less kids will play football

[Bayside44]

Scooch, in fairness, kids these days lack a lot of survival skills and the ability to deal with adversity (probably because they've been driven everywhere and given uniforms to not clean)...ever interview or hire someone out of college lately? A downloadable app isn't the answer to the world's problems.

 

[ImperialOrange]

I don't think youth football is the problem you should be focusing on the higher impacts happen at the high school, college, and pro levels. Knock on wood I have only had one kid get a concussion in my 10 years of coaching in the fauquier leagues. That to me is not high risk

I think the most important thing in any contact sports is that kids learn proper technique when they are young and small.

 

[Townie72]

Nope, I was responding to these gems:

"Those of us who grew up in the days of no bicycle helmets and almost no parental supervision shake our heads and wonder what kind of kids we are producing whose parents are afraid of so many things."

"But to us older guys it looks to us that your generation is being scared witless and then sold something to address that fear."

"I feel sorry for you guys. Living with all that fear is a hard thing"

"But I see what I see in the aggregate. And that's a whole generation of people who seem scared of everything. They are bombarded with fears that have infintesimal probabilities of occuring. And I posit that they are producing children who will be influenced by all this excessive concern for their safety ... all this fear that permeates the airways and the rest of the media. Fear sells."

"The world is full of risk and attempting to shield people from all of it leaves them with a dull existence."


Just pontification about kids these days.

Just to give this horse a few more whacks ... There's a fair amount of work that has been done that says the Gen Z kids are both very cautious and risk adverse and the researchers are suggesting that all this sheltering of the kids is extracting a toll.

The purpose of those statements above was not to recommend a return to the days of parental indifference but rather show the contrast between today and the not so distant past.

 

[Millhouse]

Scooch, in fairness, kids these days lack a lot of survival skills and the ability to deal with adversity (probably because they've been driven everywhere and given uniforms to not clean)...ever interview or hire someone out of college lately? A downloadable app isn't the answer to the world's problems.

do you morph into dwight schrute in an interview?

you get your head cracked open enough, you don't have to worry about an interviewer thinking that you lack the survival skills neccessary

teaching your kids to not grab on to cars like a friggin idiot is teaching survival skills

 

[Guinness]

Scooch, in fairness, kids these days lack a lot of survival skills and the ability to deal with adversity (probably because they've been driven everywhere and given uniforms to not clean)...ever interview or hire someone out of college lately? A downloadable app isn't the answer to the world's problems.

Every generation thinks the younger generation is spoiled and clueless.

I am pretty sure there are generations of folks out there that think playing a game, regardless of which game, is a waste of time and for spoiled kids because when they were kids they were busting their hump putting food on the table for their family.

 

[xc84]

Every generation thinks the younger generation is spoiled and clueless.

Hmmmm...I don't . However, I do believe kids spend much less time outside playing than they used to and more time inside doing non-physical activities. Does anyone dispute this?

 

[Bayside44]

do you morph into dwight schrute in an interview?

you get your head cracked open enough, you don't have to worry about an interviewer thinking that you lack the survival skills neccessary

teaching your kids to not grab on to cars like a friggin idiot is teaching survival skills

I'm not encouraging my kids to bumper-jump (or skitch), but to simply organize and ref their own sports without parents driving them all over God's green earth.

 

[Guinness]

Hmmmm...I don't . However, I do believe kids spend much less time outside playing than they used to and more time inside doing non-physical activities. Does anyone dispute this?

Of course they don't. They have more options. It reminds me of that skit with the guy yelling at his kids about how he did not have video games when he was young and had to entertain himself kicking a can down the road. Doesn't make his childhood any better or worse. It was what it was for the times.

 

[xc84]

Of course they don't. They have more options. It reminds me of that skit with the guy yelling at his kids about how he did not have video games when he was young and had to entertain himself kicking a can down the road. Doesn't make his childhood any better or worse. It was what it was for the times.

More options do not make his childhood better or worse. It depends on which options are chosen. Let's take an extreme... if a kid has options like video games and web searching, chat rooms, etc... and chooses to do those over physical activity most of the time... I would say that's a pretty sad childhood and frankly, likely leads to an unhealthy child. "Worse" is a subjective thing...but my take is it is worse.

 

[Millhouse]

I'm not encouraging my kids to bumper-jump (or skitch), but to simply organize and ref their own sports without parents driving them all over God's green earth.

i'm fine with that too.

lenore skanazy is a hero. helicopter parenting is stupid. but saying no to the barbarism of football which was the original point of the thread might just be smart.

 

[Scooch]

Scooch, in fairness, kids these days lack a lot of survival skills and the ability to deal with adversity (probably because they've been driven everywhere and given uniforms to not clean)...ever interview or hire someone out of college lately? A downloadable app isn't the answer to the world's problems.

See, I hire and work with a ton of kids just out of school. Maybe my employer is just attracting the best and brightest, but I am amazed at the intelligence and ambition I see from these kids. One young woman I have on my team (an SU grad, I might add) who graduated last year is doing work at a level that I wasn't capable of when I started entry-level oh so many years ago.

My wife's a high school coach, and a lot of the girls I see come through her program are "survivors" in every sense of the word.

I just hate the blanket generalizations. Remember when our generation were called a bunch of do-nothing slackers? I think many of us turned out OK. And the Baby Boomers? I'm glad they had all these wonderful unmanaged moments of youth...since they turned into the most narcissitic, and in many ways destructive, generation of all time.

 

[Guinness]

More options do not make his childhood better or worse. It depends on which options are chosen. Let's take an extreme... if a kid has options like video games and web searching, chat rooms, etc... and chooses to do those over physical activity most of the time... I would say that's a pretty sad childhood and frankly, likely leads to an unhealthy child. "Worse" is a subjective thing...but my take is it is worse.

It is all subjective. I had all the access to the outdoors a kid could want and my childhood sucked.

 

[xc84]

It is all subjective. I had all the access to the outdoors a kid could want and my childhood sucked.

These kids all have access to. It's not about access. It's about options and choices made...and balance too.

 

[Bayside44]

See, I hire and work with a ton of kids just out of school. Maybe my employer is just attracting the best and brightest, but I am amazed at the intelligence and ambition I see from these kids. One young woman I have on my team (an SU grad, I might add) who graduated last year is doing work at a level that I wasn't capable of when I started entry-level oh so many years ago.

My wife's a high school coach, and a lot of the girls I see come through her program are "survivors" in every sense of the word.

I just hate the blanket generalizations. Remember when our generation were called a bunch of do-nothing slackers? I think many of us turned out OK. And the Baby Boomers? I'm glad they had all these wonderful unmanaged moments of youth...since they turned into the most narcissitic, and in many ways destructive, generation of all time.

Your employer may have something to do with it...we also work in professions that weed em out quick, and lately the weeds are being pulled.

 

[OrangePA]

Injury rates in soccer is about half of football, but still TOP 4 amongst competitive team sports. Both are less than half a percentage point.

I'm sure that most of the injuries are not life-altering - they involve sprains, internal derrangement of the knee - etc.

Football injuries can be life threatening and life altering.

Very different in my opinion.

 

[OrangePA]

That is the point.

The experience of our boys playing youth and high school football was such a joy to them that denying that to them --- in retrospect --- would seem to me to have been supremely selfish on my part. Allowing my fears to trump their spirit and fearlessness.

The world is full of risk and attempting to shield people from all of it leaves them with a dull existence.

Good point.

Clearly reasonable people can differ on this issue.

 

[billsin01]

I didn't bother to read all the posts but I have to feel like knowing what you know about concussions, etc. you'd at least have to think long and hard about allowing your kid to play. As for me, I don't think I'll let my kids play (not that they would necessarily want to or be any good at it). I love watching football but don't love all the stuff around it and folks involved in it. After spending 8 years covering football (high school and college) I'd be happy to never have to deal with a football coach in any meaningful way. Yes, this is a total generalization and not fair at all but it's just an opinion.

 

[OrangePA]

I didn't bother to read all the posts but I have to feel like knowing what you know about concussions, etc. you'd at least have to think long and hard about allowing your kid to play. As for me, I don't think I'll let my kids play (not that they would necessarily want to or be any good at it). I love watching football but don't love all the stuff around it and folks involved in it. After spending 8 years covering football (high school and college) I'd be happy to never have to deal with a football coach in any meaningful way. Yes, this is a total generalization and not fair at all but it's just an opinion.

It has become a brutal game.

I love it, but with what we are now learning and with what we have seen in terms of the damage the game causes to world class athletes, I truly hope that they figure out a way to make the game safer.

My ideas: (1) put a weight limit on players - no need for 300 pound football players; (2) get rid of the 20 pound helmets - they cause more injuries than they prevent; (3) re-establish the bump and run - slow the play down in the secondary; and (4) allow offensive holding - reduce the speed of play on the OL.

Thank you for reading.

 

[qdawgg]

We see what we want to see.

"The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for
authority, they show disrespect to their elders... They no longer
rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents,
chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their
legs, and are tyrants over their teachers."


"The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have
no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all
restraint. They talk as if they alone knew everything and what passes
for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for girls, they are
forward, immodest and unwomanly in speech, behaviour and dress."
- socrates

 

[BlackKnight76]

It has become a brutal game.

I love it, but with what we are now learning and with what we have seen in terms of the damage the game causes to world class athletes, I truly hope that they figure out a way to make the game safer.

My ideas: (1) put a weight limit on players - no need for 300 pound football players; (2) get rid of the 20 pound helmets - they cause more injuries than they prevent; (3) re-establish the bump and run - slow the play down in the secondary; and (4) allow offensive holding - reduce the speed of play on the OL.

Thank you for reading.

If you allowed holding, you might as well just not have defensive linemen on the field.

 

[tipphill]

Nope, I was responding to these gems:

"Those of us who grew up in the days of no bicycle helmets and almost no parental supervision shake our heads and wonder what kind of kids we are producing whose parents are afraid of so many things."

"But to us older guys it looks to us that your generation is being scared witless and then sold something to address that fear."

"I feel sorry for you guys. Living with all that fear is a hard thing"

"But I see what I see in the aggregate. And that's a whole generation of people who seem scared of everything. They are bombarded with fears that have infintesimal probabilities of occuring. And I posit that they are producing children who will be influenced by all this excessive concern for their safety ... all this fear that permeates the airways and the rest of the media. Fear sells."

"The world is full of risk and attempting to shield people from all of it leaves them with a dull existence."


Just pontification about kids these days.

they have alot more to be cautious about than us old guys did---by the way--they are much more sophisticated and face greater challenges in the new world than i faced in the 50's. some of what you say i concur with---but---the demands and expectations on them are far more complicated then when i graduated from college and grad school in thr late 60's and early 70's

 

[Scooch]

Your employer may have something to do with it...we also work in professions that weed em out quick, and lately the weeds are being pulled.

I get it. But that's also why I mentioned the kids my wife coaches. It's a blue-ish collar town, very few of the them are going on to elite colleges, but they work a TON and are good kids.

I honestly don't see muc difference between my peers and kids today. A little around the margins, but not much at the core. We're both better than Baby Boomers though, that generation was flat out awful. ;-)

 

[tipphill]

More options do not make his childhood better or worse. It depends on which options are chosen. Let's take an extreme... if a kid has options like video games and web searching, chat rooms, etc... and chooses to do those over physical activity most of the time... I would say that's a pretty sad childhood and frankly, likely leads to an unhealthy child. "Worse" is a subjective thing...but my take is it is worse.

balance, balance,--that's where the parenting comes in

 

[Scooch]

they have alot more to be cautious about than us old guys did---by the way--they are much more sophisticated and face greater challenges in the new world than i faced in the 50's. some of what you say i concur with---but---the demands and expectations on them are far more complicated then when i graduated from college and grad school in thr late 60's and early 70's

I agree with you, all those quotes were Townie's.

Now please, everyone, get off his lawn!

 

[OrangePA]

If you allowed holding, you might as well just not have defensive linemen on the field.

I don't think so.

There already is plenty of holding - the calls are inconsistent and hard to figure.

Just get rid of the penalty - allow it - protect the QBs and protect the linemen.