Why do we send our children to school? Education or Sports? 13 yr old dies playing Middle School football on his birthday.
October 30, 2011 Category :Family 0
I didn’t play sports in school. Why? Simple I didn’t want to, I didn’t have that something that they wanted. I wasn’t tall, big, bulky, fast or strong. So I can’t really see why people let their children play sports in school.
I know that it is claimed it can be a character builder, helps foster team work and can round out the participants school experience.
I also know people are at risk of dying when they play sports. Yes, everyone is at risk when they do anything. Some risk is acceptable and some is just foolish. School sports, IMHO, are not foolish. The parents and school administrators are at fault. They aren’t the only ones at fault. The sports loving public is… we place so much on being bigger, stronger and better than everyone else. Colleges give money to those who are good in sports – not necessary those who’ll do well in their educational pursuits.
So when I see a story like the one below, I’m shocked, mad and wondering what were these people thinking? I know the town in question well. It is a small town, with no industry, no reason for children to stay in the area and it isn’t growing. This happens in lots of little town and some see college as a good way out. College cost money – so families save, save and scrimp. Not everyone can just layout the money for college. Scholarships, Grants, and Loans make up the difference. Having a child who is in to sports and does well might find a sports scholarship coming her/his way. Academic scholarships are available but can be out of reach. Small town schools might not have the most up to date equipment, fancy science labs or the money for a wide range of electives.
Sports – almost every school district in my state has some sort of sports program. For many sports is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. A tunnel to a better life, college, more money, opportunity to shake off the dirty of a little town and see the world. Okay, I’m over doing it a bit, but you can see where I am coming from.
Start putting more money in to schools, colleges and technical schools. Help students find out where they will best fit. College isn’t for everyone, neither is a small town.
I’m not faulting the parents of this young man, I’m faulting all of us.
Lyndon community mourns passing of young teen | CJOnline.com
Spencer said Alec, a seventh-grade student at Lyndon Middle School, sustained the injury during an Oct. 6 game against Mission Valley, the same day as Alec’s 13th birthday.
