Wednesday, October 31, 2007

What’s wrong with wanting to go to Harvard? (Part I)

Posted by Jim Liston on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 - 05:10 PM

For those of you who don’t know, CATZ was featured last night (10/30/2007) on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.  The story focused on parents hiring “sports tutors” for their children, and asked the question, “Have we gone too far?”

If you did not see the story - you can view it by clicking the link below.

Video: NBC Nightly News - Sports Tutors For Kids

Of course, I firmly believe that sports in general and CATZ in particular are great activities for kids.

The opposing side of the NBC story was represented by noted child psychiatrist and author Alvin Rosenfeld.  Dr. Rosenfeld took the stance that programs like CATZ are problematic in that they put added pressure on kids and serve to professionalize childhood.

I have read Dr. Rosenfeld’s work, including his book Hyper-Parenting, and agree with many of his positions, which we will talk about in later posts.  However, I must disagree with his contention that, “Every tenth grader knows what it takes to go to Harvard.  There is something wrong with that.”

Since when did it become a bad thing to have a child who reached for lofty goals?  When your six-year old daughter wanted to climb across the monkey bars, did you tell her that it was too hard for her and she should wait until she was eight?

Kids set goals all day, every day.  And you know what happens when they don’t succeed?  They shrug it off and try again, and again, and again.  Hmmmm, we call this perseverance, and it is a character trait that will take kids a long way in life.  It’s our job as parents to nurture this natural tendency in kids to set goals in a positive manner.

I hope that when my daughter turns 16 she is aiming for lofty goals and dreaming big dreams.  Who knows, maybe she will even want to get into Harvard.

What’s your opinion on this subject?

(12) Comments

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

What’s wrong with wanting to go to Harvard? (Part I)

Posted by Todd on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 - 03:03 PM

For those of you who don’t know, CATZ was featured last night (10/30/2007) on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.  The story focused on parents hiring “sports tutors” for their children, and asked the question, “Have we gone too far?”

If you did not see the story - you can view it by clicking the link below.

NBC Nightly News - Sports Tudors For Kids

Of course, I firmly believe that sports in general and CATZ in particular are great activities for kids.

The opposing side of the NBC story was represented by noted child psychiatrist and author Alvin Rosenfeld.  Dr. Rosenfeld took the stance that programs like CATZ are problematic in that they put added pressure on kids and serve to professionalize childhood.

I have read Dr. Rosenfeld’s work, including his book Hyper-Parenting, and agree with many of his positions, which we will talk about in later posts.  However, I must disagree with his contention that, “Every tenth grader knows what it takes to go to Harvard.  There is something wrong with that.”

Since when did it become a bad thing to have a child who reached for lofty goals?  When your six-year old daughter wanted to climb across the monkey bars, did you tell her that it was too hard for her and she should wait until she was eight?

Kids set goals all day, every day.  And you know what happens when they don’t success?  They shrug it off and try again, and again, and again.  Hmmmm, we call this perseverance, and it is a character trait that will take kids a long way in life.  It’s our job as parents to nurture this natural tendency in kids to set goals in a positive manner.

I hope that when my daughter turns 16 she is aiming for lofty goals and dreaming big dreams.  Who knows, maybe she will even want to get into Harvard?

What’s your opinion on this subject?

(0) Comments

Monday, November 07, 2005

Overuse Injuries Among Young Athletes

Posted by Todd on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 11:41 AM

Athletes are specializing in sports at younger ages than ever before. In previous decades physical activity was a regular part of daily life and characterized by spontaneous unstructured play. More recently, the trend in physical activity has focused on organized sports at extremely young ages. The benefits of organized sports for adolescent athletes have a tremendous impact in today’s sedentary culture, but when these young athletes, and even adults, are training excessively and with poor techniques the body begins to breakdown. Many parents and coaches are looking for that extra edge and pushing young athletes beyond the limits of their still maturing bodies.

Because sports have become more specific and nearly continuous, overuse injuries are now common among young athletes. Recent data indicates that 30% to 50% of all pediatric sports injuries are due to overuse (J Sports Med Phys Fitness 1996;36(1):43-48). Overuse injuries occur when any tissue (muscle, bone, tendon, ligament) is stressed beyond its physical limit. The process starts when repetitive activity fatigues a specific structure, and there is insufficient recovery. Micro trauma develops and stimulates the body’s inflammatory response, damaging local tissue, which often results in stress fractures and tendonitis, among other injuries.

There are many factors that lead to overuse injuries. Some of the leading factors are often the easiest to control such as specificity at too early an age, sudden or abrupt increases in training, improper body mechanics, and inadequate rehabilitation of previous injuries. Many researchers and physicians believe that young athletes would likely benefit from developing general strength and endurance before participating in a sports program. Unfit children may lack the proprioceptive skills (the ability to react properly to external forces, balance), and weak and/or inflexible musculoskeletal structures may be unable to withstand the forces of sports training. Proper preparation and age-appropriate activities may help reduce injury. Instead of training for hours a day 6-7 times a week, adolescents would benefit from less quantity of activity and better quality focused activity and training practices.

With the rise in adolescent overuse injuries, shouldn’t the focus of parents and coaches be the quality of training a young athlete is participating in as opposed to the quantity?

(0) Comments