BlogHer - high school - Comments

Any problems that a kid has,

pstanos — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:22:09 -0600

Any problems that a kid has, athletes or not, start at home. If you want to resolve the problem then start there. Don't blame a sport or activity for the stupidity of the parents.

Thanks Leslie!

HappyHer — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:21:53 -0600

Thank you for your feedback. I agree such changes take time. With four teen-agers involved in sports I can tell you I've seen more injuries and more ambulances being called to the fields for soccer where in my personal experience, there hasn't been a single incident in years of football that have required surgery or hospitalization.

I know that those injuries do exist though and feel training in safety and proper equipment is imperative. Injuries exist in every aspect of life, even sitting at a desk, I believe there are more that suffer from carpal tunnel injuries than football players sustaining life changing head injuries. But I'm quite sure we aren't going to set any bans about computing anytime in the near future to avoid injuries.

Again, training in safety and using the proper procedures, whether you are cliff diving, playing football, tennis, or just typing at your keyboard is of utmost importance to continued good health and well being. For example, one of the very first parts of training for young football players is how to properly fit and wear their protective equipment.

As far as college recruiters go, they realize that the difference between high school sports and college sports is vast and I've heard that from a variety of college sports recruiters and college sports coaches. I believe they would support any rule changes that were made to keep their potential recruits safe without effecting their opportunities for scholarships.

Yes, these kids could go for grants, which is difficult considering the recent upset with the college financial aid fiasco that is still being worked through. The competition for low income grants is extreme and many students that are "good" students but can't achieve the higher grade point averages get left in the dust when applying for those grants. There are also other sports, but a football player may not be a very good basketball, baseball, or tennis player.

I would hope we are teaching our children good sportsmanship, discipline and teamwork in any sport they decide to pursue. The childhood game Red Rover teaches children to collide with one another, without the padding and helmets provided by football, and without the coach or rules I may add, but I still see the neighborhood children happily playing it. I also hope their younger siblings are seeing us support the older children in healthy and educational ways.

I may not want my child in Karate, but if that's their hearts desire, I'm going to give them my all as teaching a child to pursue their true heart's desire, along with teaching them morality and integrity. is one of the most valuable parenting skills anyone would hope to attain.

My child that plays football plays with a good heart and excellent sportsmanship, it's about the touchdown, not the violence. That's good enough for me. Frankly I'm much more concerned about allowing them to get behind tons of metal and praying that they'll safely navigate the crazy driving conditions us adults seem to promote with our road rage and lack of attention to speed limits and other driving laws. But I guess that's a whole other topic!

Tracy Morrow Intimacy Specialist http://www.HappyHer.com/Blog

Good ideas

Leslie Madsen Brooks — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:13:12 -0600

Tracy,

Your ideas are good ones, and I hope they're implemented--changing the rules, limiting the spectators for games in school districts where there have been violent incidents.

But such changes take time, and in the meantime there will be kids sustaining life-changing and life-threatening head injuries. Some fans will perpetuate, and others will be victims of, deadly violence. The culture of football will continue to promote violence by players on and off the field. More people will be hurt or killed.

And will colleges and professional football allow for rules changes in the high school sport? Will they still want to recruit those kids whose districts are trying to quash violence? I hope so, but I doubt it.

I don't buy your argument about students needing football scholarships. There are many other sports that also offer a path to scholarships at good schools. In addition, there are many liberal arts colleges that will provide grants to help lower-income students who demonstrate they are intellectually and socially, and not just athletically, ready for college make a college degree a reality.

I think Gladwell's comparison of cockfighting and football is an apt one. As participants, we're watching birds kill each other or football players attempt to wound each other--for our pleasure. As players grow ever-larger and gameplay becomes more violent, we need to reconsider the sometimes sadistic pleasure we take from such viewing. What are we teaching our 14- to 18-year-olds about sports and life when we regularly put them at risk of head injuries as a result of collisions that are central to the game, and what are we teaching their younger siblings who watch the games?

Leslie

BlogHer Contributing Editor, Research and Academia
My blogs: The Clutter Museum, Museum Blogging, and The Multicultural Toybox

Why Punish the Kids?

HappyHer — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:29:28 -0600

My heart goes out to Melody Ross's family. My daughter is a student/athlete, and senior this year and I couldn't imagine how I would survive losing her like that.

I don't think football should be taken away from the kids though. That's like punishing the good ones for something someone else caused. If safety in the game is an issue, change the rules. I know in soccer certain slide tackles are illegal because they have a high risk of injury, high school football could certainly look at that and create a safer playing environment.

I believe there are other options in regard to the other violence mentioned. What about closed games, where only football players, and perhaps their parents were welcome to be in attendance? That could be monitored via special parking passes or personal carry passes. Police officers and security could monitor the parking lots and attendees and athletes would have to show their passes in order to be on the premises. That way the kids can still compete, still have the opportunity for sports scholarships, which many of them need, and would give them a healthy outlet without having to worry so much about the violence of the crowd.

Tracy Morrow Intimacy Specialist http://www.HappyHer.com/Blog

Thanks for your comment

Leslie Madsen Brooks — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:55:42 -0600

Traci,

I don't understand how your comment about "liberals wanting to ban everything" applies to this post. I don't want to "ban" anything--I just think high schools need to cancel football games if players' or fans' lives are at risk. And yes, as you point out, we need to address why we have a culture that lacks restraints on behavior--and I think, as Gladwell points out, understanding the violence of football will play a part in that.

You know what fits into my "idealized world view"? Football games where people don't die. High school sports that don't promote serious head injuries that may contribute to memory loss, Alzheimer's, and worse. I don't think these are unrealistic expectations, and until we figure out how to solve these problems, some school districts need to remove football games and the culture of violence they engender.

Leslie

P.S. One more note on your comment about liberals: I can name far more things that conservatives want to ban than liberals do. Gay marriage, anyone? Books about gay families? The list goes on. . .

BlogHer Contributing Editor, Research and Academia
My blogs: The Clutter Museum, Museum Blogging, and The Multicultural Toybox

Are you serious?

traciscottsdale09 — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:33:22 -0600

I'm not sure what this trend is today with liberals wanting to "ban" everything that doesn't fit into their idealized world view, but I digress.

Football has been around for a long time, and the violence that's going on at schools now is reflective of society today, not an individual activity or sport.

For the record, there's much more violence at your average soccer game worldwide than at any football game. And men and boys, guess what, like to knock into each other and play rough. We women, don't. That's the difference between the sexes (generally, not all the time).

Banning football, lacrosse, rugby, wrestling or any other activity that is rough or a contact sport isn't going to solve anything. Addressing why we have a culture that has no restraint or sense of behavior ... could be violence, language, sexual activity etc. ... is probably a more effective and honest topic.

http://twitter.com/tscottsdale09

The Good Old Days

dorm_suite_dorm — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:24:32 -0500

Loved hearing about your memories Cynthia! Thanks for sharing. It is definitely fascinating and astonishing how many leaps and bounds women have made since that era. I am personally so thankful!!

The Good Old Days

dorm_suite_dorm — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:24:20 -0500

Loved hearing about your memories Cynthia! Thanks for sharing. It is definitely fascinating and astonishing how many leaps and bounds women have made since that era. I am personally so thankful!!

So interesting

jill_pilgrim — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 14:34:27 -0500

I had professors were taunted for teaching "only" women and no one wore
pants anywhere but to class in the middle of the week and we were being
educated as much to raise smart kids and contribute to the community as
to have our own careers

This really floored me. Things have changed in so many ways, and I am certainly grateful. Thank you for sharing that.

http://pilgrimcongress.com

So interesting

jill_pilgrim — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 14:33:22 -0500

This really floored me. Things have changed in so many ways, and I am certainly grateful. Thank you for sharing that.

http://pilgrimcongress.com

Glamour, Seventeen and Garland Sweaters

Cynthia Samuels — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 13:48:03 -0500

What fun! Two votes for Seventeen and a couple for Glamour. I don't think the "cattle call" ever came to my school while I was there. Sounds grim though - kind of antithetical to their mission. Nice that we remember this lost institution though, isn't it?

Cynthia Samuels, PartnerCobblestone Associates, LLPBlog and Media Strategies and Content Development Online and on Television

Don’tGel Too Soon

I do love that Staples commercial ...

PunditMom — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 10:22:08 -0500

... it just hits my funny bone this time every year. But I do remember the back-to-school magazines, for me it was more Seventeen. But the same theme applied -- sure there was fashion, but there were stories of other teens that inspired me and made me hope that I could reach for and achieve the things they had.

PunditMom

aka Joanne Bamberger
BlogHer News & Politics Contributing Editor

back to school issues

JenX67 — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 07:41:50 -0500

I have been looking for vintage back to school issues for years. I inserted myself into those pages of 'Teen and Seventeen. I remember in 7th or 8th grade Seventeen had Back to School issue that featured girls wearing knickers. They were Harvard-bound. I decided then I wanted to go to Harvard. I studied hard, but I didn't make it. I chose a school close to home. Still, the Back to School issues were such a fabulous part of my growing up years. Thanks for recapturing them for me!!

http://www.jenx67.com

Orange Juice Cans

Maria Niles — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:42:00 -0500

And sleeping with hair wound around them to straight out the curls before "hair product" was invented. What a memory!!

And great post, Cynthia. My memories are more of Glamour's college issues. I always appreciated that they featured a range of women and included women of color.

BlogHer Contributing Editor
PopConsumer
Beyond Help

And let's not forget Garland sweaters...

ByJane — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:57:18 -0500

I loved that issue too, Cynthia. So when they came to Pitt on a talent search, I was thrilled. I remember wearing a two piece robin's egg blue with white polka dots outfit that I was quite proud of. And I remember the actual event was nothing less than a cattle call. We stood in lines waiting to be seen by an editor, who said 'yeah' or 'nay'. I don't think they even spoke to us. I never felt the same about the issue after that.

By Jane

http://midlifebloggers.com

http://byjane.blogspot.com