Charlie Graves Rebecca Agosta English 1102 April 3, 2014 Disciplined Sports When people think of sports and

athletes many different atypical assumptions of the athletes come to their mind. People have the tendency to view athletes as teenagers that are reckless and irresponsible kids that have priorities all wrong. There are many stereotypes for teenage athletes such as teenage athletes party, participate in more sexual activity and substance abuse. However, it may be true that teenage athletes do participate in all of those but not more than the average teenager. People rarely see the other side of the athletes, the very successful and responsible side of there their life. The article High-Risk Behavior in Teenage athletes points out the statistical difference of behavior and discipline in the average teenager and teenage athletes when it comes to the abuse of various substances. A statistical analysis show that teenage athletes are 25% less likely to drink beer and 40% less likely to drink liquor as well as being 50% less likely to partake in marijuana or other hard drugs. This expresses the discipline that teenage athletes have to focus their attention on other thing that are more important such as school and their sport and participating in substance abuse. This is an important point is that athletes are reversing the standard stereotypes that people already view them as bad examples for children and give the community a bad reputation.
Comment [t5]: Good integration of source and paraphrase. Comment [t4]: Where do you see these assumptions/stereotypes played out? Can you give examples so we can see where people think this? Ive encountered the positive connotations more than the negative, which is why I ask. Comment [t2]: Hmm.. interesting title. I think you could push it further to have more meaning. Comment [t3]: Atypical means unusual. Dont you mean here that people often come to the same assumptions? If so, change this to typical. Comment [t1]: Times new roman. 1 inch margins.

John Wooden said, Sports do not build character. They reveal it. This is a quote that I have learned is very true over my past endeavors with sports. Statistics shoe show that teenagers/ adolescents that participate in organized sports are less likely to end up on the wrong path. It is proven that teenagers that participate in athletics are prone to a more positive production in school as well as a betterbehaved personality. Sports have also proven to show more self-esteem and confidence in teenagers and adolescents as well as increased bodily health. The internet article from TrueSport talks about how there is an increase in the participation of athletes compared to non-athletes therefore leading to a a better public image.

Comment [t6]: I think this could be a good shift into talk about the identity of s.a. and how thats affected by stereotypes and reality. I wouldnt know at this point that you were researching the identity of student athletes and how athletics can promote a positive identity. Comment [t7]: Cite statistics/source

Comment [t8]: Okay, as you go forward, make sure to give examples or scenarios that help show your points. Work on bringing in identity more. Youre hitting us with facts, now give us the human side.