trunk, author of the article “Forced Gym Hates Exercise”, says: “Kids who don’t have any gym yearn for exercise during the day and they generally know what they like, team sports or individual sports, rigorous or methodical... Kids who are forced to do a certain type of exercise generally dislike exercise in the same way that kids who are forced to learn a certain way that’s not appropriate to them start to hate learning.” (Trunk, 2013). This is important to notice because that quote summarizes what I feel like in P.E. class. I don’t usually like the way we are being forced to learn the sports that we don’t take any sort of interest in, and I find myself become quite tense. I think the author’s intention was to tell P.E. coaches and parents that kids that have to follow the system of P.E. units get tired of doing forced sports. A study conducted by the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) interviewed 1,500 kids and found that over half (51 percent) of girls are “put off physical activity by their experiences of school sport and P.E. lessons.” (Alamy, 2012). This is significant because 51 percent is a lot of girls that don’t like sports just because of their experiences, which is saddening because kids should be able to enjoy sports without any obstacles in the way.

Another crucial reason middle school students should have the right to pick the sports they do in the P.E. curriculum is because kids’ self esteem is decreasing because of how unconfident kids are feeling when doing sports they’re not good at or not fond of. I have personal experience. I really find myself engaged in some sports that we do, such as basketball or badminton. They are really fun, interesting sports which I wouldn’t mind doing in P.E. classes. I feel I strive in these sports and really like them. However, I feel that P.E. units I have such as touch rugby and volleyball are really challenging for my abilities, and I dread P.E. and feel uncomfortable when attempting to do the sports. Furthermore, I know some people like my classmate Piper, that really like touch rugby and volleyball, and some people that despise basketball and badminton. This is important to notice because I feel this can relate to everyone, even outside of the P.E. subject. You can be really talented at humanities, but struggle in maths. It’s exactly the same for P.E. units. Also, Sarah Harris, contributor to the Mail Online, found a research at that was conducted at the University of Bedfordshire in the UK. They found that almost half of middle school teachers (42 per cent) say that their students don’t enjoy PE lessons, and that thirty-nine per cent of children across the UK have a negative attitude towards being physically active by the age of 16, according to a survey of 400 middle school teachers. This shows that many middle school students’ interest in P.E. is decreasing, because it says that by the age of 16, the children have lost their attention towards P.E. At this age, children are going through adolescence and while we’re going through this transition, we start to make many decisions that usually stick through to the end of adolescence. P.E. is a subject in school that shouldn’t be ignored, and is crucial to our health, but with people losing interest in it, it’s not gonna benefit their mental health (e.g. feeling better about your body) if children are not interested at such a young age.

I do agree that their is no need to change the system of the current P.E. units. In the survey I conducted within my mentor class, most if not all the respondents generally said they didn’t mind the P.E. sports we had in school, and 12.5% of the peers said no to changing the sports curriculum. The P.E. units we’ve been having have been quite successful throughout many years and there have been no complaints. Also, I do understand how painful organizing everyone into these sports would be, let alone organizing middle school students into different P.E. classes. But don’t we want all kids to be comfortable, confident and contented when they’re playing sports? Isn’t that what sports are meant to be doing? Offering this opportunity to select what sports we can do would help achieve this goal.

Middle school students should be able to have the rights to choose the sports they want to do. I take the position that while middle school students stay fairly fit with the P.E. units given to us, we are having to follow the system of sports that some kids aren’t eager to do. The UWCSEA P.E. department should provide the rights for middle school students to choose their own sports units in the curriculum.

I do understand that it’s gonna be very chaotic to organize the sports for 620 students. Also, most kids still like the P.E. units. However, there are kids still struggling out there. I’m proposing an idea which can help solve this issue. We can treat P.E. class as a health society; kids who are keen athletes can have the opportunity to sign up for hardcore sports, and other kids who are less eager to do tough sports can choose ones they want to do so they feel better about themselves.

Fight The Procrastination

Procrastination is a complicated issue because even though it is evidently damaging to many people in our world, it is an addiction that many cannot put a stop to. While procrastination can give you instant gratification by delays, when the time arrives, all the built stress which had been put aside with countless excuses, is mind-blowing. Day after day, the time which can easily be used to do something, gone to waste because of procrastination. This is a continuous cycle which lacks hard work or determination. Don’t you think the overwhelming stress and pain in the end outweighs the small-term satisfaction?

Days will pass by, procrastinating each day by filling your day up with excuses. Deep down, you know you can do it with the time you have, but the stress and discomfort you have when you sit down just makes you feel… bad. So, you pass the time you have with all sorts of things you like to do so you can push away that feeling. For example, in the article by Tim Urban, “Why Procrastinators Procrastinate” said, “In college, the sudden unbridled personal freedom was a disaster for me… I would do those the night before, until I realized I could just do them through the night, and I did that until I realized I could actually start them in the early morning on the day they were due” said the author. The more time you have, the more you overestimate it. Somehow, the math in your brain tells you that the hours you need to finish your homework can be done on the last few minutes before you go to bed. That time you have slowly fades away since you are using it to waste. Especially in this article called “Procrastination: Oops, Where Did the Day Go?” by Timothy Pychyl, one sentence especially captured what I want to say. “Feel good now, worry about that intention later. Short-term gain, long-term pain.” Put all the negative emotions aside, have fun for a short while, and it comes back, worse. So why? If you have time, use it, or else it will result in enormous servings of anxiety.

Another reason why I think procrastination is damaging, is that the pain and stress when the time is the time is up, outweighs the small-term satisfaction during procrastination. Procrastination isn’t ‘caused’ by anything. You decide. The small-term relief of stress doesn’t even come close to being worth the wave of pain in that slim amount of time. An example of this would be from the article, “The Balloon” written by Marky Nemko, which states, “Tony’s procrastinating ways finally caught up with him. He had been smart enough to be able to slide by at work but, at 40, senior-citizenhood for programmers, his procrastination combined with not keeping up with the latest languages and the slight decrements to his brainpower--noticeable only in such cognitively demanding fields as programming--got him "laid off.” This means procrastination really can affect your health, career, and your future. Right now, procrastination only applies to your homework, but in reality, this is proof of how procrastination can really mess up lives. “Lives can be ruined by procrastination. Certain kinds of procrastination have severely negative consequences if we don't take care of the tasks now. Dr. Bruce Liese mentions his concern for patients who procrastinate on coming to the doctor for fear of confirming that they really are sick.” says the article, “Negatives Consequences of Procrastination” written by Bill Anderson. Doesn’t this prove my point?

After all this, there is still more. Procrastination causes lack of hard work and determination. Even small procrastinations can demonstrate the laziness and how quickly you give up. Because of all this delaying, it’s a hurry to finish at the last minute. From the same article written by Bill Anderson, it stated this, “Dr. Bruce Liese explores this question and gives some insight into some of the causes and effects of procrastination. He says that any kind of procrastination is essentially delaying and thus avoiding our obligations. However, many people "get away" with procrastination time and time again, causing a perpetual cycle that reinforces a lack of discipline.” What this shows and should prove to you, is the more you procrastinate, the more it becomes a habit in which you don’t bother and avoid the challenges you face. In BBC’s “Procrastination: Readers' Tales of Epic Time-wasting”, there was a story from Craig, Bedfordshire, “I bought a book called 52 Steps To Defeating Procrastination. I've still never read it - it was over 10 years ago, and I'm not even sure where it is now.” Funny right? Well, in reality there are more serious scenarios which harm many, in terms of perseverance and finding a solution to a problem. Would you like this to happen to you?

It isn’t easy to stop, but when it comes to fighting to procrastination, you need that hard work and determination. The sooner you learn to fight it the better, the built up stress overflows and will swarm you unless you use that time you have efficiently. Don’t make excuses, don’t delay, just do it. Personally, I was a hardcore procrastinator. No joke. I would have a bunch of homework and bail, and eventually stay up until midnight because I began so late. Because of the numerous incidents, I just remembered the stress and tiredness, so I work hard when I have homework. I even do some homework several days before it’s due! What you need to remember, is to live in the present. Do it now, and you will have a good rest. Sit down and don’t be distracted and start making excuses. Set a time to start and finish and see what you get done without any distractions. You’ll be surprised.

CITATIONS

Urban, Tim. "Why Procrastinators Procrastinate - Wait But Why." Wait But Why. N.p., 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.
Pychyl, Timothy. "Procrastination: Oops, Where Did the Day Go?"Psychology Today. N.p., 6 Sept. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2016. ”Procrastination: Readers' Tales of Epic Time-wasting - BBC News." BBC News. N.p., 30 Aug. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
Nemko, Marty. "The Balloon." Psychology Today. N.p., 11 Mar. 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
Anderson, Bill, Matthew Long-Middleton, and Sydney Llewellyn. "The Negative Consequences Of Procrastination." The Negative Consequences Of Procrastination. N.p., 9 Sept. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.

Food isn't Trash

Food isn't trash. Of course, it is true that our stomachs can get full easily, and some foods are just not enjoyable to everyone, but what people do not see is that every day, tons of perfectly good food is thrown away. It is bad enough that we throw away our food, but it is worse when that food is perfectly fine to eat. Schools need to take immediate action against this and so do students. Schools should let students decide the size of their portions, and students should only buy food that they will eat. Finally, students should not be allowed to throw large amounts of food away, or there will be more consequences than just wasted food.

One definite way we can reduce this is by letting students choose their food portions. A survey was taken of 51 7th grade students at UWCSEA East. 36% of grade 7 said that Sodexo meals are average sized. 28% said that it was below average and not more than 12% of the students said that their food portions were above average. This evidently shows that there should be at least three options of portion sizes for students to choose from, to avoid them dumping food that the school has provided for them. This will not only cut down on food wastage but keep the child refreshed, which could lead to a better, more focused approach to their learning.

Students should only take food that they will eat. It is not just a waste of money when children throw away their meals, but a waste of resources and time as well. If children bought food that they want to eat, they would finish it. At UWCSEA, students play many sports and get plenty of exercise. The right amount of food in combination with a lot of exercise can improve their nutrition and health. Sometimes on one’s plate remains food that is inedible, like banana peels, bread crusts etc. Instead of binning food, one good solution is to throw it in compost bins which are found near the gardens and music area. According to Zion Lights from OneGreenPlanet.org, composting is not only good for the soil and earth but can reduce emissions and our dependence on fossil fuels.
Therefore, this is beneficial for us and our planet.

Another way we can take action against this is not to let students throw away their food. Since many students clearly waste a lot of food, our school in particular should get teachers who are working lunch shifts to stand by the food bins and check how much food is being thrown away. Awareness should be spread as well, only then will people waste less. Not only should action be taken at school, but everywhere in the world. According to Channel News Asia, 790 million kg of food was wasted in Singapore during 2014, which is equivalent to each person in Singapore throwing away 2 bowls of food every day. There are organisations in Singapore where volunteers pick up leftover food from restaurants and donate it to poorer families.

A small course of action to keep away food wastage can go a long way.
Of course this is not only the school’s responsibility, but students as well. It is one thing for schools to make their students stop, but it is different when the students themselves learn to stop. There are many children all around the world who starve for days without a single grain of food. Food is a resource, not something we should take for granted. So spread the word. Food isn’t trash.

Bibliography:

Lights, Zion. "5 Reasons Why Composting Is the Greenest Thing You Can Do." One Green Planet. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2016.

Othman, Liyana. "Singapore Needs to Rethink Food Wastage: Masagos." Channel NewsAsia. Mediacorp News Group © 2016, 10 Jan. 2016. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

Writing Over Typing

Have you ever thought about how the human race is slowly but surely, losing the skill of writing? Or that the distractions that a computer holds are sometimes irresistible, therefore decreasing the efficiency of the work that we do? Or that you could irreversibly lose IQ points because of these distractions? Well these are all proven facts, and the horrible truth is that this could have a major effect on how the future generations can read, and how knowledgeable they turn out to be.

Writing helps stimulate the human brain in many ways, that typing and using computers to complete simple tasks simply don’t. Scientists believe that with writing becoming less and less popular with the human race, the ability of future generations can possibly be hindered, according to Anne Chemin. In this same article, ‘Handwriting vs typing: is the pen still mightier than the keyboard’, she wrote that in the June of 2014, a British survey of 2000 people went out, and 1 out of every 3 people who responded, said that they had not written anything by hand in the past six months. On top of that, she says, “Cursive writing – in which the pen is not raised between each character – has been dropped from the Common Core Curriculum Standards, shared by all states.” Additionally, writing notes by hand has been proven to help further improve your understanding on the topic at hand. This is because writing works your brain more, as it’s slower to write, allowing the information to get to your brain, whereas when you type, you type fast, and this is merely putting words with no meaning onto the screen.

Using laptops also hold the risk of getting distracted, and can offer much more temptation to multitask, which, according Larry Kim, is very unhealthy for us, as our brains are designed to focus on one thing at a time, which unfortunately means that multitasking lowers the quality of your work and your efficiency. It also leaves you mentally exhausted, because of the stress hormone, cortisol, that is being released. Humans have a naturally occurring tendency to take shortcuts, which is, as stated, scientifically proven to be very deleterious to our brains. Furthermore, using laptops to simply take notes during class, or whilst watching a video can obstruct your ability to learn the very possibly important things that you are being taught. Personally, I feel this as I am very tempted to take notes on my laptop, but I find that when I take notes in a notebook or on a piece of paper, I can remember more of what is being taught.

Along with distractions, focus problems, and the lack of brain stimulus, eye problems and loss of IQ points are also some problems associated with doing a lot of digital work. It is a proven fact that grown men can lose 15 IQ points from multitasking, and this can bring their brain level down to that of an eight-year-old. These changes can sometimes be irreversible. Moreover, two common eye problems, computer vision syndrome and digital eye strain, are both caused by your eyes not getting enough movement, as all the major movement can happen with the swipe of two fingers on the trackpad, which doesn’t stimulate your brain to move your eyes, whereas when you read books, and write on larger pieces of paper, your eyes have to move more, to see what you are doing or where you are reading. “According to a 2015 survey by The Vision Council, 65 percent of American adults reported having symptoms of digital eye strain.” Over time, with the use of laptops and electronic devices increasing, the amount of people with the computer vision syndrome and digital eye strain has also increased. (Heiting, 2016)

As well as having all these unhealthy and distracting components, computers and electronic handhelds can also provide a whole selection of helpful and useful elements, such as the wonderful google, quick communications, and a quick way to do just about anything. They also save your expenses on paper and pencils, with various choices of online unlimited storage, hard drive storage, going to save the planet.

All in all, I feel as though computers should not be a crutch for students to lean on to do their homework, but instead a learning tool for them to use for small things.

- "Multitasking Is Killing Your Brain." Observer. N.p., 02 Feb. 2016. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

- Chemin, Anne. "Handwriting vs Typing: Is the Pen Still Mightier than the Keyboard?" The Guardian. N.p., n.d. Web.

- "4 Benefits of Handwriting Notes Vs. Typing on Laptops - Zebra Pen." Zebra Pen. N.p., 02 Sept. 2014. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

- "Computer Vision Syndrome and Digital Eye Strain." All About Vision. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

More Sporting Opportunities for the Youth

I feel the same as you that during sporting events teens can loose self esteem and possibly injure themselves but one might argue that more sporting events and opportunities should be available to kids around the world because it gives Teens across the world a chance to achieve sporting greatness, sports events can help bond friendships and a player can gain confidence from participating in sporting events.

While Sports competitions can damage teenagers self esteem and possibly injure them more sporting opportunities and events should be available to teens because A player can gain confidence from participating in competitive sporting events, Teenagers across the globe look to achieve athletic or sporting greatness and competitions can also help bond teams and friendships within the team.

Sporting events are only available for the top athletes in certain sporting clubs. Sporting committees and owners of Youth sport teams should create competitions to help less skillful players develop Teamwork, Dealing with defeat and skills that are needed to make a good teammate not the best player.

Firstly, Teenagers across the globe look to achieve athletic or sporting greatness. Giving Teens more sporting events to participate in will increase the chance of coaches scouting them. They will also train more often which will help them increase their skill level. A article By an unknown source on the website www.topuniversities.com says “By participating in a competition organised by a company, university or other organization, you have a new opportunity to show your talent and apply your skills. In turn, the rewards of student competitions, whether tangible or otherwise, can help you achieve your educational and professional goals. You might win an internship that leads to the job of your dreams, some money that would help you buy course books, or even help to start your own business.” This is really important because it shows how people with experience and practice can achieve greatness in an area of interest. Although this is in a school perspective this shows that participating in competitions can help develop someone's skills as well as show them off which can really help outside scouts to pick players especially if they have experience.

Another reason is that competitions can also help bond teams and friendships within the team. This can help the team play better as they will also feel a lot more comfortable around each other. An article by Cherie Burbach from http://friendship.about.com/ says “If you're looking for friends, joining a sports team is a great way to connect with people. There are several reasons for this. First, you and your team are all working together and playing by the same set of rules. You need to trust each other (will he make the play, will she have my back when I miss) and as you get to know one another you play off each other's strengths.” This is saying how being in a sports team can help build trust with friends/team mates as well learn that they will always have your back.

Lastly, A player can gain confidence from participating in competitive sporting events.An article from Richard Bailey says “Over the years that followed my "discovery" of running, my self-confidence grew, and feeding off the accomplishments I achieved in sports - setting new personal bests, winning a little local race, surviving the setbacks of injuries and marathons gone wrong - I discovered a capacity within myself that I never knew I had. I wasn't just physically stronger than I expected, I thought of myself as a different person, as someone with more potential, broader horizons, bigger possibilities. I saw that I could push myself and take risks, not just in sports, but elsewhere, too. The competition in sports, as in life, was not with someone else, it was with myself. To "compete" was to discover my own potential to do better, to hold my own self to a higher standard, to expect more of myself--and deliver” This shows how from years of running he built up his self esteem and this helped him in places outside of sports and helped him push himself, take risks until he reached his full potential.

Owners of Youth sports teams and sports committees should take immediate action to include the less skillful player and offer more opportunities to help get players recognised to hopefully help them pursue their dream sometime. Opening more youth academies and more local and international sporting events for teams to bond and for young talents to be recognised in the community.

"Do Sports and Other Physical Activities Build Self-Esteem?" Psychology Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.

"3 Tips for Making Friends Through Sports." About.com Dating & Relationships. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.

"Six Reasons to Participate in Student Competitions." Top Universities. N.p., 03 Oct. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.

More Sporting Opportunities

Kids in our school, and schools around the world, have a common problem. They are so caught up by their studies, that they don’t have enough time, or permission to play sports, and keep healthy. Sports give children another seed in life as it could be a way to have fun, keep fit, or stay healthy and also another thing to be good whether you are good or not at studies. People get more and more concerned about their studies, and school as you get older, and in higher grades in school. If the school hosts more sporting events for the kids in the school, will give them a time to get away, and take a break from the books, and get the heart pumping again.

Currently our school has three sporting events every year. These are the two community days, and the one sports day, that we have when school is almost over. Many people in grade seven, and my class have taken longer to get together, and in some of the classes, they haven’t even got together as a class yet, and still are in small groups from their last classes, in their new mentor group. This is something that is really big, because bonding people together takes time and effort, not only from the students themselves getting to know each other better, but also the teachers, who are also involved with the bonding that the class is doing. Having more sporting events along the course of the year, will ensure that kids will have to time to get to know each other, and be happier, which is what everyone wants.

Now-a-days, people are so caught up in their futures. In most cases, kids who just leave middle school, and enter high school, they will be looking to getting into the best of the best universities, so that they can be the best job that they can get later on in life. This is something that people all around the world are doing, and as they are doing that, they have to sacrifice something else, and what gets sacrificed is your fitness. You will spend most of you free time studying, so that you can become the best you can, and in the end, after years and years, you will look at yourself, and realise that you have lost all of your fitness, and you cant get that back, as it is easier to loose fitness, than gain it, as is most things in the world.

Having sports days will make you keep fit, and even though it is not that often, it will be just enough, to make you realise that you can do everything on your desk, get the grades and the results that you want, and keep yourself fit, and become what ever you want to be, from philosopher, to professional football player.

People in our school and many other schools want to become a professional sports man when they grow up, but as they get older, they will not have enough time to become what they want, and they will probably never become what they wanted to become, because they were never given the opportunity to become what they wanted, and this is a common problem in schools around the world. Having more sports days or sporting events will give those students that chance to become what they what to when they grow up.

From the article “10 Reasons Kids Should Play Sports” it quotes “Involving your kid in sports at a young age does not mean that they are going to be taken out of your home and moved across the country to train to be a world-class athlete at the age of five.” This is telling you that playing sports, even if it takes up most of your time, children will not get consumed by the sport, and only be able to do that. WRONG! This will only make them become more active not only on that sport, but also in their studies, and in school. This is something that kids and adults alike enjoy, and it gets people and groups together, and that is something that is really good, and is something that people can’t live without. Playing sports may seem bad to some, or a waste of time, but it is not. Anything that bonds people together is something that is good for everyone.

Another important outcome of having more sporting events at school is by giving teenagers more sporting opportunities will allow them to be recognised as an “athlete” to everyone and may help them be something in the future.

Take Michael Jordan for example, arguably the best basketball player of all time. He was dropped from his high school basket ball team, and his coach told him that he would amount to nothing. If we had more sporting events in our school, it would give those people who were dropped from the team, even though they had the potential to become something amazing, and give them the opportunity to prove their coach wrong for dropping them, and they will have been given a second chance at a future at whatever they were going to be, or wanted to be.

Basically what I am trying to say, is that If we had more sporting events in our school, it would help way more people then it would hurt. From talking to Mr.Dunn and other people who organise the sports days, I know how hard it is, but at the end of the day, they are always so happy to see all of the laughs, and fun times that we all share during that day, and that repays them for all of their hard work. Having more sporting events will make our school a better place, with more smiles, and laughs, that is fun to be in, and all hard work pays off, and where the rewards are worth all of the time and effort you put into your work, what ever it might be, from our principal, to our cleaning staff.

Higher Sporting Opportunities For Kids For the Future

Coaches may not know or rather even realise that kids sometimes feel pressured or don’t get enough opportunities to go professional or showcase their talent because they think that their system is really good.And it is good most coaches have a great system but there are things that they should do more like giving kids more opportunities and chances to also meet new people so they get used to it and also will help them in the future.

In some cases sports could end up bad as it could lower confidence,ruin self esteem and possibly injure themselves. However, they will never get chances or be able to become better or more confident if they aren’t given opportunities which is why I argue that there should be more sporting events organised to kids.

An important reason why kids should get opportunities is because, It is just another thing to have fun in and not only that but also when kids grow up if they are good and studies and sports, they could have 2 things they might do just incase one may not work out.

“We certainly encourage our children to read, write, and learn math.We don't think twice about making them go to school every single morning. Yet when it comes to sports (that can also be very valuable to their development) we shy away from one practice a week.” From the article, 10 Reasons Kids Should Play Sports by Shari Medini. Shari Medini is trying to convey that the fact that, sports are equally important and useful as math, reading or other intellectual subjects like that. She is trying to say that sports will help kids out a lot when they grow up possibly as much as studies would. It helps develop the child in sports and also mentally for many other things.I do agree that studies is really important as it has so many different aspects and so many highly opportunities for people but Sports also provide highly level benefits for kids for the present and the future. As kids they have a lot of fun and get better at it so it can help them meet new people and interact and as well as help them for future by giving them another path.For example if teens or anyone is good at intellectual subjects but also sports and for some reason one may not work out they have a fall back and a good one.Something they enjoy.And although not all kids like do sports which I agree with and not all of the have to, however the kids that do really enjoy it and kids who don’t should maybe give it a try.

Another important aspect to sporting events and opportunities is that it helps bond kids with others and also helps team building which will help people a lot in many circumstances.

People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defences, or the problems of modern society. Vince Lombardi, American Football Coach from the article

‘Psychological and Social Benefits of Playing True Sport’. Vince Lombardi is trying to make people realise or rather even convey that sports that involve teams will only will win if players play as a team.Which is why I stated the point earlier that helps bonds by team building and meeting new friends but also helps players learn more about being in a team.And he is trying to say that essentially a win will only come if players play together not as a bunch on individuals put into a game and are called a “team”.It is about the fact that they understand each other and know each other and play as one.I agree very well with this as it is obvious although there are players with great individual talents out there, and can showcase it eventually if it is a team sport it comes down to everyone together.And I also sort of agree that yes there will be times individuals will spark and try out things which is good and helps confidence but however it is a lot about the team and how a player can also contribute to the team's development and not just his. 

Another real life example is that I was at a football tournament and we would have presentations and other things like that to prepare mentally and tactically as well as physically for the game, and we would always reinforce the fact that it is about “surrendering the me for the we”, It really helps players and it definitely helped us always know that it is how we do as a team.So sports opportunities and competitions are good for team building and meeting newer people and its good for the present and future.

If kids get more opportunities they will learn more about physical activities which is very good and also academic success

Physical activity is the most obvious benefit of sports participation. Children often spend too much time watching television or playing video games. However, sports practices and games provide an opportunity for exercise that can help keep kids in shape and healthy, from the article why should kids play sports, by Amanda Davis. Amanda Davis is trying to say that kids should really take opportunities to join a club or start a sport and maybe go to games to learn and then play or do the sport. It will help them stay fit and help them be healthy which is good for the long run, in the future.It keep children fit to also be ahead of people and it will really come in help in the sport they are doing even when they grow up.I think it is very important to stay fit and active as I also do sports and all my friends and it really helps keeps kids and players more healthy and will also help them in other things people do, not just sports.Another good quote, It is no surprise that children who participate in athletics excel in academics as well. They can apply the same principles of dedication and hard work learned through sports participation to their studies. According to an article published on the website America, playing on a high school sports team increases a young woman 's chances of graduating from college by 41 percent, from the same article and by Amanda Davis. She is trying to convey that the amount of hard work and dedication and how much they try in a game or in sports helps keep that mentality for other things like academics and it will help boost academics as the proof given because people have the effort now to push themselves and use the same mentality.I think that it is very good and I do agree that because they love sports people might put effort there, however I argue that they have put in effort in sports and they know how it feels so if they could focus and also use it in other activities it could really help. And also it helps them feel healthier and better which is good for a other activities or rather all activities.

It really does matter when it comes to taking opportunities in sports. It is important to take them and make the best of them earlier as it will help in the long run.And I agree sometimes people don’t want kids to join sports too early however I argue that maybe parents should just ask them about it or if they like to do sports just put them in the first chance they get. Hence, to conclude Sports opportunities should be more frequent to kids, maybe by just adding a sports day, or maybe a few, also maybe just other tournaments to engage them as it will give positive outcomes.

Homework Balance

In a world where students are receiving increasing pressure to perform well academically, one of the biggest points of arguments that this pressure shows up is in homework. For many students, this drudgery seems like a torturous repetition of the already long school day. But even the students who hate homework most seem to acknowledge that there is some benefit to doing homework. In fact, for many students homework is a necessary reinforcement of concepts learnt at school through practice. But what is really going on? Is homework a great tool for students to continue learning even at home, or is it just an enormous time sink in the lives of already busy students? The evidence seems to say that schools should not give too much homework to students as this can cause stress, lack of personal time, and lessened interest in academics. Instead, schools should occasionally assign a small amount of balanced and relevant homework based on the individual student’s needs. This paper will argue in favour of a balanced and differentiated approach to homework, that hones in on the needs of individual students without overwhelming others with the unnecessary workload.

The first reason students should not receive too much homework is that it can cause stress. According to Youki Terada, a research trend tracker who holds a Master’s in Education and has studied educational research, one of the biggest drawbacks of homework is the fact that it can cause “...physical and emotional fatigue…” (Terada, 2015). He also mentions that homework “...can cut into sleep time…” and “...can increase pressure from parents to perform well…” The fact that we see homework causing fatigue and actually cutting into sleep time for students shows that there is a problem here. What is most important to see is that the homework that causes the most stress is rote memorisation homework - similar repeated exercises with only small amounts of changes. These repeated exercises tend to be, from my and other students’ experiences, very tedious and long tasks that are unhelpful to learning reinforcement. All this kind of homework does is cause stress without benefit. Instead, what should happen is a small but focused amount of homework - for example, according to Monica Fuglei, an adjunct faculty member of Arapahoe Community College in Colorado, effective mathematics homework “...should have a small number of varied exercises.” (Fuglei, 2013). The small amount prevents any possibility of stress while the varied exercises are even more effective for students to reinforce understanding and make analytical connections between concepts.

The second reason students should not receive too much homework is that it takes away from personal time. According to Trevor Pilgrim, a retired Principal of The Lodge School (a secondary/high school in Barbados), homework often “...disturbs family life…” and “...keeps them [students] up late at night…” (Pilgrim, 2013). He also says that it is important for students to “...relax, play and pursue sports and hobbies…”. These are major issues with homework, and how much time students have to spend on them. According to Terada, the average High School Student spends almost seven hours a week doing homework. Doing the calculations (not including weekends, which under most normal circumstances should be free for all students) that means students spend 1.4 hours a day doing homework. After a long, seven hour school day and co-curricular activities or sports for most students, 1.4 hours can often be the 1.4 hours before bed. There isn’t even time for them to go talk with their family or relax! This can often contribute again to feelings of fatigue, tiredness and stress in students - according to Antranik, a personal health trainer, “Stress and the lack of time go hand in hand. When we feel we don’t have enough time, we often panic!” (Antranik, 2013). One of the contributors to this problem is the fact that many teachers, especially in Middle and High schools underestimate what they call a “twenty minute task”. After a school day, student’s minds are tired and this task can take up to thirty minutes. Multiply that by four and we get two hours of homework. This is way too much - some teachers may not completely understand the busy lives of students. However, this can be fixed - homework that is set with outside activities, extra time and the three other pieces of homework from in mind, combined with effective homework practices like varied exercises and relevant work can make homework less of a time sink and more of a helpful tool to foster student learning.

The third reason students should receive less homework is because it can decrease interest in academics. Already mentioned is the problem of most homework being tedious rote memorisation. No student enjoys these kinds of tasks and might end up viewing academical knowledge as mostly just memorised information of no relevance to their own lives. Akshat Jain, a student from UWCSEA has mentioned that with regards to rote math practice, he “...feels frustrated, annoyed and angry with this kind of homework. I think this kind of homework is quite useless for my personal learning.” And it isn’t just him. Many students cry out similar complaints, and the evidence backing up these complaints is definitely stable - many students forget things within a summer of learning them because they have no interest in committing these things to memory. While some skeptics will say that learning to do things that are unenjoyable is an inevitable part of life, this is only true up to a certain extent, and after that, it can, in fact, be a detriment to student learning. Academics on their own in school already seem irrelevant and detached - according to a survey conducted on LiveScience.com, two out of three High School students report that they are bored in class every day, and 75% reporting that they do not find the material they are learning interesting (Bryner, 2007) - and homework is definitely not helping to correct this image.

So what can be done to fix this? Eliminating homework is not an option. John Bishop, author of the book Goal Setting for Students mentioned many important benefits of homework in his article entitled Ten Benefits of Homework. The most prominent include how homework “...teaches students about time management...how to set priorities...how to problem solve...how to work independently…” (Bishop, n.d.). These are things that can’t be learned elsewhere but are important life skills that students must eventually understand one way or the other. By eliminating homework, we throw the baby out with the bathwater. What is important for homework is that we don’t set too much of it, and what we do set is “...engaging, relevant, and supports learning…” (Terada, 2015). The best way to do this lies in several answers. Fuglei lists these examples: the flipped classroom - “...where students engage the lecture material outside of the classroom and then classroom time is dedicated to what would have been homework under the traditional setup. Teachers are then free to allow students to work in groups or individually, visiting each group and testing their mastery along the way.”, spaced repetition - “Spaced repetition covers and revisits material over time in ways that traditional homework has not, revisiting material that has been covered in the recent and distant past to reinforce a student’s knowledge base.”, and retrieval practice - “Retrieval practice can lead to interesting assignments like the role-playing homework described in “How to Create Effective Homework,” in which students adopted a historical persona. Their drive to maintain their character extended into their motivation for completing homework.” The flipped classroom is the most effective way to do this but requires a lot of logistical changes to happen. On the other hand, spaced repetition is something that can be easily implemented into the current homework regiment. Retrieval practice is something that can be done both in and out of class - one example being that of our school, where in Humanities Class, we engage with history through role-playing, like acting out the various parts of the Feudal System, exploring the differences between the English Longbow and the French Crossbow during the Hundred Years’ War by having a simulated battle, and learning about the Age of Exploration by role-playing a selected explorer. These are examples which many students can attest to enjoying, myself included, but yet we learn so much from them. Critics will argue that much of the benefit of homework has been lost by changing its format, and while this may be true in some scenarios, such as standardised testing where rote learning is what is most necessary, for other types of learning like skill development, this type of homework is much more effective. When it comes to assigning effective homework, there is no excuse - teachers are spoilt for choices.

In conclusion, homework is a widely but incorrectly used tool. While there are many benefits and positives to be derived from it, right now, it is overused, as can be seen through its damaging effects on students - effects like stress, detraction of time and boredom. But homework is at the same time a tool with great potential for improving student learning - it has many benefits for rote learning and things which cannot be done in class, as well as providing teachers with a progress chart for viewing their students on. While others claim that the only solution to this problem is to eliminate homework, I contend that that is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and that the true solution for most cases is to instead change the amount of homework quantitatively, and change how it is done qualitatively - so that there is less homework that is more relevant, personalised and interesting for students. This is something that must be done - homework can only be most effective when assigned in a differentiated and balanced manner and it is important for students to get their learning in the most effective manner, so this must be implemented in whatever way possible.

Bibliography

1. Bishop, John. "10 Benefits of Homework." HotChalk Lesson Plans Page. HotChalk Lesson Plans Page, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
2. Fuglei, Monica. "Ending the Homework Debate: Expert Advice on What Works." Concordia Portland Online. Concordia Online Education, 28 Nov. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2016
3. Pilgrim, Trevor. "Homework: Harmful or Helpful?" Eduflow. Eduflow, 03 Oct. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
4. Terada, Youki. "Research Trends: Why Homework Should Be Balanced."Edutopia. Edutopia, 31 July 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
5. Bryner, Jeanna. "Most Students Bored at School." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 28 Feb. 2007. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.
6. Antranik. "Time and Stress." Antranikorg. N.p., 20 Jan. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.