Just saw a presentation on this today which inspired me to ask how you guys feel about this. Hyperspecialization of sports on children is basically when a lot of pressure is put on a child to constantly and excessively practice a sport, to the point where they injure their bodies, some injuries that never go away. This pressure is typically placed on them by their parents or maybe a coach. The damage isn't just physically damaging, but psychologically as well, lowering the feeling of self-worth or esteem in a child/teen when they don't win or achieve high enough in a competition. Obviously hyperspecialization is dangerous and harmful, do you think there should be regulations or laws put in place? How do we make sports an activity where the risk of injury is lowered for children?
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Kya Chanlevitz
Jun 1, 2017
Hyperspecialization of sports on children
Hyperspecialization of sports on children
I haven't heard too much about this (which is a problem in itself), but I just read a few articles about it. Being encouraged is an entirely different matter than being goaded and continuously pushed to become an 'elite' athlete. Many parents push their kids down this path so that they can get athletic scholarships for college, which are notoriously difficult to attain. At the same time, a 3-year study by Loyola showed that kids had a 36% increased chance of receiving a serious injury if they hyperspecialized.
In terms of solutions, more awareness is definitely important - I'm not sure what role (and if a role should be played) by the government itself, though. Do you have any suggestions?