BP8

     The general argument made by Josh Greenbaum in The Short Game, is that it is okay to enroll these kids into this level of competition of sports if the parents are supportive of them and stick with it for them. The kids train hard every single day and the parents are there for it all. There were nine seven to eight year olds highlighted in the film, all of which play golf at a very competitive level.  Most viewers would probably see this as a disgrace and feel bad for the kids because they think they're childhood is more so like an adulthood already.  Huge amounts of money and time are put in for the kids to practice and participate in tournaments. The documentary allows both opinions to be seen. The kids are seen happy when they do a fair job in a golf tournament and they were also shown highly distraught at some simple mistakes too. For instance, Allan Kournikova is an average boy besides the fact he comes from a very rich family. He still hangs out with friends and spends time with his family, but at the same time a huge majority of his time is being dedicated to hard training for golf. Any child's main concern should be to just enjoy what is going on, they shouldn't be worried about how many reps they can do, how many hours per week they spent on a course, or how many trophies they have brought home.

     In my view, Greenbaum is wrong because these kids are being pushed way too far and being expected of too much. I, personally, believe they are being tossed too much at once. Their entire life is revolving around golf and nothing else. I think this level of competition shouldn't be reached until around ten years of age or older because at that point kids know of it is really what they want to commit all of their time to. Although Greenbaum shows the parents supporting these children, I just don't believe they are mentally or physically ready to take this on yet. Kids should be able to go out and play with their friends or go home and watch TV with their family.. these select kids are having to put their childhood aside and act like they are in the pros and basically spend every other waking moment on the course. I strongly oppose the stress these children are having to undergo at such a young age.

     In the documentary, Greenbaum persuades that there is not an issue with young children being involved with extremely competitive sports with supportive parents to a certain extent. He interviews families of different races and different social classes to show the common obstacles and the similar good moments by giving background information on each of the highlighted kids. He shows that throughout their time spent in golf they overcome adversity and build from their mistakes by pinpointing some of their improvements. Ethical appeals he reiterates are that kids should be taught to exercise to stay healthy, not to excel in professional sports and kids should do it to have fun, not for the money or fame of it. His purpose is to expose people to the negative and positive effects of these high levels of competition at such young ages in order to prevent the negative effects. He seems to have a family/parent audience in mind because this is a growing phenomenon in today's culture.