Posted on 08/26/2007 9:04:26 AM PDT by FreeAtlanta
” I don’t understand why anyone on this thread has a hard time separating voluntarily participating in sports at school and the conditioning that goes into it and being forced to run laps every morning or else.”
I think it’s the “or else” part that people are wondering about.
Dad admitted to some of the allegations - about the timing, and the bat and so forth.
IMO - this makes dad controlling and stupid, because the kids “times” are only going to get slower the more he “punishes” them.
Did he punish to the point of criminal abuse? Maybe he did - maybe he didn’t. We’ll have to see.
I think what some people are saying is that kids on sports teams are “forced” to run much farther distances in the morning on hot days and no one is calling the police on the coaches.
They also are dirty and sweaty and might even be told “finish your laps before we break for lunch”
“And of course, I never let my mother forget it...until she called my bluff and handed me the number to the child abuse hotline.”
LOL!
Sounds like my mom.
You crack me up - you’ve been watching my neighbors haven’t you?
This is true, in my observation, even when the child was adopted as a healthy, days-old infant.
My mother used to spank me with a yardstick. (That's worse than a miniature baseball bat, isn't it?) I ran away too when I saw her pick it up. To this day, whenever I see a yardstick, I feel a little shiver of fear, LOL. Maybe I should get disability benefits: Post-yardstick trauma.
My dad didn't hit us, but he'd box our ears. Definitely would be considered child abuse today.
And as for running around in the heat -- I used to have to sleep in an attic in 100 degree weather. No air conditioner, no fan. (And no, this isn't an "I had to walk to school in 10 foot snowdrifts, uphill both ways" story.)
And I'm not even adopted! Nor a red-headed step-child (though I am red-headed, hmmm...)
And mine, and all the clueless parents in stores....
My son plays HS football. The coaches have gotten very astute to conditioning in the heat. This past summer during two a days, they did not have any kids fall out and only 1 kid threw up, which btw isn’t bad. Pedialite during practice, waterbreaks whenever they need it and being aware of heatstroke have prevented deaths this year. I will tell you though, he would literally go to pieces if I didn’t let him play. He plays and works because he wants to. So I really can’t see the comparison.
you enjoy seeing articles of possible child abuse? or do you enjoy seeing articles of possible false accusations against parents? i'm shocked that you would enjoy either... especially since you are an educator... supposedly...
Now that they are older they put hotsauce on everything!!
Wow, I guess I'm just lucky I didn't grow up to be a violent criminal. It's true I didn't finish college (but then, neither did Bill Gates -- was he beaten?). But I do have a "a happy marriage free of domestic abuse" and have never seen the inside of a jail.
But, seriously. I think a huge problem with the claim you make is that some very important demographics aren't taken into account. Nor do you define "severity of physical punishment."
But the problem is that pro-spanking advocates don’t rely on logic or research; they simply assert that it says somewhere in the Bible that you should beat your kids
I don't "simply assert" anything, except that within reason it's a parent's right to discipline his or her offspring as he or she sees fit. And what fits for some children doesn't always fit for others.
i think "forcing" is too strong a word here... why can't it be seen as teaching or instilling a habit? my children take piano lessons... did they always want to practice daily? no... but they did and still do... did i force them? i guess you would see it that way... i instilled in them the habit of practicing daily... now they do it--after four years--on their own. piano practice is not the only habit i've instilled in my children... or should i say, "forced" my children to pick up...
When my youngest was in the 2nd grade he had taken a spill on his bike, scraped his cheek and had a scab the size if a silver dollar on his face, over the weekend he was riding a bike in the woods, fell off the back and scratched his back on the tip of a pinecone. It went from his waistline to his shoulder, by Thursday of that week he was playing 1st base, a ball hit the tip of his glove and nailed him right in the eye and ripped the scab off of his face. Leaving him with a bigger cut on his face and a black eye. I went and had lunch with him at school on Friday, when signing in at the office, the ladies that worked there were laughing, about my son and his brothers. I have also had all three break bones within a two month period, 2 on dirtbikes 1 on a skateboard. I looked great showing up at the orthopaedics with the three of them in their various casted limbs. My peds called us the Crash family for a while. I’ve never been accused of child abuse, I think the school and peds that I take my kids to know the difference.
Did you whack your children with an object if they didn’t practice long enough or practice hard enough?
May or may not be true cruelty here, I don’t know-BUT, based on what we are being told this woman was arrested for ‘excessive’ and ‘malicious’ cruelty for ‘forcing’ children to run laps????!!!
Yet- parents who ‘force’ children to roast to death in hot cars are not arressted for ‘malicious’ and ‘excessive’ cruelty.
You go to jail for running and spanking, not roasting your kids to death. Right!
If she had locked them in a hot car for punishment
( resulting in their deaths or not) she would have gotten sympathy instead of arrest.
If she’d used the magic-make-everything-alright word ‘forgot’, she would have gotten candy, flowers and counseling!
“So I really can’t see the comparison.”
No?
I think many football players run more than a mile every morning.
I don’t think they’re provided food during practice -although they are provided hydration.
In sports like soccer, field hockey, cross country...kids are “forced” to run great distances every morning.
Many kids are getting timed.
So - I think that is what some people are getting at.
The fact that kids are being made to run in the morning isn’t a big deal.
How this guy is going about it seems - to me - to be a stupid approach.
And I’m speaking from the standpoint of having coached athletics.
If the goal is to improve fitness (or in this case...speed) - you really shouldn’t punish a kids with tactics that will actually hurt their performance.
From a parental standpoint - it is stupid to wack a kid for not running fast enough.
Is it criminal abuse? Let’s see which allegations are true, and which are not.
A couple days ago I attended a football game where 6&7 year olds suited up for the first time.
The coach from the opposing team was screaming at his kids for being “out of their zone” and “think about what the heck you are doing!”....oh he thought he was a great coach because he was yelling so much.
He was an idiot.
I’m beginning to get the impression this dad is a similar type.
If I told my son he could not play football he’d just as soon die. He knows he has to run, in fact he runs on his own, just to keep in shape. My youngest who is 10 and plays football also, loves to run, yes even the hills. He loves the four corner drill for conditioning because everything to him is a competition and he wants to win. Not one of my kids have ever whined about going to practice. All three play their sports at above the recreational level so practice for them can be 2-4 or more hours. I guess because my kids love what they do and never having to force them, I just don’t see the comparison.
Thanks...I may be being a little to hard on Softballmom, though.
Because they do lots worse to kids in sports camp than make them run 15 laps around a backyard before breakfast.
Do you force your children to go to sports camps?
No, but I did occasionally force my kids to get some exercise when they would have preferred to sit on the couch and play video games. If they whined and complained they couldn't find anything to do that would give them exercise, I would have them run laps around the yard.
My boys play sports I don’t recall any coaches hitting them with souvenir Braves bats if they don’t like their 40 time.
As you recall, I was responding to your complaint about making kids run laps in 90+ degree heat. Since you ask about the other issue, I don't condone hitting kids with a bat. I figure if you are going to spank them, use your hand so you know how hard you are hitting them.
“I guess because my kids love what they do and never having to force them, I just don’t see the comparison.”
OK...so maybe a comparison to compulsory gym class would be better.
A gym teacher who forces kids to run laps. They are fulfilling their pe requirement.
Homeschoolers are often questioned about their ability to provide proper pe instruction.Maybe dad took that too much to heart,
If dad put the bat down and didn’t punish for slow times, would that be preferrable to foster care?
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