oh canada
GOLD
Ok, I like to be somewhat provocative with my post titles. But, with a little hyperbole there is also a lot of truth in what I'm about to write. I'm starting to agree with many of my academic colleagues who razz me all the time because I have 3 kids playing sports. They say, "This country of HUGE opportunity for both boys and girls doesn't need any more entertainers." And as @MWN often rightly points out, athletes are entertainers. There is a place for sport and art and other entertainment, but 2020 Americans are lionizing sports to such an extent that academics, intelligence, innovation and scientific thought are beginning to pale in comparison.
I have to admit that I see this occurring at the upper education levels to a greater extent each year. So many more kids are spending so much more time on the athletic fields and courts that how they think and what they think about, what they do and how they solve problems, lacks complexity and diversity of thought. The childhood experiences we are committing our kids to are not intellectually stimulating nor thought provoking. They have benefits--e.g., physical work, socialization, competition. But, that can all be gained through sports participation a few hours per week. My esteemed colleagues go on, "Can you imagine some of the phenomenal things your kids could learn and later do if you spent the sporting 10-15 hours per week with them building rockets, solving math equations, coding, starting an online business, cooking, writing a book, etc.?" I think they have a point.
I meet a lot of really intelligent kids with potential to do some really impactful things, but because they have been kept on a single sports track, they don't recognize the layers of their brilliance. They only see themselves as good soccer players (or pick your sport) and envision their future only on the pitch. It's always been that way here (and in Canada), we love our TVs, sports, movies and music, but what's changed is the scale. How many ESPN networks are there now and how many daily shows are on all those networks. Why do we need 8 sports anchors sitting around a table telling us what's going to happen in the game we are about to watch? Why do our kids need to play a single sport year round, 5+/days per week? How did this change so drastically in one generation of kids?
I participate with admissions reviews. Can I tell you how many applications I read that look identical, except for the name at the top? Better than average grades and test scores, some charity work handing out food to the homeless, and a long line of awards and achievements in one sport. Talk about cookie cutter.
Scott McNealy--founder of Sun Microsystems (sold to Oracle for $7 Billion some years ago) famously said, "The guy serving you food at a golf tournament is in so many ways doing more good and moving the capitalist ball forward than Tiger Woods." My first reaction to that was, "gimme a break," but after letting it digest, you know what, there is truth to that. If you are an entertainer, it's counterproductive from the standpoint that people stop doing anything and just sit and watch entertainers.
In much of the World, boys and girls turn to sports because that is their only way out of poverty, out of the barrio, out of the same life that all of their friends and relatives have had for generations. But that is not 21st Century USA/Canada. The glass ceilings are being broken, the poverty levels are rising (much higher than the rest of the world), and the education levels are growing. We have women CEOs running some of the largest companies in the World, 20-somethings becoming 9-figure tycoons from garage-inspired ideas, and diverse research teams finding new cures for diseases at the most rapid pace ever. Yes, Rapinoe et al. are trying to get more money for female soccer players, but that's a blip on the radar of impact.
I don't mean this to be a rant on youth sport, but if you have a kid that seems to excel in academics, problem-solving, etc., or enjoys the exercise of thought just as much as their body, please help them see themselves as something more than just another athlete. Because we can all benefit from another Jeff Bezos a lot more than another Tiger Woods.
I have to admit that I see this occurring at the upper education levels to a greater extent each year. So many more kids are spending so much more time on the athletic fields and courts that how they think and what they think about, what they do and how they solve problems, lacks complexity and diversity of thought. The childhood experiences we are committing our kids to are not intellectually stimulating nor thought provoking. They have benefits--e.g., physical work, socialization, competition. But, that can all be gained through sports participation a few hours per week. My esteemed colleagues go on, "Can you imagine some of the phenomenal things your kids could learn and later do if you spent the sporting 10-15 hours per week with them building rockets, solving math equations, coding, starting an online business, cooking, writing a book, etc.?" I think they have a point.
I meet a lot of really intelligent kids with potential to do some really impactful things, but because they have been kept on a single sports track, they don't recognize the layers of their brilliance. They only see themselves as good soccer players (or pick your sport) and envision their future only on the pitch. It's always been that way here (and in Canada), we love our TVs, sports, movies and music, but what's changed is the scale. How many ESPN networks are there now and how many daily shows are on all those networks. Why do we need 8 sports anchors sitting around a table telling us what's going to happen in the game we are about to watch? Why do our kids need to play a single sport year round, 5+/days per week? How did this change so drastically in one generation of kids?
I participate with admissions reviews. Can I tell you how many applications I read that look identical, except for the name at the top? Better than average grades and test scores, some charity work handing out food to the homeless, and a long line of awards and achievements in one sport. Talk about cookie cutter.
Scott McNealy--founder of Sun Microsystems (sold to Oracle for $7 Billion some years ago) famously said, "The guy serving you food at a golf tournament is in so many ways doing more good and moving the capitalist ball forward than Tiger Woods." My first reaction to that was, "gimme a break," but after letting it digest, you know what, there is truth to that. If you are an entertainer, it's counterproductive from the standpoint that people stop doing anything and just sit and watch entertainers.
In much of the World, boys and girls turn to sports because that is their only way out of poverty, out of the barrio, out of the same life that all of their friends and relatives have had for generations. But that is not 21st Century USA/Canada. The glass ceilings are being broken, the poverty levels are rising (much higher than the rest of the world), and the education levels are growing. We have women CEOs running some of the largest companies in the World, 20-somethings becoming 9-figure tycoons from garage-inspired ideas, and diverse research teams finding new cures for diseases at the most rapid pace ever. Yes, Rapinoe et al. are trying to get more money for female soccer players, but that's a blip on the radar of impact.
I don't mean this to be a rant on youth sport, but if you have a kid that seems to excel in academics, problem-solving, etc., or enjoys the exercise of thought just as much as their body, please help them see themselves as something more than just another athlete. Because we can all benefit from another Jeff Bezos a lot more than another Tiger Woods.
