Compete or eat

The Sunday paper had an article describing how younger children are experiencing substantial injuries at younger ages from organized sports.I thought about a relationship between childhood obesity and an increase in significant sports injuries in children.

I remember as a kid, leaving the house on a given Saturday and being gone for a significant part of the day. I played war with toy guns, rode bikes everywhere, and played pick up games of football, baseball, kickball, or tag.

So what has happened?

A number of years ago, my children walking purchased bicycles out to the car from a Target store, heard someone holler at us from a checkout stand "didn't you buy helmets for those kids?"As a parent there has been increasing pressure to comply with the norms of the community. You could counter the community values and send your kids to the park, and they would either be by themselves, or other parents would be critically watching the child whose parents don't care.

We don't let our children play anymore. At least not out of our sight, and not without all the protective gear that can be found. We are fearful of the preditory stranger who will abduct our child. We are fearful that our children will injure themselves, through rough play or antiquated playground equipment.

Somehow my generation survived, Okay, most of us.

So what is left? For some there is competitive sports which allows the child to be supervised by an adult. Those who don't have the skill or desire, play video games where they perform feats of skill, bravery, danger, and the like, all within the safety of the home. They may die a million times in the video game, but they come up for a meal when called. (Okay, maybe that last one is a stretch.)

There aren't many options left children any more. Watch movies, and play video games on the one end, and compete at an ever increasing rate if you want to stay in the game. Compete or eat.