thesis
Rights and wrongs: a philosophical consideration of children's participation in elite sport
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Abstract
The experiences of some children participating in the demanding and intensive world of elite
sport appear to compromise one of the primary aims of both childhood and parenthood,
which should be for children to arrive on the threshold of adulthood with their futures open
and unlimited. A body of evidence in the medical and socio-psychologicalliterature
contends that child athletes participating in elite sport are being harmed physically,
psychologically, and socially by the intensive training and competition practices required of
athletes in sports such as women's gymnastics, figure skating, and others.
Participation by children in the highest levels of sport change attitudes and impels
behaviours in ways that are unique in their extent and devastating in their consequences.
As the varying and often conflicting agendas of athletes, parents, coaches, agents, and
sporting bureaucracies come into conflict, considerations of care and regard for the athletes
become down played or even ignored, resulting in these young athletes being harmed, and
their futures compromised.
Children are characterised by their vulnerability, naivety, and inability to formulate their own
life-plans, necessitating a degree of parental paternalism in their relationships with adults.
This paternalism is justified by the child's dependency on others for protection, and for
developing the necessary skills for self-sufficiency and self-determination secured through
their burgeoning autonomy as they advance towards adulthood. Under law, parents are
given primary responsibility for the health and welfare of their children, because they are
ideally situated to determine their child's best interests. In sport, this responsibility is
regularly transferred from the parents to the coach and other involved adults.
Unfortunately, however, children may be exploited by the very individuals who are entrusted
with their care and nurturance. A further body of evidence claims the inescapability of
paternalism in relationships between adults and children in elite sport has been exploited: it
is disrespectful of the child's burgeoning autonomy, and jeopardises his or her right to an
open future. The child's right to an open future is an autonomy right-in-trust saved until he or
she is more fully formed and capable of exercising self-determination. This right may be
violated in advance of adulthood by foreclosure of options.
In this thesis, I argue that elite sport children require a form of paternalism that protects their
interests while at the same time is autonomy-respectful. This is actualised by a bifurcated
rights system, which works towards securing non-harmful sports practices and preventing
the premature foreclosure of life opportunities for elite child athletes post-sport.
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