It is very likely that most of us have participated in youth sports at one time or another. Some of us stopped after our preschool tee-ball league while others continue to play to this day. Regardless of how long you played sports or at what level of competition you played at, the statistics show that youth sports have tremendous benefits for the children who play them – both in the present and in the future.

The immediate and most obvious benefits are the healthier lifestyle choices that come with participating in sports. The obesity rate for children ages 2-19 is 18.5 percent. That is an alarmingly high number. Playing sports is one way for kids to avoid being a part of that statistic.

A 2012 study found that nearly 29 percent of students in New Hampshire and Vermont were either overweight or obese, but students participating in one or more sports were less likely to be overweight or obese compared to non-participants. The researchers estimated that if all adolescents played on two or more sports teams per year, the prevalence of obesity would decrease by 26 percent. The scientific data is clear; participating in sports significantly reduces the odds of becoming obese.

Sports don’t just provide immediate health benefits for kids – they also promote healthy lifestyles and provide certain benefits that last long after the kids hang up the cleats for the last time. As the National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS) points out, child athletes eat more fruits and vegetables, are less likely to smoke and are less likely to become obese in the future. Sports not only provide immediate health benefits to kids, but it also makes them more likely to be healthy in the future.

Not only do sports give kids an opportunity to meet and hang out with friends, but sports also help kids develop very important social skills. All sports require some form of teamwork and communication between team members. These skills are crucial in higher education, careers and life in general.

It has even been observed that there is a correlation between physical activity and academic success. In a study by the Journal of Pediatrics, they found that “physical activity has a positive influence on concentration and memory and on classroom behavior.” The study even found that sports had a small positive impact on grade point average and test scores. This completely dismantles the “dumb-jock” stereotype.

Last but certainly not least, sports provide youth with crucial and long-lasting psychological benefits. The NCYS suggests that youth athletes have higher levels of self-esteem, lower levels of depression, lower levels of suicidal thoughts and attempts, and lower levels of problem behaviors – including aggression, social and delinquency problems.

A study summarized by the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports the high school students who were studied viewed extracurricular activities as an important growth experience in which psychological skills such as goal setting, time management and emotional control were developed. I can say with great confidence that these skills are a necessity in college, and are certainly crucial in jobs and careers as well.

There are some glaring concerns that many parents have about youth sports. The risk of injury is easily the most common worry of parents. In a study done by Ohio University, they found that 87.9 percent of parents are concerned about the risk of injury in youth sports. They also found that 2.6 million children under 19 are treated for sports and recreation related injuries.

However, sports or not, no kids are going to grow up without suffering some injuries. Not allowing your kid to experience the world and develop life skills because of a fear of them getting hurt is, in my opinion, irrational and harmful to kids. When you try and prevent your kids from being injured, you end up harming them by not allowing them to develop crucial psychological, social, intellectual and physical skills – skills that are acquired and developed through sports.

Obviously, there are other ways for children to gain and develop these skills outside of sports. There are all sorts of clubs, extracurricular activities and other groups that kids can participate in at a very young age and acquire nearly all of these skills without the injury risk. Nonetheless, kids generally love to move and have a lot of energy, and youth sports provides them with an opportunity to put that energy to good use. It also provides certain benefits – such as health benefits and physical skills – that can’t be found anywhere else.

As a society, we are currently running the risk of handing our children a messed up world without adequately preparing them to be able to fix it. Sports is one solution to changing that. It provides kids with an outlet to put their high energy to good use, teaches them how to live a healthy lifestyle, and it helps them to develop skills that will be crucial to their future, and possibly the future of the world.

Additionally, students have formed March for Our Lives in order to organize a nationwide protest to demand that a comprehensive bill be presented in Congress to address guns and school safety. The march will take place in Washington, D.C., Kansas City, Lee’s Summit and over 490 other cities across the U.S. March 24.

This article is not about my opinions on an AR-15 ban or for a bill that presents possible gun restrictions. Instead, I am arguing that people should be supporting students and young people who are effecting change. Regardless of your opinion on gun control, it is necessary to thoughtfully consider the students who are fighting for change.

Young people have been effecting serious change for generations yet continue not to be taken seriously. Many people who attempt to shut down young change-makers assert that they do not have enough life experience or do not have all of the facts about the topic they are supporting.

These arguments do contain some truth. Young adults do not have as much life experience as middle-aged or senior citizens. This is obvious. However, they do have enough experience to be passionate about the topics in which they believe. If not, they would not be fighting so hard for those causes.

Young people may not know all of the facts pertinent to the subject that they are fighting. Expecting them to is hypocritical. People in charge, from presidents to parents, make mistakes all of the time. How can young people be expected to know every detail about a certain issue when their elders are not held to that same standard?

People always have something to learn. Young people are taught from birth to listen to and obey their elders, but those same elders are not expected to listen to the young people surrounding them. To some extent this is an issue of power. Young people questioning their elders and the status quo they have established threatens their power. Regardless, young people continue to effect change and change the status quo under which they are raised. These feats, challenging authority and changing the status quo, deserve respect.

Some of the most prominent American revolutionaries were under 25 years old in 1776. Marquis de Lafayette and James Monroe were 18 years old, Aaron Burr was 20 and Alexander Hamilton was 21. Although the revolutionary era caused them to mature rapidly, their young age at the start of the war is incredible. These are some of the men who founded our country. Soldiers and citizens alike respected their leadership and today we respect their insight.

In 1969, the Supreme Court sided with a group of students protesting the Vietnam War in “Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District.” The movement began when, in 1965, a group of high school students was suspended for wearing black armbands to show support for a truce in the Vietnam War.

When the students challenged their suspension, the district court dismissed the case on the grounds that the school district’s actions were reasonable in order to uphold school discipline. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court. Undeterred, the students appealed to the Supreme Court where the decision was 7-2 in favor of the students. This decision guaranteed First Amendment rights to students, ensuring that constitutional rights applied in schools. Additionally, the decision gave students the right to peacefully protest on school grounds.

Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani school girl, defied threats from the Taliban in order to campaign for girls’ rights to education. Despite being shot in the head by the Taliban, she continued her movement and has now become a global advocate for human rights and women’s rights to equal education. She attends Lady Margaret Hall at Oxford University, where she studies politics, philosophy and economics.

These are just a few of the many examples in which young adults took initiative and fought for the change they wanted to see. A majority of the time, the causes for which youths campaign are successful because of the passion and dedication that they have. Young adults have been successfully fighting for change for too long now to be told that they don’t know what they’re doing.

People will benefit from listening to empowered youth as well. Studies have shown that the brain is not fully developed until age 25. This is not to say that youth are incapable of informed decisions. Rather, young people are less set in their ways and opinions than those older than them. Because of this, young people are typically more willing to compromise with and listen to people who have opposing points of view. They deserve to be granted the same courtesy.

Young people are the future. They know what changes they want to better the society in which they have already begun to participate. They are told to vote and begin their adult lives at age 18 but still are not taken seriously when they try to change the status quo. Active participation in civic life and attempting to change it for the better is the duty of every U.S. citizen. Don’t shut young people down in their attempt to do just that. These change-makers are attempting to better their society. The least the public can do is listen to them and seriously consider the changes they are trying to make.

Photo courtesy of HelloGiggles/Joe Raedle.