Opinions....

This fortnight we have been justifying our opinion for our writing activity.  We had to watch two videos of children who were sparring for a Taekwondo tournament.  We had to decide if we thought children should or should not do taekwondo.  Mrs Bellis was interested in our opinion because it was her boys sparring but she has a friend who thinks taekwondo is a bad idea for children.

This is what Lofa thinks:

 

This is what Nathan thinks:  

This is what Pyper thinks:

 

Not many children took the other point of view but Ysabel has a pretty sound argument: 

 Why children should not do taekwondo. 

 Reason 1. I don’t think children should do taekwondo, it’s not safe because you can get hurt badly. 

Reason 2. One day when children are young adults or adults they might get into a fight with someone else and they get hurt badly, and break a bone. 

 Reason 3. I know it’s self defence, but people can get really, really hurt by fighting. It’s not very appropriate for children, because it might encourage them to start fights. 

 Kaylee agreed with Ysabel: 

Why shouldn't kids be allowed to play taekwondo… 

 Reason 1. If you're in a tournament and you get badly hurt it could make you not want to do sports anymore. 

 Reason 2. When you're practicing with a partner you might injure them and then it will make you feel bad and like it was your fault. 

 Reason 3. Taekwondo is about fighting and it’s better to not be around violence because if you're in bad mood you might use violence instead of working it out. 

Maddy structured a very well thought out argument in favour of taekwondo:

Some sports are rough, most are about teamwork, but others are all about fighting. Taekwondo is a sport where the opponent's strike each other with kicks to score points.

Taekwondo is a thriving sport, which like any other sport, is good to be a part of. It can help people to be fit and even have a better impact on life. They learn new things and even make new friends. It helps build people’s confidence and sportsmanship too. It also is from a different culture, so you might just learn a bit about that culture or country.

Taekwondo centres are great, because people can meet with other people. They are also apart of a community, where people have good sportsmanship and love to compete. They learn neat things too, like different kicking techniques and maneuvers. This is great when it comes to self defence (if they ever need it), because then they can protect themselves or others.

Taekwondo is an interesting sport, due to the way you supposedly win. The opponent’s literally kick each other to achieve victory, but they do have protective padding on. Some people may think this as a violent sport where kids shouldn’t compete, but it really is a great sport to take part in.

If people like Taekwondo, they should have the right to enjoy it. It’s a sport that expresses confidence and courage, along side sportsmanship and self defence.

We have great writers in Galilee....

 What do you think?