Choosing Sports Over Education
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My kids go to a private school with a limited number of sports available, but they have an excellent academic progam. I occasionally hear parents say that when their kids reach a certain age they are going to move them to a public school so they can play more sports.
Sports should be enjoyable but not top priority
Now, I am a huge college football fan. I start counting down the days until the next season kickoff before the headlines can report who won the national title. But I have a real problem with people putting sports ahead of academics. I know there are some good schools that also offer several sports, but when that is the only concern of the parent it sends a really bad message to the kid.
Don’t cause your kids more stress
Let’s say you remove a kid from a great academic atmosphere so that he can play football. Now you have basically said that football is more important. Next let’s say that he makes the team but doesn’t get much playing time. Now he sees himself as failing at what you have indicated is the most important aspect of school. I think this can be confusing and damging for kids and only adds to the problems that jr high students face already.
Education always wins
As far as I’m concerned, a great education is better that a mediocre sports career any day.
Amen to that. I get so frustrated over parents who focus on sports or some equally
unrealistic thing for their children, when all the child wants is to feel loved and
accepted. I watched the boy I grew up with end up a failure because his dad could only
focus on him becoming a famous baseball player. When he broke his thumb in college and
couldn’t pitch his dad wrote him off. That was the end of everything for this kid because
he had a baseball scholarship. He never finished college and ended up working
construction, had 2 failed marriages, and a multitude of other problems. I agree with you,
parents need to be sure their kids get all the academic skills they can THEN worry about
the other stuff.
I totally agree with your point of view. Developing a child’s mind and providing an
environment that places the utmost importance on academics should be every parent’s
priority.
In exercising their minds and expanding their knowledge as they grow, I believe children
grow to be a much more productive part of today’s society. Children learn to make more
intelligent and informative decisions when they are trained to think.
Sports and exercise are a vital part of a child’s growth but most definitely not more of a
priority than a great education. If a child is first educated and ready to face the world
as an adult, they will be equipped with the ability to make informative decisions. Who
knows…..they may grow up to be MVP on a great team!!!
Respectfully submitted,
Sheila Burt