This article today in the Denver Post raises the question of whether our kids today are too soft and too overprotected. The article makes the point that in most sports nowadays, kids from underprivileged neighborhoods, often having no fathers in their lives, are the ones who are excelling. Of course, there are genetic components that come into play, and we are only beginning to learn about the significance of genes. Well over half of American adults are overweight. If children are not physically active, they probably won't be physically active as adults, either. And, what about self-sufficiency? If our kids are staying inside, playing video games or watching t.v., how are they going to learn the skills they need to overcome adversities that they will have to face in adulthood?
The Post article concludes with these words by JFK.
On the heels of the disastrous showing by American athletes at the 1960 Rome Olympics, President John F. Kennedy penned an article for Sports Illustrated, cuttingly titled "The Soft American."
JFK wrote: "Our struggles against aggressors throughout our history have been won on the playgrounds, corner lots and fields of America. In a very real and immediate sense, our growing softness, our increasing lack of physical fitness, is a menace to our security. Physical fitness is as vital to the activities of peace as to those of war, especially when our success in those activities may well determine the future of freedom in the years to come."
1 comment:
I am NOT a fan of JFK, but whoever wrote his words sure echoes my feelings. I think I was the last generation to play from after school to sundown outside in the dirt, you get the picture.
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