Many life lessons can be taught through sports. Children can learn the importance of work ethic, working with others, perseverance, and the list goes on. There are studies that have shown that kids who participate in athletics are more successful in the business world. It is only when parents turn sporting events into an ultra-competitive need for their children that this can become harmful. The lessons that sports teaches children about real life are one of the greatest benefits you can get from sports. Because so much can be learned through sport, we need to ensure we focus on teaching lessons through sport rather than focusing solely on winning. It's sad when parents turn something of great benefit into something that can be harmful to their children. Sports have always been an important part of American culture. We give our children different sporting goods to play with. From the moment they can walk, sport is imposed on them. If you go to any store to buy children's toys, you can find all kinds of children's sporting goods. Many parents promote these sporting goods to their children hoping that they will become the next phenomenon in the world of sports. Who wouldn't want that for their child? Athletics can open up all kinds of opportunities. It can pay for college and if they play professionally they will earn large sums of money. While sports can be great, are these parents pushing their kids to the max? It doesn't matter if there are some harmful aspects to sports, there is always the positive side of life lessons that can be learned. Many parents put their children into sports for the wrong reason. They seek to live out their past dreams of sporting glory through their children. They can push and pull... the center of the paper... based on their performance compared to other children. This can cause them to measure their self-worth by their performance compared to others. It may start with just sports, but it will expand into all areas of life. Sports can be a great emotional and physical outlet. They can relieve stress and help increase self-confidence. Humans are naturally competitive and through athletics this competitiveness can be released in a positive and purposeful way. Competition is a fundamental function of nature. Those who can compete best with their environment survive. Those who cannot compete die. Competition is a powerful drive in all human beings. We compete as groups, against ourselves and against others. Sport offers us a channel to get all this out safely. Sports teaches you to be resilient. They teach that even when there is a defeat you have to move on to the next opportunity to compete.