It is a fact that, in many regions of the world, exist few tv channels showing only sport or matches, 24 hours a day. A part of the population believe this is discouraging young people from taking part in sports. I surely do not agree with this idea.
I think this idea is supported only by adults, and their point of view is understandable: I can imagine a father seeing his son watching sports on television all the afternoon. His thought can reasonably be the one expressed in the statement. It is a fact that sports, or at least some of them, are naturally present in people’s minds, and some people may think that watch sports on television can be enough to satisfy their sport need. The only example I can bring regard my uncle. When he was younger, he was really interested in cycling. But when he turned fifty, he started to watch cycling competitions on television all the evenings, and his volountee to go cycling suddenly decreased. Furthermore, I have no similar examples regarding young people.
In my opinion, young people are really interested in sport, and the fact that they usually watch sport programs on tv depends also by the energy they spend every day for other activities, like study. My brother really love playing football, but at the end of the school he is usually so tired that he prefers to watch football match on tv having dinner than to have dinner quickly to go play football in the evening with his friend.
In conclusion, I think that young people usually watch sports on tv not because they prefer watching sport than taking part in them, but because their lives bring them to look for some slow activities, like to watch tv. If their daily routine was not so performing, they will have the energy to take part in sport an match.