What are we teaching our kids?

ern59 · 08-27-2008, 12:46 PM

ESPN - 9-year-old boy told he's too good to pitch - ESPN

I realize this is a sports story but it refects on our society as a whole in my humble opinion. This 9 ( yes, NINE) year old can't play baseball because he's too good. The parents of the other kids have basically told their children that when they can't succeed against someone, they should just change the rules. Don't hang in there and try harder or get better, just get rid of the kid who's better so they won't experience failure. Now, before the inevitable comments about how these are just kids and too young to not just have fun, think about this. What would have happened if kids like Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky or David Beckham or Pele were not allowed to play because their skills surpassed other kids in their age group?

It's a sad story of how our society is preparing our children for a life of mediocrity and whining when things don't go their way. The other kids are allowed to quit rather than learn to overcome obstacles. As a child, I played lots of sports. None of them very well, but I went out and tried and had fun anyway. I learned that not all of us are elite athletes and I will strike out many more times than I will hit a home run. It taught me to perservere and work hard to be better in everything I do. I have brought that work ethic and perserverance into my adult life and career. It has allowed me to accept failure as a part of life and to do the best I can so the failures are fewer than the successes. I do not whine when someone better at my job gets a raise or promotion instead of me. They deserve it and I work harder to earn the same rewards.

The children in this story, however, will learn that when someone does well in their environment and is rewarded for it, they can get together with their other mediocre co-workers and whine and bully the bosses into evening out the field. They will never be truly successful in anything they do because they will never be pushed by the prospect of failure. We are creating an entire generation of people with no work ethic or desire and this is just a microcosm of our society as a whole. I feel bad for these kids and shame for the parents. Their so-called safety concerns are merely a smoke-screen for their own inequities. The shame is the long-term effects on their kids.

Vinnie · 08-27-2008, 04:09 PM

It's been going on for a while. My wife was brought up in Kent (don't hold it against her) and moved with her family up to Inverness when she was 14. She played tennis down south and when the summer (such as it is) rolled around she went to play tennis at Inverness.She was forbidden to se a double handed back hand or to serve the ball at her opponent's body since it frightened the other girls. Pathetic.

Then we can go tothe other extreme. My friend Paul coaches football (soccer). He interviewed for one local boys team and was asked how he would structure his team. When he expressed that he would rotate the team so that all players got a game he was cross-questioned as to whether he would do this even when better players would be left out. Of course was his rply (we're talking about 11 year olds here). The management felt this sort of philosophy was not suited to such a "senior" team so he's now running their under 10 team. Te last time he did this was with a girls team who he took from nowhere to leagu winners in 3 years increasing the pool of players by 300% along the way since all the kids got to play. The poorer players were encouraged to try harder and the decent players were streched since sometimes they had to cover.

sunburstlespaulhero1989 · 08-27-2008, 06:30 PM

Skill is nothing, people just play for fun. If others have problems with someone's skills, they should just play since winning isn't everything. It is good to have a hard challenge, it prepares you for the real world.

**essex boy** · 08-28-2008, 04:25 AM

At one time they was thinking of banning Sports Day here.
If the kids don't win it makes them feel bad.

Flynn · 08-28-2008, 04:33 AM

It is a very current and topical subject here.

quote Canberra Times

School's gymnastics ban slated

A North Queensland school held a meeting last night after intense criticism of its policy to ban students from doing cartwheels and handstands in the playground.
Belgian Gardens State School in Townsville held a parents and citizens' meeting to discuss the matter.

The school has come under fire since it was revealed that it had banned all gymnastics activities during breaks to protect students from injury.

Mr Welford called on the principal earlier this week to review the policy and instructed regional education officers yesterday to meet school authorities.

He said teachers feared that parents could sue schools for student accidents.

The Education Minister said, ''I think the decision by the principal in Townsville the other day was prompted by the fact that increasingly we, as a community, are wrapping our children in cotton wool because more and more parents are even complaining when their children have minor accidents. ''I think our generation of parents are mollycoddling their children.''

However, Education Queensland regional executive director Vicki Baylis said yesterday fear of litigation was not a factor in the decision.

Vinnie · 08-28-2008, 05:39 AM

I like the challenge of sports and feel it is good for the kids. This is coming from one who was perennially picked last for the football team. Basically I'm crap at sports but by application and hard graft I found my niche in teaching fencing (go for a minority sport they're desperate for members!)

I liken the way Westhill Primary does sports with their "potted sports" (it's a knockut type events) and then the more traditional races (running, sack race tattie and spon race etc)
The child can win in their race but the kids are also divided up into houses and so even if they come last they still gain pints for their house and can claim a win if their house wins. Since there's only 3 houses and there are winers for the seniors and juniors potted s[ports, traditional races and overall, there is a very good chance that even if you did not win your house will have won at least one section!

The fear of litigatuionand particularly the human rights legislation is often used as an excuse when a public body wishes to save money and wants something to blame as it does so.

Vinnie · 08-28-2008, 09:47 AM

Vinnie's friend Paul comments:

My solution to a player that is "too good" for their age group is that this player should be challenged to his/her level. This can be done in many ways. Promote them to play against an older age group, get them to pitch only curve balls (if this is their weakest pitch), have them pitch from a greater distance (giving other players more time to see the pitch) would be three examples. Hope that these ideas help!

Paul

sunburstlespaulhero1989 · 08-28-2008, 10:11 AM

Why are kids being taught that winning is everything? These sports purely exist for the funness of life, not to be the freakin best.

Don'tLikeStinkingThinking · 08-28-2008, 10:25 AM

I loved sports...gave me an identity in a large school of blank faces. Track, baseball, basketball, football (football lmao), swimming, gymnastics, gosh did I miss anything oh yeah home (something) were you were taught how to sew, cook and clean, yep the only boy in the class and it was a challenge hehehe! The discipline, the exercise, the highs the lows, winning, LOSING, the glory and defeat...oh my de feet!

Most parents and kids are pussies these days, no wonder here in the US we have so many overweight people. Furthermore, many school for lack of funding don't have gym class anylonger. Oye....dodge ball now that left a mark....

sybarite · 08-28-2008, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don'tLikeStinkingThinking

I loved sports...gave me an identity in a large school of blank faces. Track, baseball, basketball, football (football lmao), swimming, gymnastics, gosh did I miss anything oh yeah home (something) were you were taught how to sew, cook and clean, yep the only boy in the class and it was a challenge hehehe! The discipline, the exercise, the highs the lows, winning, LOSING, the glory and defeat...oh my de feet!

Most parents and kids are pussies these days, no wonder here in the US we have so many overweight people. Furthermore, many school for lack of funding don't have gym class anylonger. Oye....dodge ball now that left a mark....

That's why I liked gymnastics. You preform individually, but your still a team and if you don't do your best you face the wrath of your teammates. If you slack off and your performance is messy, the team doesn't make it to state. I miss those days!!

Dodge ball......I was almost knocked unconscious once during dodge ball in 6th grade. The boys would whip them as hard as they could and a ball nailed me right in the middle of the forehead. I went flying backward, feet in the air and landed on my head. I had a huge lump on my forehead. The teacher chewed some hiney that day.

08-27-2008, 12:46 PM	#1 (permalink)
ern59 Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Tacoma Wa Posts: 323	What are we teaching our kids? ESPN - 9-year-old boy told he's too good to pitch - ESPN I realize this is a sports story but it refects on our society as a whole in my humble opinion. This 9 ( yes, NINE) year old can't play baseball because he's too good. The parents of the other kids have basically told their children that when they can't succeed against someone, they should just change the rules. Don't hang in there and try harder or get better, just get rid of the kid who's better so they won't experience failure. Now, before the inevitable comments about how these are just kids and too young to not just have fun, think about this. What would have happened if kids like Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky or David Beckham or Pele were not allowed to play because their skills surpassed other kids in their age group? It's a sad story of how our society is preparing our children for a life of mediocrity and whining when things don't go their way. The other kids are allowed to quit rather than learn to overcome obstacles. As a child, I played lots of sports. None of them very well, but I went out and tried and had fun anyway. I learned that not all of us are elite athletes and I will strike out many more times than I will hit a home run. It taught me to perservere and work hard to be better in everything I do. I have brought that work ethic and perserverance into my adult life and career. It has allowed me to accept failure as a part of life and to do the best I can so the failures are fewer than the successes. I do not whine when someone better at my job gets a raise or promotion instead of me. They deserve it and I work harder to earn the same rewards. The children in this story, however, will learn that when someone does well in their environment and is rewarded for it, they can get together with their other mediocre co-workers and whine and bully the bosses into evening out the field. They will never be truly successful in anything they do because they will never be pushed by the prospect of failure. We are creating an entire generation of people with no work ethic or desire and this is just a microcosm of our society as a whole. I feel bad for these kids and shame for the parents. Their so-called safety concerns are merely a smoke-screen for their own inequities. The shame is the long-term effects on their kids.

08-28-2008, 04:25 AM	#4 (permalink)
essex boy Super Moderator Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Southend,Essex,England Posts: 40,957	At one time they was thinking of banning Sports Day here. If the kids don't win it makes them feel bad. __________________

08-28-2008, 09:47 AM	#7 (permalink)
Vinnie Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 5,104	Vinnie's friend Paul comments: My solution to a player that is "too good" for their age group is that this player should be challenged to his/her level. This can be done in many ways. Promote them to play against an older age group, get them to pitch only curve balls (if this is their weakest pitch), have them pitch from a greater distance (giving other players more time to see the pitch) would be three examples. Hope that these ideas help! Paul __________________

08-28-2008, 10:25 AM	#9 (permalink)
Don'tLikeStinkingThinking Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,998	I loved sports...gave me an identity in a large school of blank faces. Track, baseball, basketball, football (football lmao), swimming, gymnastics, gosh did I miss anything oh yeah home (something) were you were taught how to sew, cook and clean, yep the only boy in the class and it was a challenge hehehe! The discipline, the exercise, the highs the lows, winning, LOSING, the glory and defeat...oh my de feet! Most parents and kids are pussies these days, no wonder here in the US we have so many overweight people. Furthermore, many school for lack of funding don't have gym class anylonger. Oye....dodge ball now that left a mark.... __________________ Merci Sadie

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08-27-2008, 04:09 PM	#2 (permalink)
Vinnie Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 5,104	It's been going on for a while. My wife was brought up in Kent (don't hold it against her) and moved with her family up to Inverness when she was 14. She played tennis down south and when the summer (such as it is) rolled around she went to play tennis at Inverness.She was forbidden to se a double handed back hand or to serve the ball at her opponent's body since it frightened the other girls. Pathetic. Then we can go tothe other extreme. My friend Paul coaches football (soccer). He interviewed for one local boys team and was asked how he would structure his team. When he expressed that he would rotate the team so that all players got a game he was cross-questioned as to whether he would do this even when better players would be left out. Of course was his rply (we're talking about 11 year olds here). The management felt this sort of philosophy was not suited to such a "senior" team so he's now running their under 10 team. Te last time he did this was with a girls team who he took from nowhere to leagu winners in 3 years increasing the pool of players by 300% along the way since all the kids got to play. The poorer players were encouraged to try harder and the decent players were streched since sometimes they had to cover.

08-27-2008, 06:30 PM	#3 (permalink)
sunburstlespaulhero1989 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Western Saline, Michigan Posts: 4,457 Blog Entries: 1	Skill is nothing, people just play for fun. If others have problems with someone's skills, they should just play since winning isn't everything. It is good to have a hard challenge, it prepares you for the real world.

08-28-2008, 04:33 AM	#5 (permalink)
Flynn Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 5,270	It is a very current and topical subject here. quote Canberra Times School's gymnastics ban slated A North Queensland school held a meeting last night after intense criticism of its policy to ban students from doing cartwheels and handstands in the playground. Belgian Gardens State School in Townsville held a parents and citizens' meeting to discuss the matter. The school has come under fire since it was revealed that it had banned all gymnastics activities during breaks to protect students from injury. Mr Welford called on the principal earlier this week to review the policy and instructed regional education officers yesterday to meet school authorities. He said teachers feared that parents could sue schools for student accidents. The Education Minister said, ''I think the decision by the principal in Townsville the other day was prompted by the fact that increasingly we, as a community, are wrapping our children in cotton wool because more and more parents are even complaining when their children have minor accidents. ''I think our generation of parents are mollycoddling their children.'' However, Education Queensland regional executive director Vicki Baylis said yesterday fear of litigation was not a factor in the decision.

08-28-2008, 05:39 AM	#6 (permalink)
Vinnie Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 5,104	I like the challenge of sports and feel it is good for the kids. This is coming from one who was perennially picked last for the football team. Basically I'm crap at sports but by application and hard graft I found my niche in teaching fencing (go for a minority sport they're desperate for members!) I liken the way Westhill Primary does sports with their "potted sports" (it's a knockut type events) and then the more traditional races (running, sack race tattie and spon race etc) The child can win in their race but the kids are also divided up into houses and so even if they come last they still gain pints for their house and can claim a win if their house wins. Since there's only 3 houses and there are winers for the seniors and juniors potted s[ports, traditional races and overall, there is a very good chance that even if you did not win your house will have won at least one section! The fear of litigatuionand particularly the human rights legislation is often used as an excuse when a public body wishes to save money and wants something to blame as it does so.

08-28-2008, 10:11 AM	#8 (permalink)
sunburstlespaulhero1989 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Western Saline, Michigan Posts: 4,457 Blog Entries: 1	Why are kids being taught that winning is everything? These sports purely exist for the funness of life, not to be the freakin best.