Would you compromise your children's education for them to pursue a sporting career?

[Anonymous]

Most sports require you to start at a very young age so naturally the training etc would mean a certain amount of sacrifices with workload at school.

I started at age 6 beginning to train to enter figure skating professionally. I was on the ice everyday after school and at weekends aswell as taking dance and ballet. I quit at 16 years old, just as I was finishing a successful juniors run and heading for senior competitions, after suffering damage to my back. It was only then when important school exams were coming up did I realise the toll it had taken on my education.

What do you think about the choice parents make when introducing their children to a professional sport? Would you be ok with your child taking on the commitment with no guarantee of a successful career?

[ManThatKnewTooMuch]

Yes. I totally would "compromise" their education.

You don't seem to realize that an "education" is not a guarantee of success either. I'm sitting here with a BS, two research internships under my belt, and was a member of the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program.

I'm currently still working the same part time lifeguarding gig I had before I started college. Guess what more? My cousin is a pothead who dropped out of high school at age 15; He has never attained a GED and he is getting paid more than I am and is working two jobs.

Do you know how he got those jobs? From people he knew. I don't know a damned soul. So here I am, 5 years after graduation with nary a penny to my fucking name. Just 10's of thousands of dollars in debt, countless hours spent (and still spending) on job searching and job applications. No, I'm not only looking for high end jobs. My desperate-ass has even applied to Target, Walmart, and McDonalds. I'm actually kinda thankful they never called back.

If I had a talented child who was motivated then I would certainly allow them to spend their time perfecting their sport. Furthermore, I would simply home school them as I already know several people who are doing that; they tell me their children have more free time, learn more, have less distractions, higher vocabularies and go to college just like all the other kids.

"Education" as we know it is a fucking joke. It's all an industry that has been put in place to give to give people jobs (publishers, academics, janitors, you name it) and to keep the population busy with the mouse-wheel that is their current life. Think about it, with everyone so busy and concerned with getting an education and "living the dream" the public ends up spending less time thinking about income disparity and social inequality.

You're pretty young... I'm not much older, but I remember a time when there WEREN'T any gated communities.

[ManThatKnewTooMuch]

Everywhere I go nowadays I see gates and walls. Have you ever been to a third world country? That's EXACTLY what this country is turning into. Those other countries have private communities too; walls, fences... guards. It's sad.

And why is this happening? Again, because the public is too busy worrying about the cents (education) and not the dollars (equality).

[Asker]

I get that there's no guarantees for anyone's success in life, but without at least good high school education it can be hard to get very far job wise. I knew a girl who I met while competing who was failing a lot of her schooling because she wasn't finding the time to study and the chances of sporting success are low. I can see both sides of the coin really, it's good to push your children when you see talent and for it not to be wasted, but also good for you to prioritize at least their high school education.

I'm genuinely sorry you've struggled with work, it's ridiculous the hard work people put into higher education to then come out the other side with the same chances as someone who hasn't tried. Complete respect to you for going for any job you can.

Unfortunately I don't know really anything about gated communities, anything I'd have to say on the matter would be very ignorant.

[ManThatKnewTooMuch]

You've never seen a gated community? It's just tract housing that has been walled off from the public. You have to punch a code in to open the gates.

Regarding your friend... I get what you're saying but at the same time a lot of high school is simply busy work. I feel bad because I'm sure she's failing partly because she just can't keep up with the retarded homework. Then she spends all day sitting in class listening to a retarded lecture that's being regurgitated by the Teacher; that's EXACTLY what college is lol. Like I'm saying, I think it's a much better option to just stay at home and self-study that way you're not wasting time in class. Know what I mean? It's all about efficiency and school is the epitome of Inefficiency.

[Asker]

Oh ok for some reason I had a complete mental block lol yeah I know what you're on about with gated communities sorry lol. Yes it is sad, trying to shut yourself away from the world's crap and attemtping to keep your family safe because you can't walk out the front door without anything happening. It's just insane.

I think in general there is too much pressure on children regardless of anything they choose to do extra curricular. I think they put all the hard work in, get out of Uni and end up having a premature midlife crisis.

[ManThatKnewTooMuch]

You're sure right about that, Honey.

[DanAG]

I think you are an exception and not a typical case. I really don't like the idea of parents pushing young kids into sports. Casual sports for kids are good for them. But some parents just push it WAY too far.

I think sports are very important. It's about a person's health, both physical and mental health. I think parents who push their young kids too hard with academics are just as bad as parents who push kids into sports. Kids need physical activity. Kids going to school all day, then spending the evening studying instead of physical activity is really unhealthy. There needs to be some kind of balance.

Would I compromise my kid's education to pursue a sporting "career". No, at a young age they shouldn't even be thinking about a career of any type, especially a sports career. At an older age, I'm very much a realist. So it would depend entirely on how realistic I thought a sports career would be. It would be their choice, but I would talk to them and make sure they really understood the options.

Also, any hopes of a sports career needs to be done when they are young. I'm referring to high school age now, when they really need to make career decisions. Higher education can wait and is always there as a back-up. Sports isn't. So that needs to be taken into account as well.

If I was forced to pick either education or physical activity, but not both, I'd be very tempted to pick physical activity. Because I think health is more important than education. Lack of activity makes you unhealthy. Lack of formal education does not make you stupid. An unhealthy person is unhealthy. An uneducated person can still be very successful.

[Asker]

You raised some great points here, last paragraph especially. You are very right, so many sports need to be started at a young age and cannot be taken up at an older age, which I think for most parents is the biggest issue and deciding factor. Agree completely with what you said about an uneducated person being able to be successful, they can work their way up, start a business...they have options so long as they have drive. Thanks for your imput! :)

[DanAG]

I think it's sad that sports have gotten to the point where kids have to start so young. I'd love to see that trend reversed. That trend started with the yuppies in the 80s. They were a highly ambitious lot, and that ambition spilled over onto their children, with both sports and academics.

When I was young there wasn't even a place for kids to do that stuff. There were no gymnastics schools, no skating schools, no soccer fields. There were no organized sports until either high school or middle school. Like most gymnasts didn't touch any gymnastics equipment until grade 9. (I was a gymnast so I'm familiar with it)

Yea, I started gymnastics at a very young age. It was called climbing trees. :)

I also started my education at a very young age. It was called lifting up rocks to watch all the bugs under it. Or catching tadpoles and watching them turn into frogs.

[Anonymous]

Not at all. In fact, I would not want my kid to commit to any one sport at such a young age. I think trying a variety of different sports is better than sticking with one for your entire life and never having the time to find other passions.

[Asker]

Really good point, didn't think of that one. You might have gone through your whole childhood/young adulthood and missed out so many other things

[swiftsaver602]

Nope. It's not realistic imo. The likelihood of a child going pro from high school is less than 1%. www.gcic.peachnet.edu/.../athletes.html

[TadCurious]

I feel sorry for kids whose parents push them to hard to excel in sports at an early age. Now, I love sports, and I think they can be really good for kids growing up IF they're kept in perspective. And part of the perspective has to be that the parents themselves aren't pushing their kids too hard in order to get some ego kick for themselves. Education is a priority over sports, I believe. If a child isn't making sufficient academic progress, and if sports is possibly taking away from their education, then the sports should be cut back and not the education. Sports can be a great thing for kids and teach some really great life lessons, and teach them how to be physically fit. But a proper balance is the key.

[Asker]

Looking back I don't know how I didn't just fail everything lol but parent's I guess don't have a guide book, they do what they think is best at the time, although I agree they shouldn't pushed. They are only children after all. In all fairness I would have continued on with my skating had I not injured myself :)

[TadCurious]

I really enjoy watching women's figure skating. It's a very beautiful sport.

[Asker]

It is :) although the 'beauty' of it sometimes takes away from the hard work. It is an aggressive hard slog to get anywhere near acceptable at competitions unfortunately. I always keep up with figure skating whenever I can, all I can manage now is a casual skate around a couple of times a week at my indoor rink :)

[TadCurious]

You're right about the hard work. As somebody who doesn't know or understand the technique of figure skating, I just see the beauty of the finished performance. But I do realize that there are countless hours of hard work that go into that.

[Asker]

I'm glad you enjoy watching it :) i miss doing it lol and you put in what you get out, so anyone who reaches a high level must enjoy the rewards they get from the hard work

[BlkStallion]

If he's good at a sport yes. Their coaches would be able to tell me if they have the skill and are worthy of a career on the long run then I'll take their word maybe of 2-4 coaches tell my that my son is gonna be great etc but if they tell me I ain't happening, I would tell my kid he better stick to his education and try not to shatter his dreams.

[Asker]

I agree with what you said, it's only worth pursuing such a committed training plan if there is talent there to invest in.

[BlkStallion]

Yeah, it could be an investement that makes you or breaks you. Many parents have lost everything just to have invest in their sons' dream just to be rejected from the pro leagues.

[Asker]

mhmm, it's a loss and disappointment to the parents and the child. I would hate for my child to resent the decision I made as a parent because they didn't succeed into pro sport.

[BlkStallion]

yeah that's why it's good to have a back up plan.

[Asker]

So true lol

[RandomStudent]

I'd rather them focus on a different passion, making a decent living off sports is nearly impossible. Follow your dreams, unless your dream is to be an athlete lol.

[loda1994]

you could just make do with one sport or the other. and i believe a hobby even weird ones are as important as education and should have equal time priority.

[Thatguy321]

If you get to hs and your not the lebron James of your sport, id say to call it quits and to focus on school. You can still do sports, im just saying that you shouldn't commit to them as greatly.

[TheStaff_Sergeant]

Never. For I would not want to compromise their education and prevent them from experiencing "normal" childhood.

[man32]

yes i am having my wish is to get my kid into a sport from age 5... provided he/she is interested and they excel... :)

[knotme]

Yes, you have to make sure their studies are in order as well