Passage 2
For years, youth sports pushers tried to get us hooked:
organized sports, they said, offered a natural high and would build character in
our children. (71) But there are high-functioning cokeheads,
too. Like every American, I have close friends whose families struggle with a
youth sports addiction. So let’s talk about the dark side of the youth sports
epidemic. First off, when they’re spending every spare second at
soccer practice, children lose that crucial downtime they need for exercising
their imaginations, as well as their limbs. And Dr. Lenny Wiersma, co-director
of tile Center for the Advancement of Responsible Youth Sport, warns that when
kids miss out on "the old sandbox and informal games," they also lose
opportunities to develop peer interactions that are "organized and regulated by
themselves." (72) The Michigan study cited
above also found a sixfold increase in the time children spent on "passive,
spectator leisure," as more and more kids found themselves dragged off to watch
their siblings’ sports events. Organized youth sports also cut
into relaxed family time. (73) That’s not to speak of all the
exhausted parents who put their own interests--and relationships--on hold for a
decade, devoting every free minute to hauling their kids from game to game.
Of course, organized sports isn’t the only culprit. (74)
The pressure can leave even high-achieving kids
exhausted, demoralized and at risk of "self-destructive behaviors," Harvard’s
admissions office warns. Harvard now urges that applicants "take some sort of
timeout before burnout becomes the hallmark of their generation." Parents: Just
say no. Rip up that T-ball signup sheet; throw out the expensive soccer cleats.
If you want an activity that develops character and physical skills, encourage
the kids to help build houses with Habitat for Humanity. But the
rest of the time, let them do what generations of American children did before
them: climb trees, build backyard forts, play hopscotch and endless games of
tag. (75) A. Some children possess genuine
athletic talent, and in the youth sports programs they really stands out and
become more confident. B. It’s time to give childhood back to
our children. C. Like secondhand smoke, a child’s involvement in
youth sports can have detrimental side effects on others. D. And
it’s true that organized youth sports work out fine for some families.
E. It’s just one reflection of the middle-class American insistence on
over-scheduling our children, rushing them between soccer practices, piano
lessons, French lessons and SAT prep classes. F. The same study
found that families today spend a third less time eating dinners together, and
28% less time taking family vacations.