Thread Options
|
#361853 - 05/27/05 06:34 PM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
Just my opinions: 1. I hate sports jocks, or sports jock-wannabee's making their children perform in any sport they don't want to do. 2. When my boys wanted to try a sport, I supported them, and they had to finish the season if they found out they didn't like it. But they would never be forced to try something they truly didn't want to be involved in. 3. My oldest son has never been interested in sports (he's now 16, tall as me and slim built) but he does like cross-country running. No running around in circles on a track for him! 4. My younger son is not athletically inclined, but he likes to participate to be involved. He tried cross country last year & likes it. He tried track this year, and hated running circles on the track, but it didn't bother him that he came in last almost every race. He did his best and was "one of the guys." 5. Both boys like band, and to me that's organized sports, too! 6. Life is too short. Let them be kids.
Do I see value in organized sports? Yes, definitely. Is it the most important thing in a kids life? No way!
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
#361854 - 05/27/05 07:40 PM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
If he doesn't want to, it's crazy to make him. He's miserable, you're miserable. He won't accel if he's not "into" the game. That can make him regress. Let him be his own self. I'm sure they participate in sports activities at school. Let him enjoy his childhood. Don't make it a miserable experience for him. Let him look back on happy times!
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
#361856 - 06/01/05 06:56 PM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
#361858 - 06/27/05 07:04 PM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
Quote:
He doesn't watch hardly any TV at all, except early Sat. mornings and about 1 hr at night (with us, no cartoons). He doesn't play video games except very rarely. He just loves his legos, and playing with his Mindstorms set (by Lego). He likes to play games with his friends (pokemon, ugh, I know and yugio, ugh, I know) and he loves to read. He also plays with his other action toys with his friends.
His only real passion is Legos and he is awesome with them. I don't know of any other kid who built and programmed a lego robot by himself. I prefer he stay focused on something that he's good at to keep his self-esteem high (legitimately) and not just get an idiotic trophy from playing baseball badly to keep his self-esteem high.
He sounds a lot like my son who has Asberger's Syndrome (very mild autism). Most children with this diagnosis are usually not athletic. My son is 12 and is a very good student. He likes video games, computers and action figures. I would not worry at all about sports as long as he gets exercise and plays well with others.
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
#361860 - 07/07/05 02:53 PM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
I think your ex-husband is concerned that play a sport for several of it's benefits, not just that 'that's what little boys do' kind of mentality.
Team sports teach kids to be a team player. It's not with his parents, who no offense, are probably boring and annoying to him (mine were to me). It's with kids he might not meet at school. Playing a sport gives him excercise. Many different types of excercise reduce his risk of injury (repetivive motion injuries).
If he truly hates baseball move onto the next thing. Present him with a list of activities you've prescreened and tell him to pick. It will make him feel like he's in control of some part of his life and teach him about responsibility. (He chose to make a commitement tot a team and now must follow through.)
I had a VERY structured childhood and I've got to tell you, it's a pain sometimes. With so many households being single parents or both parents working you need him somewhere safe and constructive, but he needs a little time to just be a kid and hang out. I was always so busy as a kid too that I didn't have much time to make friends. My straight A's didn't help either because I was labled a nerd.
Give him some choices and a little less structure.
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
#361862 - 07/07/05 07:56 PM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
10K Club
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 19,951
Pulling people out of the ditc...
|
Quote:
Many different types of excercise reduce his risk of injury (repetivive motion injuries).
Not aware of many 11 year old kids with repetitive motion injuries. I am aware of many that have been beaned with a baseball, broken bones from tennis, basketball, football, concussions from soccer, cuts and bruises from hocket, the list could go on. That is a very bizarre arguement you have made.
_________________________
Providing alternative truths since the invention of time
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
#361863 - 07/07/05 08:37 PM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
Quote:
Quote:
Many different types of excercise reduce his risk of injury (repetivive motion injuries).
Not aware of many 11 year old kids with repetitive motion injuries. I am aware of many that have been beaned with a baseball, broken bones from tennis, basketball, football, concussions from soccer, cuts and bruises from hocket, the list could go on. That is a very bizarre arguement you have made.
It's a relativly new occurance so I'm surprised you haven't heard of it. My orthopedic surgeon is director of the department at a Boston hospital and has done extensive research on the subject. These days kids tend to find one activity and stick with it (sometimes because parents envision them the next Tom Brady, Manny Ramirez etc...). Besides the usual injuries of getting beaned in the head more and more kids are showing stress fractures or even torn ACL's. Their bodies are at an age where they need a variety of muscle groups worked, not just their shoulder for baseball... For example, swimming is a non-impact excercise. Kids who only swim risk more bone injuries or developmental differences later on in life because, while everyone needs some bone impact, kids need it more to stimulate bone growth and create bone density. One muscle group becomes over developed (or another is just under developed). This can cause things like (in me) Patella Femoral Syndrome. My kneecap doesn't track right (among other things) because my quadracep was over developed in ballet. It came to a head when I didn't correctly place my foot during a jump, my hamstrig couldn't support my weight and the impact I was placing on my leg, and my kneecap completely snapped out of place. I felt, there was a loud crack and I couldn't walk. I was fortunate not to tear my ACL. I was 10.
My point is - well rounded excercise helps a childs body grow and develop normally. The best way to do that is have them participate in a variety of sports.
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
#361864 - 07/07/05 09:59 PM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
10K Club
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 19,951
Pulling people out of the ditc...
|
yes, but you miss my point. By the age of 11? Repetitive motion? Please...They haven't had time to develop repetitive injuries. Love to see those researches you mention. Give me a link.
_________________________
Providing alternative truths since the invention of time
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
#361866 - 07/08/05 07:10 AM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
When I was reading about Gange of the Dodgers maybe getting Tommy John Surgery I ran across several stories about how there has been a spike in young kids getting it done.
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
#361867 - 07/08/05 01:34 PM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
Quote:
yes, but you miss my point. By the age of 11? Repetitive motion? Please...They haven't had time to develop repetitive injuries. Love to see those researches you mention. Give me a link.
As I said, my injury was at 10 years old. Last I checked 10 came before 11 so yes, it is possible to have repetitive motion injuries at 11. I did ballet for 5 years 3-4 days a week for 2-3 hours at a time. I did it that much because I loved it and at the time it wasn't known the effects 1 sport could have on a young child. My continued problems with my knee (and other joints) can all be traced back to this. Dr. Micheli is based out of Children's Hospital but works with children and adults. Many of his adult paitents, like me, have been with him since childhood. One of his interests is finding out how to keep childhood injuries from effecting the person later in life, again, like in me.
I discussed his research with him in person after reading some articles in the waiting room so I don't have a specific link to his papers. Here is one to his website, http://www.lylemichelimd.com/. I'm not sure how long each research study stays on there. The Boston Globe has also regularly consulted him so you might try searching their archives as well.
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
#361868 - 07/08/05 02:07 PM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
Member
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 50
New England
|
By the time I reached 10 years old, I had been in gymnastics for 6 years, 5 days a week, 4 hours a day, plus meets on the weekends. You tell me that repetetive motion injuries aren't possible.
_________________________
The things that come to those who wait may be the things left by those who got there first!
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
#361869 - 07/08/05 02:32 PM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
Diamond Poster
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,357
A Grant Wood painting.
|
My daughter will be playing school basketball (7th grade) and club basketball. She likes to ride, but does not have an interest in any other sport at this point. I do not want her to concentrate on just one sport but I can't make her pick another one. She will have a chance to play volley ball this year, but how different is that from a repetivive motion perspective?
My son will be in 4th grade. He has just finished his first real year in baseball. He also plays basktball and football, and roller blades everywhere. There are some real differencs in these activities.
The real issue is teaching kids to listen to thier bodies and make sure that the coaches have the best interests of the kids in mind. A good coach will not allow a kid to hurt themselves.
_________________________
The opinions expressed are what you can expect for the price paid.
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
#361871 - 07/08/05 03:56 PM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
When I played basketball they ran us and ran us and ran us. I was in the best shape of my life. I never played soccer, but it is similar in getting a person in shape. You have to run and run and run.
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
#361872 - 07/08/05 04:10 PM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
Diamond Poster
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,357
A Grant Wood painting.
|
We have a Division III basketball coach in the family. He tells me that kids should not specialize. If they want to be a great basketball player, play other sports too. Volleyball will help w/ quickness and eye/hand. Football will help w/ quickness and eye/hand. Wrestling / Soccer / Football. Each sport offers something to gain for the other. Golf will teach a child to deal with frustration.
_________________________
The opinions expressed are what you can expect for the price paid.
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
#361875 - 07/20/05 07:21 PM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
Anonymous
Unregistered
|
Our neighbor is a 9 year old geek (already.) We RARELY see him in the summer when my girls are out in the yard playing or riding their bikes. His mom says he is inside playing video games or watching TV. On the rare occasions he comes over to play with my girls, we often find him in our refrigerator or cabinets looking for snacks.
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
#361876 - 07/20/05 07:41 PM
Re: Non-athletic child
|
Power Poster
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 6,172
Further South than I wanna be.
|
I am pasting this story here because you have to sign in to read it on line. I think it says a lot.
Posted on Mon, Jul. 18, 2005
In My Opinion
A father's homophobia turned deadly
Leonard Pitts Jr.
Ronnie Paris and I had the same father.
At least, that's the way it felt reading the news reports out of Tampa last week. They told of how Ronnie's dad -- his name is also Ronnie Paris -- used to hit the boy, throw him around, bang him up. According to testimony from the man's wife and sister-in-law, he did this to toughen the boy up, make a man out of him. Paris' fear was that, otherwise, his son would grow up to be ''soft,'' a ``sissy.''
Or gay.
There are only three differences between this little boy's experience and mine.
One, the word ''gay'' wasn't a common synonym for homosexual when I was a child. My dad's word was ''punk,'' which meant the same thing.
Two, in all fairness to my old man, he was nowhere near as harsh to me as Ronnie Paris was to his son. My dad never left me with broken bones, internal bruising or brain swelling.
The third difference is the most important. I am alive. Little Ronnie Paris is not. He died on Jan. 28, 3 years old.
Last week, a Tampa jury found the toddler's 21-year-old father guilty of second-degree manslaughter and aggravated child abuse.
Afterward, Ronald Paris Sr. -- father of the killer, grandfather of the victim -- protested his own blamelessness to a reporter from The Tampa Tribune. ''I raised my son in the right way,'' he said. ``We played football, went fishing, went to wrestling matches, boxing, all that.''
It's one of those ''Lord, give me strength'' quotes, because it manages to be earnest, self-justifying and clueless all at the same time. To put it another way, it's telling what the eldest Ronald Paris doesn't say about raising his boy right.
He doesn't say he ever talked to him. Doesn't say he ever hugged him. Doesn't say he ever taught him.
BEING A MAN
Don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with fishing, football and other ''manly'' pursuits.
But while you're tossing the pigskin around, maybe you should explain to a son that the measure of a man is more than the ability to summon or endure violence. And the strength of a man has to include the strength to be tender sometimes, especially when confronted with a tiny life that looks to you for protection and guidance.
Maybe it's not too much to ask also that a father teach his son that ''gay'' is not something you can knock out of a child. Nor should you want to.
A story by way of illustration. I have a younger brother. By the time he was a toddler, my father had given up on me, resigned himself that his bookish and unathletic oldest child was doomed to punkdom.
So Dad decided he would save my brother from that fate. He took him under his wing and taught him every manly heterosexual art and vice he could.
I'll give you one guess which of my father's sons went to the gay pride beach party a few years back.
It's probably a sign of God's mercy that our father did not live long enough to learn.
SAD TWISTS OF FATE
Too bad there wasn't a little mercy for the youngest Ronnie Paris. Too bad his mother -- now facing charges of felony child neglect -- did not call authorities. Too bad the state, which took the child out of the home in 2002, did not leave him with the foster mother who loved him. Too bad he was returned to his birth parents in mid-December.
Too bad he was in a coma by Jan. 22.
It is said the Parises could not wake him that day after he fell asleep on the couch in a neighbor's home. His folks had gone there for Bible study. Apparently, ''Thou shalt not kill'' was not among the verses on the agenda.
Maybe you can tell that I take this one personally. It's hard not to. Ronnie Paris was terrified his child would grow up gay. Now the boy won't grow up at all.
And I'm left to choke on the irony. Paris thought he was going to teach his boy how to be a man when clearly, he didn't know himself.
_________________________
Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.
|
Return to Top
|
|
|
|
|
|