Should Good Sportsmanship Be Taught in School?

Almost everyone feels that it is important for young people to win fairly and show respect toward others．Should good sportsmanship, then, be taught in school? Critics do not think so．【小题1】Presented here are the most important benefits of teaching sportsmanship．

Teaching good sportsmanship and having a positive attitude in activities like sports, class elections, and science fair competitions are critical to success in school．【小题2】Acting calmly under pressure helps young adults succeed not only in sports but also in life．

【小题3】A person cannot play by the rules if he or she does not understand what the rules are．Knowing the rules also applies to other activities．If students enter a science fair competition, for example, they must follow the guidelines． Those who know the rules are much more likely to succeed．When students learn sportsmanship, they discover, how knowing the rules relates to achievement．

Good players become skilled at handling responsibility．When people accept responsibility, they achieve their best．Positive thinkers, moreover, influence others, especially those who are struggling with a problem．A gifted basketball player, for example, might teach skills to a less-talented player．Helping others raises the performance of the entire team．The team, consequently, could reach new heights and set new records．【小题4】Those who do not practice sportsmanship pass off responsibility．For them, if an opportunity is lost, it is someone else' s fault．When students participate on a team, they benefit by learning to accept responsibility, encourage others and own up to（认错） mistakes．

Sportsmanship is a winning idea．It must be taught in school．Students need direction to become good sports"．Students will be responsible for their own actions and will have a positive influence on others．As students enter the workforce, businesses benefit．The community also benefits because these students will someday become leaders．【小题5】

In many countries, schools have long summer holidays, with shorter holidays in between. However, a new report suggests shortening school holidays to stop children forgetting what they have learnt during the long summer break. Instead of three school terms, it says, there should be five eight-week terms. And there should be just four weeks off in the summer, with a two-week break between the other terms.

Sonia Montero has two children at primary school and works full-time. She supports the idea. “The kids,” she says, “have much longer holidays than me and I can’t afford to take several weeks off work, so I need someone to take care of them. But nobody wants the work in the summer months — they all have holidays of their own.”

Not surprisingly, some young people disagree. Student Jason Panos says “It’s a stupid idea. I would hate staying at school in the summer. It’s unfair, too. The people who suggest this had long school holidays when they were young, but now they want to stop us enjoying the summer. The kids in Spain and America have much longer holidays than here, but they don’t forget everything they’ve learnt in a few months.”

Nadia Salib agrees. “Sure,” she says, “the first week at school after the summer is never easy, but you soon get back into it. The real problem round here is that kids get bored after so many weeks out of school, and then some of them start causing trouble. But the answer is to give them something to do, not make everyone stay in school longer.”