Acceptable child abuse, is there such a thing? There is! Picture this, 13 year old girls running around in 103 degree weather panting and sweating while adults sitting in the shade drinking a cool beverage yell at them for a solid hour to run faster, push harder and stop being lazy! Youth sports promotes legalized child abuse. Parents become bullies embarrassing their own children with harsh words, angry tones and down right nasty comments. Parents sitting in their nice comfy chairs become egotistical sideline coaches forgetting that their children think of them as Gods and take their comments and messages to heart. The message? You’re not making me happy, you’re not making me the envy of all the other parents, you’re not good enough, you should be better.
Who’s life is this anyway? Yours or theirs? Do you care that you are murdering the soul of your child for your own self serving needs? As I listened to the angry voices yelling and yelling and yelling from the sidelines I wondered why any child would subject themselves to this type of punishment and embarrassment game after game, month after month and year after year. I realized they don’t have the ability to tell their parents to Snap Out of It! If they did I dare say they would be grounded or punished even further.
Negative criticism never makes anyone jump higher and run farther. Don’t fool yourself into believing you are making them stronger and better. Eventually this voice, your voice will reverberate in your child’s head sabotaging their ability to fully trust themselves. They will forever be performing to the level demanded by the world even if it is killing them. They will look for a way to numb out from the internal pain that you have helped create.
So since your kids can’t and won’t say it, I will. Wake the Heck Up, Stand Up and Snap Out of It!