The topic: Why do we SAY we want our children to not be limited by society…and THEN we find ways to keep them from “doing it all”?!
I have three Grandchildren. The oldest is Jared, I call him JD, and he will be 15 years old in a couple of weeks and will be a sophomore in high school in the coming school year. I have tried to encourage him to enjoy his high school experience by trying to take part in as much as he can when it comes to elective classes and extracurriculars.
This past year he was on the JV golf team for his school. He enjoyed it and improved during the season, so much so that he won a few medals both with the team and individually.
So when I asked him if he would like to get some new clubs for the upcoming school year he simply said “I’m not playing golf next year.” When I asked him why he said there were some classes he wanted to take and that in order to take these classes he would have to forego playing golf.
WHAT?!
Now I know that I am an old man and that “things were SO much better when I was growing up”, but this just really made me upset. I played multiple sports and partook in various extracurricular activities when I was in high school. And whenever there was a conflict you just worked it out. I can’t think of any time that I wasn’t allowed to partake in something because of a conflict with a class or other activity (outside of not being able to be in two places at once of course!). I can even remember a few guys who were on the football team AND the marching band. They would march in their football pants and undershirts at halftime of the football games.
I can’t wrap my head around why this can’t be done today…in this more advanced and “better” time. I’m old.
Peace!