Get yourself to grade school.

[RADcatchers]

Remember that?! Having to get yourself to grade school?!
Walked by yourself. Maybe had a couple kids you met up with along the way. Sometimes had to hustle, shuffle, jog cuz you're going to be late.
Perhaps you peddled your bicycle. Had to lock it up yourself. Be responsible.

It was your responsibility and you had to get to school on time.
What happened???

ohhh yeah change happened.

Including cel phones,
The outdoor activities zapper!

So how much has how Society changed affected the outcome of Youth?
Less coordinated? Less apt to be able to handle an activity where you sweat?

Seriously I was thinking about physical education in schools. We used to have organized sports that we would learn tennis, basketball, flag football, things like that. Now thinking about the past 10 years of kids in school. Their PE activity is walking a loop out on the field...with their phone...
Hmmm walk in a loop mindlessly with your phone vs. learn an interactive sport/ activity...
imo missing something important there!

How much has change affected the outcome of Youth?

 

[4Martini]

My kiddo hustled to the bus this morning with a front backpack and a back softball backpack with two gloves, bats, uniform for game etc.

Her middle school had a walking break- but also had PE where they taught soccer, pickleball, softball (any ball hit over the fence onto the train tracks after the first one was an out and the teacher didn’t let my daughter pitch) floor hockey and other sports.

I think removing home phones was a huge negative in these kids learning to make plans.

I think these days experiences are very different regionally.

One thing that surprises me is how much school is missed for high school sports. I played three sports in high school and other than state championships don’t remember missing school. My daughter has to leave class early for home games as well as away. I personally think biology attendance is important and this will probably be the reason my kid doesn’t play multiple sports.

 

[Vertigo]

Honestly, I think it comes down to what parents instill in their children to be important that has had the biggest outcome. My kids weren’t allowed phones until they were in MS - and then it was more about being able to make sure they got home and all was good as DH and I worked until after they got home. No phone use until homework was done. Phones stayed out of their rooms during that time. Also, being the role models in the house. If parents are always on phones, tablets, etc., kids will do the same.

We made it a point to be active with our kids, get them out on the weekends and during the summers - obviously sports helped tremendously with that.

My kids’ HS required 3 seasons of sport/fitness participation as they did not have gym class. This forced them to pick up a sport they had never played before, as well as got them in the weight room at school.

Could there be a link between phone use and childhood obesity? I’m sure there’s been studies as sedentary lifestyle absolutely contributes to that. Could ADHD be related? Another good question.

I feel that phone use has delayed maturity, as well. But that’s JMHO.

ETA: I guess I took a slight tangent with my post but I do think the smart phones are one of the biggest changes that has changed how youth do things and interact with other people (not all is negative, BTW). Probably similar to how it was when televisions first entered the home many, many years ago.

 

[Northball]

I've been seeing more in the news where schools are taking back some control by not allowing students to have phones in class. Whether it's turn them in at the beginning of the day or set them in a designated area for each class, the disruptions go down.

Back to original topic, I did not want to be late for the school bus. 15 mile drive into town does not make a parent happy.
Plenty of times I was running down our long driveway while the bus waited. I have always hated running.

 

[ninthgirl]

The PE program at our K-12 private school is very expressly geared towards preparing kids to play on the sports teams when they are older.

The area public schools don't need to do that in order to have full varsity, JV, and often freshmen teams. They are all big enough that even the most niche of sports has kids who have been playing at a high level for years to fill out the varsity team at a minimum. There are some schools where it's rare to make any sport at any level if you don't play club/travel/select. At other schools you might make a sport's JV team by being merely athletic/having played rec, but you still probably won't make varsity.

When we toured our school the PE teacher went on a 20 minute tangent with the tour group about how PE was fine, but what was really missing from modern childhood was the sandlot experience where kids make up their own teams, their own rules, and negotiate their own differences. Even more than possible lack of physical coordination from more indoor/screen time, I think he was right that this is a big loss.

 

[CoachCeetar]

In general kids are healthier and more coordinated today and more capable in general to handle anything, including sweating, than kids were 40 years ago.

 

[Northball]

In general kids are healthier and more coordinated today and more capable in general to handle anything, including sweating, than kids were 40 years ago.

Did I read that right? My perception is opposite of what you stated. Except for the more coordinated part, I don't know either way on that one.

 

[Strike2]

In general kids are healthier and more coordinated today and more capable in general to handle anything, including sweating, than kids were 40 years ago.

"Childhood and adolescent obesity have reached epidemic levels in the United States, affecting the lives of millions of people. In the past 3 decades, the prevalence of childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6887808/

 

[CoachCeetar]

Did I read that right? My perception is opposite of what you stated. Except for the more coordinated part, I don't know either way on that one.

you don't think kids are healthier? we were legit feeding them/us lead in the 80s and the concept of social emotional learning was to tease the kids that had emotions.

 

[Vertigo]

you don't think kids are healthier? we were legit feeding them/us lead in the 80s and the concept of social emotional learning was to tease the kids that had emotions.

Without googling and just going by what I see at work everyday, obesity, type 2 diabetes, ADHD, anxiety and depression, substance abuse (marijuana is a big one now due to legalization in some states), and vaping (nicotine and other substances) are the co-morbidities I see frequently in teens and early 20’s surgical patients. A good number of the 18-25 year olds are coming in for some type of bariatric procedure.