I am not a sports-hater, but the degree to which I love sports and the degree to which Dave LOVES sports differs...wonder if it will be something that we disagree on with our kids...
I know Dave wants our kids to play sports because of what it taught him in life...and I respect that, and want our kids to play sports too...I envision them being soccer players and runners, like their dad, since I have no athletic abilities at all. Maybe if we have a daughter and I pass on my short gene to her, she can do gymnastics like I once aspired to do.
However, I do wonder what will happen when/if it comes down to which is more important...like with this Little League Baseball thing...I dunno why, but it just irked the crap out of me to find out that one of my students wouldn't be in school until the latter part of August (this coming week) because he was in the mainland for BASEBALL. Now, granted, they're doing wonderful, it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, yadayadayada...but then I start to think...if I were the parents of these kids, what would I do? Would I take off from work, take the entire family up there, and spend weeks in the mainland for my kid's dream? Would dad just go? Would I be at the school getting work for the kid, making him make sure he gets it done before he comes back to school, and then making sure he does everything possible to make it up when he gets back? Or would I let him revel in this dream come true and figure that the life lessons he's learning are bigger than the school work he's missing? I dunno...but the idea of these kids missing the first month of school just somehow doesn't sit well with me. I know most people would disagree and that these kids will now ride the celebrity wave here in Hawaii...I dunno why it makes me so uneasy.
Anyways, the commercial just said, "Football is here." Grrrreat. Our tv has been set to Olympics for the past three weeks, now it'll be set to every freakin' football game imaginable, with the five million time replays on ESPN. Love it.
4 comments:
Yikes. I know exactly what you're saying. As a teacher and a mom, I have conflicting views. If this were to happen to Kahia or Kawai tomorrow, I think I would pull him or her out of school to participate. On the other hand, as a teacher, I hate when kids do stuff and it seems like school is the least important thing. I do think though, that I would try to get the work and make it as easy on the teacher as possible. I don't think you can say that the kid can't go because it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You can't take that away from a child, much less if that child is your own.
As someone who took sports AND academics seriously in school, (not to say ALL you guys didn't...), I humbly feel that as long as the kid does ALL the work when he gets back, you GOTTA let the kid go. Once-in-a-lifetime experience and all that jazz.
Funny thing is, I've always focused on the money spent to go. Academics and school never entered into the equation 'cause some experiences may be more valuable in life than the first couple of weeks in intermediate/middle school. Yeah, I'd definitely be more worried about how I'd get the money or make up spending all that money.
Besides, how many of these kids are going to have to do schoolwork for the rest of their lives? These boys are set. Sports. Athletic scholarships to college. Pu$$y. They got it made. Sorry. Just kidding...
I just have a really bad attitude about THIS particular baseball world series. Maybe it's just about baseball in general. I dunno. Dave's right, though...if it had happened during the summer, I would have been stoked. And in the grand scheme of things, the first month of 8th grade doesn't really matter. My sister took trips to the mainland to watch my nephew, and I guess I never really thought much about it. I don't think it ever coincided with school, though, so maybe that's why. Yea, I would give my kid a once in a lifetime opportunity in a heartbeat, but all the rest of the hoopla, I dunno about that. I dunno what my problem is...I'll figure it out someday.
Boo yahhh... I'm on your page!
Day late and a dollar short on the sports v. school discussion, but I'm here to throw in the token haole response.
Not sure what that means, but I can see your point, except it's baseball and the world series. A month is a long time to be out of school, but there is a learning that takes place on trips like these that a lot of Hawaii kids will never experience.
Any Hawaii kid who went to school on the mainland or moved to the mainland for a while you should know what I mean. History that we read about in text books, places we see on television, cities that hold our national art and national discoveries are on the mainland.
Since my dad was a history teacher, we were always visiting historical sites and I learned more about the country and our history on summer vacation than I ever did in school.
It's a stretch to think that little league parents are day-tripping with their kids between game days to visit Gettysburg or Philadelphia, but the opportunity to do so does exist.
Hopefully, Mr. Yap is a fast learner and won't have missed a beat. If he did, make him run laps around the classroom until he gets up to speed.
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