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Football: like military school only cheaper
Any parent who's had a boy in tackle football knows what I'm talking about when I say that it's the next best thing to disciplinary boot camp.
They might not paddle in the schools anymore, but thank goodness football hasn't wimped out.
Kids who are treated like babies into adulthood will always be babies. I'm sure you work with some.
Not in football. In football, it's, 'No excuses, just do it.''
Creed's coaches are fond of telling his team that football is about "controlled violence,'' and "controlled aggression.''
Strength of body, and mind.
When a kid got yelled at for not paying attention and then glared at the coach, he was outta there. You will not disrespect a coach, he was told. Take your stuff and leave.
They teach physical toughness, too. When a kid was sitting on the field the other night after a tough two hour practice in the blazing sun, he was asked: Are you passing out? No, he wasn't.
OK, came the coach's response. Then get up on one knee! We don't sit down on the field!
One coach told my son's team that they're there to learn about life: That life is tough, you have to work really hard, and sometimes someone's going to put a foot up your rear. And you just have to learn to deal with it.
Touchdown!
Gretchen Day-Bryant has a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. She’s lived to tell about the struggles of juggling little kids and work...
Joy Oglesby has an infant daughter and a sister 13 years her junior, whom she babies to the now-adult...
Cindy Kent Fort Lauderdale mother of three. Her kids span in ages from teenager to 20s...
Rafael Olmeda and his wife welcomed their first son in Feb. 2009, and he's helping raise two teenage stepdaughters...
Lois Solomon lives in Boca Raton with her husband and three daughters...
Anne Vasquez is the Online Editor in charge of overseeing SunSentinel.com. She is the mother of a 5-year-old boy and a newborn daughter.
Georgia East is the parent of a five-year-old girl, who came into the world weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces...
Brittany Wallman is the mother of Creed, 13, and Lily, 6, and is married...
Chris Tiedje is the Social Media Coordinator, and father of two boys and a girl all under the age of seven.
Comments
I love it! An actual place in todays childhood that doesn't tolerate children being disrespectful. As a teacher I have to put up with all day. I especially liked how the coach was able to tell the player to get lost for glaring at him. I hate it when my students do this to me, but what can I do call up the parents and say, "your child was looking at me mean." I put up with it because I know in the long run I want that child in my class learning, not sitting in the office or at home. But, I love that in football a place kids WANT to be the coaches have the option to say if you're rude and don't listen get lost :)
Posted by: beth | July 15, 2008 5:20 PM
There ya go, Beth. Parents need to learn to be parents, and not their kids best friend, and teachers need to be empowered again for real discipline.
Posted by: Jeff | July 15, 2008 7:58 PM