Athletes By Kevin Simpson Summary

Another external expectation was the reservation expecting Junior to be horrible at basketball which affected Junior’s confidence. “I mean, I’d always been the lowest Indian on the reservation totem pole -- I wasn’t expected to be good so I wasn’t” (180). Since not many

Julius Windmaker for example is one of the most talented basketball players in the reservation. Everyone believes in him and wants him to “make it all the way” (p.49) like Victor would say. The Indians love to talk about those gifted basketball players like Julius because it gives them a feeling of hope: “Everybody told their favorite Julius Windmaker stories, too Times like that, on a reservation, a basketball game felt like a funeral and wake all rolled up together” (p.51) Moreover basketball is really important for the Indians since the talented basketball players are the heroes of the reservation. People talk about them for years without forgetting them: “A reservation hero is a hero forever.

Summary In “children need to play, not compete” writer Jessica Statsky stresses upon the negative effects of organized sports on children. She claims that when all the “adult standards” are imposed on the children they are not valuable. She also states that these sports are developmentally inappropriate for the growing bodies of the children and also affects them phycology. These sports emphasize on the winning aspect that is pushed further by the parents and the team coaches who expect more from the children in the result of which children are pressurized.in most of the cases the children who lack self-confidence are neglected and are left behind because of the coaches preferring the children with more developed skills.

This quote shows how Juniors goes through stuggles with money because nobody wants to hire a “Resevation Indian boy”. This helps present how hard it is for a avrage kid on the reservation get a job so they would struggle with money because of this

Teens today are also influenced by their peers on their actions. In the article “Peer Pressure” it says, “The term “peer pressure” refers to any type of influence that your friends may have over you. Many times, teens are influenced by their peers to do things that result in negative consequences. This is negative peer pressure. Specifically, negative peer pressure refers to activities such as using drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes; vandalizing property; using violence against others; having sex before you are ready or having unsafe sex; stealing; or driving drunk” (Feder).

If it were not for Junior constantly facing the adversity of being bullied he would not have made the decision to shave the Andrusses hair. This conflict influenced Junior to make actions that are risky but could end up benefiting him in the future. Junior was not the only Indian on the reservation facing adversity. In fact most of the Indians were, and a specific person noticed this and finally came out and said something. Mr. P,

A tension between Indian parent and their children is how close of a family they are as opposed to American Families. In American society it’s not rare for teenagers to be autonomous, but children from different backgrounds (immigrant families) face a problem when they try to be autonomous. “Young Indian- Americans of high school and college are comparing themselves with their non-Indian classmates, and repeatedly express frustration at their own parents efforts to restrict their movements, monitor their behavior and make decisions for them”( Lessinger, 109). Indian immigrant children are more exposed to the cultural and agree that the cultural of growing up early is unknown to their parents. This sheltered, nurturing life cause problem for

In his book the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie portrays a teenage boy, Arnold Spirit (junior) living in white man’s world, and he must struggle to overcome racism and stereotypes if he must achieve his dreams. In the book, Junior faces a myriad of misfortunes at his former school in ‘the rez’ (reservation), which occurs as he struggles to escape from racial and stereotypical expectations about Indians. For Junior he must weigh between accepting what is expected of him as an Indian or fight against those forces and proof his peers and teachers wrong. Therefore, from the time Junior is in school at reservation up to the time he decides to attend a neighboring school in Rearden, we see a teenager who is facing tough consequences for attempting to go against the racial stereotypes.

Going along with the children’s families, the parents of these young athletes are spending large amounts of money to make their kid the best and go onto the professional league. The families of these children not only spend hundreds of dollars, but also are one of the top reasons youth sports have become so intense. They have been more involved and effect the child’s performance. These sports programs are causing mental and physical damage for these developing kids and the intensity of parents and coached have made it even more overwhelming. Youth Sports are getting so intense they are putting the lives of children in trouble.

“Malcolm and Antell (2001) argue that alcohol abuse and its related problems are not entirely objective phenomena; they also involve interpretation and stigmatization of deviant behavior” (Leon-Guerrero 2014). This could be because we view our older siblings, parents, and friends drinking and changes our perspective. For example, drinking is seen in media like music videos, television commercials and reality shows. This attracts the adolescents thinking drinking is a cool thing to do. For instance, during high school if you drink, you would be socially accepted but if you don’t then you can be considered an outcast.

Overcoming a challenge, not giving up, and not being afraid of change are a few themes demonstrated in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Perhaps the most prominent theme derived from the novel is defying the odds, or in other words rising above the expectations of others. Junior Spirit exemplifies this theme throughout the entirety of the book. As Junior is an Indian, he almost expects that he will never leave the reservation, become an alcoholic, and live in poverty like the other Indians on the reservation—only if he sits around and does not endeavor to change his fate. When Junior shares the backstory of his parents, he says that his mother and father came from “poor people who came from poor people who came from poor people, all the way back to the very first poor people” (11).

Flickinger elaborates that female students were not as welcome, as they rarely had money to purchase items. Martin reiterates that point by mentioning that he believed the athletes had exclusive privileges due to their success at the school. It becomes apparent that the Carlisle community took pride in the athletes of the school, as both the previously mentioned men mention the success of Jim Thorpe, however in reading the transcripts of these two men more closely, they both acknowledge that the student athletes required chaperones on their ventures into town. This was due to the statement that locals would entice Indian students to get drunk and cause trouble, resulting in a brief internment in the Carlisle jail. This raises a troubling question, why would the community take such pride in the athlete’s accomplishments, yet such joy in instigating their intoxication and

In this day and age with professional athletes being at the top of the social spectrum, youth sports have gotten very popular. “More than 26 million children ages 6 to 17 played team sports in 2014(Rosenwald).” Youth sports are very popular because it brings the great feeling of being on a team. When you are on a team you feel like you can do anything together, and nothing is stopping you. There are also many flaws in youth sports.

Teenagers of today has this lame belief that they can easily get away with drinking. They often forget that drinking more than tolerated put strain on the minds leading them to acquire low grades in class; consequently, they get bad jobs and bad environment through their lives. Drinking can even lead them to commit suicide. Youth in the united states prefer drinking alcohol over any other mood-altering substance.

A few sorts of drugs are helpless to mishandle by youth. These medications range from most regular and less costly, for example, cigarettes and liquor to extravagant and all the more fatal, for example, cocaine and heroin. Teenagers are curious to try out those drugs and with the poor parent-child relationship it is easy for teenagers to access those drugs. Parents are no more in the firm position to direct and aide their youngsters. A portion of the young live far from their parents,