Argument206 狠拍之，THX~

cinderellaflyUID: 2761012

TOPIC: ARGUMENT206 - The following appeared in a letter to the editor of the Parkville Daily Newspaper.

"Throughout the country last year, as more and more children below the age of nine participated in youth-league softball and soccer, over 80,000 of these young players suffered injuries. When interviewed for a recent study, youth-league softball players in several major cities also reported psychological pressure from coaches and parents to win games. Furthermore, education experts say that long practice sessions for these sports take away time that could be used for academic activities. Since the disadvantages apparently outweigh any advantages, we in Parkville should discontinue organized athletic competition for children under nine.


The argument is well-presented but not thoroughly well-reasoned. By citing the fact that over 80,000 of young players suffered injuries nationwide and youth-league softball players reported psychological pressure, and quoting the words of education experts which just indicate the negative part of long practice sessions, it seems logical that the arguer asserts that athletic competition should be discontinued since its disadvantages offset its merits.

However, the quoting suffers from several statistical problems which would render the conclusion unreliable. The arguer fails to consider the total number of young players involved in the competition. If the grosses is considerable, like 100 million,
then 80,000 only accounts for
a small proportion. As a result, it is unfair to assume that athletic competition causes a severe situation of injuries. Even if we accept 80,000 is a relatively bound number, only softball and soccer are involved in the survey, which might not be representative enough to reflect all the sports competition. So it is presumptuous to assume that all the athletics competition should be canceled.

Another flaw that weakens the conclusion is that it assumes that the nationwide statistics about the injuries applies equally to Parkville. Yet this might not be the case, for a variety of possible reasons. Perhaps the athletic education in Parkville put great emphasis on the protective measures that few children are injured in the competition; or perhaps there are just few athletic competitions in Parkville, which, in itself, leads rarely any injury. Without ruling out such possibilities, the arguer can not justifiably conclude that children under nine in Parkville should be prevented from athletic competition.


Also the arguer can not conclude hastily that athletic competition is harmful to the children since the study only considered the players in the major cities and did not provide any information about them. There is a good chance that the competition is much more pierce than that in Parkville, resulting in great psychological pressure on the players. Whereas in Parkville, children just take it for fun and suffered less pressure or no pressure at all.
Except this, the arguer fails to mention the age of the respondents. If they are not under nine years old, it is incorrect to make the conclusion.

Before I come to my conclusion, it is necessary to point out that athletic competition bring about a great deal of advantages to children's bodies, as well as their studies, which is ignored in the argument. For example, sports help the children strengthen their bodies and make them more concentrated while taking academic activities. If they are replaced by studying, it might result in a lower effectiveness and less healthy lives.
Without a complete analysis, it is unfair to conclude the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, let alone the prevention of athletic competition.


To sum up, the arguer fails to substantiate that the children under nine in Parkville are suffering from the athletic competition and it should be canceled, because the evidence cited in the argument does not lend strong support to what the arguer maintains. To better assess the argument, we would need more information about the situation of injuries and pressure suffered by the children under nine in Parkville and consider alternative accesses to solve the problem, which might balance the negative effects. Therefore, if the argument had included the given factors discussed above, it would have been more thorough and logical acceptable.

cinderellaflyUID: 2761012

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