Alex Astort-Fabra 711 

ELA      Ms. Cunningham  

Should kids be playing contact sports? 

All across America millions of kids are being injured one after the other and the real question today is should kids play contact sports? They should. Playing contact sports offers a great deal of exercise, and it will help children focus in school. Some kids have been playing sports since they were very young and if they grow up playing the wrong way then that is a hazard to the sport playing community. 

One of the biggest challenges today for parents is letting their kids play contact sports because of the risk of injuries. But if parents do let their kids play they will have happier and healthier children. In the article” crave competition, its good for you: a column by Joseph De Sena, it states: “ it’s time our country and our kids to get back to winning and losing.”  Many studies have proven that playing sports is good when you have competition, although you run a small risk of being injured. With the exercise from playing those sports the children playing these sports will be healthier and will have less risk in getting heart and brain diseases. From the same article “ what people fail to realize is that like Spartans, like all of us children want to win.” Kids should be playing sports to become healthier and less risked to have future heart diseases and to know how to compete.  

 Playing sports helps kids excel in school by increasing focus and learning stamina and also helping to boost self-esteem and self-confidence. If a child stays active and plays sports it has been proven that they will do better in school and have more success in life. Sports will also help with memory and sleep which will help a lot in school. A piece of evidence that I can use to support this is “Although not mentioned as often, research increasingly points to academic benefits for kids who have some regular physical activity.” This shows how beneficial sports can be. Also playing sports will help one person’s self-esteem and self-confidence. In the article “Young teens who play sports feel healthier and happier” it says “Playing on a sports team was linked to higher life satisfaction in both boys and girls.”  I really think that kids should play contact sports because it can really help them to excel in learning and really helps to boost your self-esteem and self confidence. 

Although playing contact sports is healthy and can really benefit you, it has its lows. In the article  “ For kids in sports a breaking point” by Jane E. Brody it says, “ Every year more than 3.5 million kids under 15 require medical treatment for sports injuries. Nearly half of which are the result of simple overuse.” Although this might be true if kids enjoy these sports they would take the risks and know what they were getting into. 

In conclusion playing sports does not only make you healthier but it can boost your learning stamina and help you do well in school. And be healthier kids. Although there are risks to playing contact sports like the risked of injurie it is still worth it take that risk and become a better person. We take risks every day, so will you take that risk? 

Alex Astort-Fabra711 

1984 & Hunger games  

Both books are very similar and very different in many ways for example they both have very strict governments but both governments have very different ways of controlling their people. Both governments use propaganda to control their people. They are also very different in the ways the government controls them. The book The Hunger Games is about a girl Katniss Everdeen who lives in a very poor society or what they call “districts” she lives in district 12 the worst district. Every year the capitol has an annual hunger games where 2 tributes from each district so 24 in total fight in an arena to the death until one remains which he or she is crowned the victor. In 1984 the main Character Winston Smith is a man who lives in a society that the government controls everything. In his community the government has a thought police. The thought police have cameras and microphones ever where, and they watch you through your T.V which you are never allowed to turn off. They use this to stop any sort of rebellion. Imagine being controlled to the point when you have no privacy, how would you feel? That’s what most of the characters in both books feel. 

Both books have very over powering governments that use fear to control the people. For example in 1984 the party uses a thought police to control people by placing cameras and microphones in every ones house to catch people who want to rebel or people who are doing something against the rules. When they catch you they will take you away and torture you in the ministry of love. Also in the hunger games if people show any signs of rebellion they will take them and kill them. For example the three fingers, if any peace keeper sees anyone put up their three fingers they will take them and torture them. Both governments use torture or pain to get what they want. For example in 1984 once they have tortured them they totally control their minds. In Hunger Games the capitol wants people to not think of rebellion. 

Although both governments are very similar they are also very different in the ways they control their people. In 1984 they control them by beating and torturing until they snapped and did everything they wanted. For example Big Brother convinced people that 2+2=5 and that slavery is freedom and that war is peace. They did that after the extreme things big brother have done to the people like re writing the history books now almost all the people in the society are convinced the big brother is always right, and if they don’t think he is always right they will torture you to the point that you will. In the hunger games they controlled people by if they submitted their name multiple times in the reaping they would get some portions of food. The capitol starved the people so they would submit their names more times to participate in the annual hunger games a game where 2 tributes from each district fight to the death until one victor remains. This was one of the main ways the Capitol controlled their people. “ Give them hope but not too much because then they would want to rebel” states President Snow. This proves that if they give them too much hope people will rebel. 

All in All both books explore most of the same themes but in different ways. Both governments are very similar and different in many different ways. If you were to be in one of these societies which one would you chose?