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What is wrong with the world today

grathan said:
You can't really blame the parents when the gov't says that the kids have to be at school all day and that employers can work people into the ground.

I am so grateful to my daughter's coaches this year and the great job they did keeping things fun and tolerating her lackadaisical approach to the game. She had a great time even though I spent so little time prepping her for such a demanding game.
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Wait…

Little League practice schedule conflicts are also the governments fault? That list is getting pretty darn long.
 
blugold said:
I played little league. As I think about it, the only rules from my parents were, you don't have to play of you don't want to. If you do, you have to try your best. If you lose, as long as you did your best, then it's ok.
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That's fine, but did the coaches like to win? were the other players OK with you striking out to lose the game, because you tried?

My parents didn't care if we won necessarily, but my dad would chew my ass out if he saw me loafing it. It doesn't sound like these parents feel the same.
 
Wake said:
That's fine, but did the coaches like to win? were the other players OK with you striking out to lose the game, because you tried?

My parents didn't care if we won necessarily, but my dad would chew my ass out if he saw me loafing it. It doesn't sound like these parents feel the same.
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As long as maximum effort was put worth, nobody cared really. At least not on my team. If me or anybody struck out to end the game, so be it. It wasn't the end of the world for us.

And it's not like my area of Wisconsin was bad at baseball.
 
blugold said:
As long as maximum effort was put worth, nobody cared really. At least not on my team. If me or anybody struck out to end the game, so be it. It wasn't the end of the world for us.

And it's not like my area of Wisconsin was bad at baseball.
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I guess the hippies struck there first, because we were competitive as hell in every sport.
 
Wake said:
I guess the hippies struck there first, because we were competitive as hell in every sport.
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Hahaha

We were competitive. We tried. We weren't allowed to be lazy. But the result wasn't the end of the world.

Some leagues and teams were much more competitive the Bane Ruth team from Appleton made the BR World Series.

I played select level soccer. It was competitive.

As much as I agree that parents shouldn't allow laziness or reward it, are the parents who act like their kids' sporting events are the most important events in the history of forever.
 
Time outs. That's where it all started, in my opinion. And I am embarrassed to say it is MY generation that started it. Spare the rod spoil the child has it's merits (going overboard does not, of course).

I know this is about sports, but the above led to the not keeping score and other things that we never did with sports.

I also didn't read the whole first post completely, but I still think the time out crap is where all of it started going downhill!
 
Smallville said:
Time outs. That's where it all started, in my opinion. And I am embarrassed to say it is MY generation that started it. Spare the rod spoil the child has it's merits (going overboard does not, of course).

I know this is about sports, but the above led to the not keeping score and other things that we never did with sports.

I also didn't read the whole first post completely, but I still think the time out crap is where all of it started going downhill!
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Spankings aren't the answer Mike. I got spanked as a kid. I'm a sh¡t. My wife never got one. She's an angel.

Lazy parents raise bad kids.
 
blugold said:
Spankings aren't the answer Mike. I got spanked as a kid. I'm a sh¡t. My wife never got one. She's an angel.

Lazy parents raise bad kids.
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I got spanked twice and deserved it both times.

I never did what I did again.
 
blugold said:
Spankings aren't the answer Mike. I got spanked as a kid. I'm a sh¡t. My wife never got one. She's an angel.

Lazy parents raise bad kids.
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I am not talking about abuse. But I got it and my friends got it and we saw nothing wrong with it. Today you can't even swat your kid's ass in the store without someone freaking out about it. That ain't right.
 
JRod said:
I got spanked twice and deserved it both times.

I never did what I did again.
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Sure. But it's really easy as a parent to look towards spankings as a means to parent. But that's not parenting.

Smallville said:
I am not talking about abuse. But I got it and my friends got it and we saw nothing wrong with it. Today you can't even swat your kid's ass in the store without someone freaking out about it. That ain't right.
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What I will agree with on this, nobody is allowed to tell me how to parent. I will not tell somebody how to parent.

But swats or spankings are an easy way out for many. Again, for me and how I raise my kids, spankings are a sign that I'm being lazy. I don't spank my kids and they're angels, in general
 
blugold said:
Sure. But it's really easy as a parent to look towards spankings as a means to parent. But that's not parenting.



What I will agree with on this, nobody is allowed to tell me how to parent. I will not tell somebody how to parent.

But swats or spankings are an easy way out for many. Again, for me and how I raise my kids, spankings are a sign that I'm being lazy. I don't spank my kids and they're angels, in general
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I spank my kids and I was spanked plenty as a kid and I turned out just fine and my daughter is an angel 95% of the time.
Saying that spanking kids is lazy parenting is non sense IMO.

Both ways work depending on how you use them. There is more than 1 way to skin a cat...
 
Barberakb said:
I spank my kids and I was spanked plenty as a kid and I turned out just fine and my daughter is an angel 95% of the time.
Saying that spanking kids is lazy parenting is non sense IMO.

Both ways work depending on how you use them. There is more than 1 way to skin a cat...
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I didn't say spanking is lazy. I said I'm lazy if I spank.

My other point is that lazy parents that also spank their kids are still lazy parents and will raise a monster regardless of the form of punishment.
 
Wake said:
I guess the hippies struck there first, because we were competitive as hell in every sport.
Click to expand...

blugold said:
Hahaha

We were competitive. We tried. We weren't allowed to be lazy. But the result wasn't the end of the world.

Some leagues and teams were much more competitive the Bane Ruth team from Appleton made the BR World Series.

I played select level soccer. It was competitive.

As much as I agree that parents shouldn't allow laziness or reward it, are the parents who act like their kids' sporting events are the most important events in the history of forever.
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I'm with blu here - competitiveness doesn't necessarily equal winning. Sometimes you put it all out there and come up empty. There's absolutely no reason to be upset with anyone in that case. As someone who's played, refereed and coached, the parents who think otherwise are ruining the game for their kids.
 
I'm very lucky that we had a group of really good parents this summer, which was my first coaching. Yes, we had a few who thought that the second the kid showed up to the field, they were "off duty" but that was about it. All the kids worked hard, and when they didn't, they were talked to. If they continued with the lack of hustle, they sat. The head coach's son was our star pitcher, and in two games he started sulking right in the first inning. In both games, he got yanked immediately. The rest of the team knew they had to work, and work hard. But above all else, they had fun.
 
blugold said:
Wait…

Little League practice schedule conflicts are also the governments fault? That list is getting pretty darn long.
Click to expand...

Haters gonna hate.
 
I have read most of these replies. I wondered if you had a parent meting before the start of your first practice to simply lay down your coaching style and expectations. I learned that a brief 10 or 15 minute meeting let the parents know what the game plan was from practice to who was bringing the snacks.
As the kids get older one of the things I have asked the parents is to let their child be the spokesperson if he could not be at practice or needed advice or help.
My hope was that the kid not the parent took ownership for his sport and his responsibility to his sport in balance to family, school and other factors.
Might be worth a try.
 
blugold said:
I didn't say spanking is lazy. I said I'm lazy if I spank.

My other point is that lazy parents that also spank their kids are still lazy parents and will raise a monster regardless of the form of punishment.
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Ahh, I misunderstood you before
 
Barberakb said:
Ahh, I misunderstood you before
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Oh no worries friend. Parenting is a funny thing. There is no right way to do it. But it's really easy to screw up.

My kids aren't old enough for me to know how they will treat sports and competition. But what I do know, I make sure that my kids know I'm proud of them.
 
annsguy said:
I have read most of these replies. I wondered if you had a parent meting before the start of your first practice to simply lay down your coaching style and expectations. I learned that a brief 10 or 15 minute meeting let the parents know what the game plan was from practice to who was bringing the snacks.
As the kids get older one of the things I have asked the parents is to let their child be the spokesperson if he could not be at practice or needed advice or help.
My hope was that the kid not the parent took ownership for his sport and his responsibility to his sport in balance to family, school and other factors.
Might be worth a try.
Click to expand...

We did. I had a meeting breaking down the expectations and what I wanted the kids to learn. I also said for them to please talk to me if there was an issue. This worked great in the spring with the kids and parents. In that fall though (playing in the city league) I have had one run to the booster club and quit. They still haven't spoken to me
 
Smallville said:
Time outs. That's where it all started, in my opinion. And I am embarrassed to say it is MY generation that started it. Spare the rod spoil the child has it's merits (going overboard does not, of course).

I know this is about sports, but the above led to the not keeping score and other things that we never did with sports.

I also didn't read the whole first post completely, but I still think the time out crap is where all of it started going downhill!
Click to expand...


Nice! As a family/child therapist I must admit that we give our children way too much power and it seems this is b/c as a society we've become lazy, entitled, distrustful, and selfish in general. The best example I can provide is how some parents relate with school staff. Back in the day, parents would always seem to support the school if a child was disciplined. Plus you'd be punished at home as a result of getting in trouble at school. Now, almost everyday I hear parents complaining about how schools "mistreat" their kids and then rush to call school staff to complain, as if their child did nothing wrong. It's unreal to me. And then we sit around wondering why teachers have no authority or influence they once had? What kind of message does this send to our children? It's all about the blame game. Any sense of accountability or responsibility has been squashed. It's quite sad and scary.
On a side note, and this may sound crazy, but I blame a lot of this on the age of technology. Computers were supposed to make life easier and offer more time to be with family/friends. In reality it caused us to become a more dependent society (as I sit here typing on a forum) and the world went and got itself in a big hurry. Now we live second by second as opposed to day to day. Rarely do you notice people appreciating "the moment" b/c it has to be disrupted by a selfie or FB post. Everything has to be shared & "liked" as if we are a bunch of needy babies. We're all connected by one huge technological umbilical cord, unwilling to learn or discover things on our own initiative b/c "it's too much work to try." We even put video screens on headrests to babysit our kids as we travel to avoid the holy tantrum. I could go on forever... SORRY! Really, I'm a happy dude with a chill attitude. I kid you not! But this topic gets me going.

Anyway, this could have started with the Time Out.
But my vote is for when Dodgeball was removed from gym class!
 
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Our parents asked the same thing of our generation. Lead by example you can't force people to follow.
 
J33R said:
Nice! As a family/child therapist I must admit that we give our children way too much power and it seems this is b/c as a society we've become lazy, entitled, distrustful, and selfish in general. The best example I can provide is how some parents relate with school staff. Back in the day, parents would always seem to support the school if a child was disciplined. Plus you'd be punished at home as a result of getting in trouble at school. Now, almost everyday I hear parents complaining about how schools "mistreat" their kids and then rush to call school staff to complain, as if their child did nothing wrong. It's unreal to me. And then we sit around wondering why teachers have no authority or influence they once had? What kind of message does this send to our children? It's all about the blame game. Any sense of accountability or responsibility has been squashed. It's quite sad and scary.
On a side note, and this may sound crazy, but I blame a lot of this on the age of technology. Computers were supposed to make life easier and offer more time to be with family/friends. In reality it caused us to become a more dependent society (as I sit here typing on a forum) and the world went and got itself in a big hurry. Now we live second by second as opposed to day to day. Rarely do you notice people appreciating "the moment" b/c it has to be disrupted by a selfie or FB post. Everything has to be shared & "liked" as if we are a bunch of needy babies. We're all connected by one huge technological umbilical cord, unwilling to learn or discover things on our own initiative b/c "it's too much work to try." We even put video screens on headrests to babysit our kids as we travel to avoid the holy tantrum. I could go on forever... SORRY! Really, I'm a happy dude with a chill attitude. I kid you not! But this topic gets me going.

Anyway, this could have started with the Time Out.
But my vote is for when Dodgeball was removed from gym class!
Click to expand...


To piggyback on your anecdote about schools, I feel the way we view education in general now. In an effort to turn everything into a business solely judged on profitability we have begun to view education as a commodity and thus people now treat the employees and services involved like they would any service industry but that isn't how it works. Education is there for the public good, not a business that watches your kids all day for you. This attitude affects how we view the teacher-student-parent relationship.
 
grathan said:
And some people just gotta label others. Was just saying people are tired. Probably shouldn't have used the word govt, it's just meant as a catchall phrase for "us'.
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Maybe government was the wrong word but people (not saying you specifically) are going to try to blame the government for everything because its easy.
 
It is easy to target government. It's very easy to see the backwardness of it all yet people still drink the kool-aid and believe government is NOT corrupt. Sure my analogy with little league to government is way far fetched. It was a poor analogy however government in a way is like our parents. They don't pay back debts and as a result having that example how many people in the world see that and are like, "well screw it let's go more in financial debt to keep up with the Joneses...." Government screws themselves over what do you think people in the world have been doing for years. Creating programs for people to go further in debt with money they don't have. America doesn't have money yet they borrow more. It's like a home with the parents making poor spending habits and kids growing up and doing the same as their parents.

If a parent sets the example for the child a child will more times follow suit. The whole "Don't do as I do do as I say" doesn't really work. Now that's something easy to do. Talk and no action. If I'm a lazy example to my child I wouldn't expect him to be anything but. My biggest thing and I told my son this is find something you want to do in life that excites you. Something HE wants to do (not trying to live through my son to do the same sports or hobbies I did growing up) and to stick with it if that's what he wants to do.
 
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