04/20/24
December 01, 2010
Type A Parents Sending Toddlers to the Gym: Several companies are now offering exercise trainings DVDs and sports programs for children as young as 6 months, drawing more than 75,000 kids under 3 to the activities. "There are millions of American parents worried to death that their children might fall behind somebody else's kid," said former NBA player Bob Bigelow, a skeptic. "So the emphasis in youth sports has become more, more, more, younger, younger, younger."
posted by rcade to at 01:00 PM - 13 comments
Yeah man, I got our 8 month old daughter thisclose to making the US Gymnastics team. You gotta start them out in the womb, man!
posted by NoMich at 02:05 PM on December 01, 2010
I had my daughter at Little Gym and Gymboree and a little soccer program. It wasn't to create a star athlete. It was just fun stuff to do, and it had the added benefit of exhausting her into taking a good, long nap. Even now that she is seven, most parents are trying to find something that there will love and will keep them occupied. I haven't met any of these crazed competitive parents that I read about.
posted by bperk at 03:20 PM on December 01, 2010
I hear ya bperk - I've seen that as well w mine. My snark comment was directed at the NYT's tendency to declare something a trend while also portraying it in a questionable light (as in look at these crazy people), unless of course, they're talking about the lifestyles of the wealthy, in which case, it's about making you want to be that crazy.
posted by kokaku at 03:36 PM on December 01, 2010
Yes, this is much ado about nothing. Taking a phenomenon that might not even be a phenomenon (i.e., extrapolating examples out to a trend when no comparison to past levels of participation is made) and, worse, ascribing motives to those who participate (specifically, that this is driven by super competitive, get-an-edge-for-their-kids-at-any-cost parents) without any factual basis for drawing that conclusion. This is Newsweek/Time journalism in the NYT.
(By the way, not sports-related in any way, but great set of Time magazine tend/scare-mongering covers here.)
I have two sons, 5 and 3, and each of them has participated in some of these types of programs (through both private organizations and the Chicago Park District). It's primarily socialization and an excuse to get the kids out of the house, coupled with some learning about rules and teamwork and hopefully some help with gross motor skills and coordination. And, to bperk's point, I have not met any other parents through these programs that appear to be viewing this in any other way.
posted by holden at 03:40 PM on December 01, 2010
I can't get to the article (boooo NYT), and I do understand the Times' penchant for proclaiming that the behavior of a few of their chosen few is a trend. I also understand that most parents who are looking at exercise products for infants and toddlers aren't thinking of their child as the next Olympian. But as someone who used to teach young kids to ski, let me tell you, the parents who have the mentality described by Bigelow's comment are not nearly as few and far between as I'd like. And it's not exactly about becoming an Olympian, either -- it seems to be this sort of vague, unexamined anxiety that the kid must have every possible advantage or he/she will be tragically handicapped for life, and must demonstrate proficiency at the upper end of the scale in everything or he/she is in need of tutoring or private lessons or whatnot. Of course it makes no sense, but I've seen it in action too many times, and it's really sad.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 04:29 PM on December 01, 2010
I will add that as a former little league baseball coach, and as someone that coached various sports at the local YMCA, that there are plenty of these "Type A" parents that push their kids to the extreme.
Kids showing up for baseball practice with a $200+ bat may not seem extreme at a high school level, but when a 6 year old does so it's over the top. 7 year olds showing up for field hockey at the Y with graphite composite sticks. Parents putting junior through pitching lessons way too soon, just because some idiot coach told them "your son has a good arm". Ask anyone that's coached, they'll all have stories about cases like this.
posted by dviking at 06:26 PM on December 01, 2010
There is a trend here I think, and I have seen enough of these askew NYT articles to know that they don't quite have it.
However, I do have anecdotal evidence of this hyper competitiveness appearing earlier and earlier though. The town where I live has a pretty obsessive sports culture and I see crap like parents conspiring to set their kids up with the best teams in grade 2,3,4 (when there are supposed to be tryouts that spread the skill level evenly).
The evidence I see isn't necessarily that this sort of behavior is new, but parents aren't as embarrassed about admitting it and will even tell their kids what's going on: ("The tryouts aren't that important cause you already have Mr. X as a coach and Billy and Bobby are on your team").
I don\'t know what that trend is called but it\'s pretty sick.
posted by jeremias at 08:56 PM on December 01, 2010
Or a more accurate headline "Some parents REALLY gullible."
Did you know the word "gullible" isn't in the dictionary?
posted by Drood at 03:53 AM on December 02, 2010
Did you know the word "gullible" isn't in the dictionary?
It isn't?
...
HEY!
posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:07 AM on December 02, 2010
And, to bperk's point, I have not met any other parents through these programs that appear to be viewing this in any other way.
Try the tennis court or the swimming pool.
And lbb, it's not in the dictionary, it's written on the ceiling.
posted by owlhouse at 09:21 AM on December 02, 2010
And lbb, it's not in the dictionary, it's written on the ceiling.
It is?
...
Goddammit!
posted by lil_brown_bat at 10:45 AM on December 02, 2010
Try the tennis court or the swimming pool.
Stick to what you know, Aussie scum. Real Americans do not swim or play tennis. You just must be bitter about not getting the 2022 World Cup and are just taking it out on us because we . . . Wait a minute? Qatar? Really? Maybe we can commiserate together, owlie.
Kidding aside, I do not doubt that there are competitive parents out there who are looking to get their children any advantage in sport that they can. And maybe it is increasing in terms of raw numbers or percentages (although the phenomenon is by no means new -- look at Tiger Woods or Andre Agassi or other notable examples, and I am sure there are legions of kids pushed by their parents to excel in sport in the 70s, 80s and 90s who never made it). Hell, one of my neighbors had his 8 year old working out for baseball with a guy who was on the training/instructional staff of the White Sox. My real issue with the article is that the trend of ever-increasing options for sports-related programs does not mean that parents are getting more competitive or more type A; in my experience it is more indicative of people coming up with clever ideas to separate parents from discretionary income, parents looking to get their kids involved in social/sporting activities early for general developmental purposes instead of as part of a master plan to pump out the next Messi or Manning or whatever, and the general trend to overschedule kids in structured activities from an early age.
posted by holden at 12:25 PM on December 02, 2010
File under 'NYT declares a new trend in separating parents from money'