No Sympathy for Today's Student Athletes

[alcoholica]

Starting watching the History of Gator Football (100 years). They started talking about how many players left to fight in WW2, and how many died. My immediate thought is **** these kids today. It's not a UF thing, I'm sure all kids from all over the country left to go fight. And now we hear this bitching and moaning. **** them.

 

[gatormandan]

Kids are a product of their environment. Times are different now. The PC world sucks.

 

[TLB]

Can you hold that thought until we finish catching up in the arms race for facilities. Thank you.

 

[MidwestChomp]

I was in Minneapolis over the weekend. This weird convention was going on where social media "stars" go on tour and kids actually pay money to get into this convention to meet and greet them. Anyway, they were staying at our hotel. My wife and I saw about 30 kids (95% were female) waiting around for these so called "stars" to get their pictures with them to more than likely post them on social media. They were all on their phones and not many were talking with each other. My wife remarked is this what is happening now? I said, what do you expect it's a social media convention.

It's a social media world. That's why kids think they are more important than they really are these days.

I really hope my daughters don't end up like that.

 

[bradgator2]

I was in Minneapolis over the weekend. This weird convention was going on where social media "stars" go on tour and kids actually pay money to get into this convention to meet and greet them. Anyway, they were staying at our hotel. My wife and I saw about 30 kids (95% were female) waiting around for these so called "stars" to get their pictures with them to more than likely post them on social media. They were all on their phones and not many were talking with each other. My wife remarked is this what is happening now? I said, what do you expect it's a social media convention.

It's a social media world. That's why kids think they are more important than they really are these days.

I really hope my daughters don't end up like that.

I wont let it happen while they are in my control. Dinner together as a family, every night, with no electronics or tv. No electronics allowed in bedroom or while we are out in public (the car ride is ok). We make them order their own food at a restaurant. We will not get a gaming console. Etc.

 

[TheDouglas78]

We will not get a gaming console

child abuse

 

[divits]

I wont let it happen while they are in my control. Dinner together as a family, every night, with no electronics or tv. No electronics allowed in bedroom or while we are out in public (the car ride is ok). We make them order their own food at a restaurant. We will not get a gaming console. Etc.

Sounds very similar to our rules. Worked out pretty well.

 

[MidwestChomp]

I wont let it happen while they are in my control. Dinner together as a family, every night, with no electronics or tv. No electronics allowed in bedroom or while we are out in public (the car ride is ok). We make them order their own food at a restaurant. We will not get a gaming console. Etc.

The public school system where I live gives Ipads to kindergartners (rated one of the best school districts in the state). Since mine is going into kindergarten next year, I damn near had a heart attack.

 

[bradgator2]

The public school system where I live gives Ipads to kindergartners (rated one of the best school districts in the state). Since mine is going into kindergarten next year, I damn near had a heart attack.

Yeah, both my kids (9 and 7) have Kindle Fires and they are both amazing on the PC. They both use those all the time and practically live on them. I'm certainly not anti-technology. But, I have very strict rules of when I dont want to see them and how I want them to act socially. For example, my daughter is doing a project on Brazil and we drink an Acai drink (berry found in the Amazon). She wanted everyone in her class to drink it while she gives her presentation. Fine. So I made her find their customer phone number, call them, and ask for coupons. I dont think my 16 year old niece could/would do that. Most kids these days are set up to fail in the real world.

 

[TLB]

Since the thread has taken a turn to how we run our households....

Electronics (phone for me, tablets for kids generally) and books (my daughter prefers books over everything) are not allowed at the table. We each take turns saying something about our day - both as a means of forcing communication skills, but also as a means of me knowing what is going on since I don't get much time with them. My son (7) and daughter (almost 10) each have a tablet, but are limited to an hour of electronics time per day. They can choose to spend that on the PC, their tablet, watching tv, whatever. There's no bargaining for more time. However, today's schoolwork, here at least, includes assignments on the computer - homework assignments don't count against their electronics time.

In our schools, K-4 (Elementary) has class iPads that the kids can have for use as one of the stations within class. First grade and above are being issued email addresses for communication with teachers and parents. Third grade classes have a twitter acct, and the kids each have twitter accts so they can learn how it works within the safety of the teacher's environment (even parents can't follow unless cleared by the teacher). Elementary school - they are being taught the basics of social media. Upon reaching middle school, and thru high school, all students are issued chrome books (cheap, leased by school board I assume, replaced after 3-4 yrs of wear and tear) with assignments communicated, worked, and submitted electronically.

My daughter booted up Powerpoint and made a presentation then emailed it to our extended family. Nobody showed her how to use powerpoint, I didn't realize she knew such a thing existed, but yeah, self taught. Either of my kids will zip thru my wife's iPhone to help her get things set or to accomplish something since they are light years ahead of her already in terms of tech skills.

Bottom line - this isn't our generation (and even amongst the members on here, we have various generations). We need to recognize that, allow our kids to develop in a way that keeps them integrated with their generation, but instilled with the values (being able to talk face to face, to drop some 'online flame war' and walk back to the real world, etc) we hold as important in their development.

 

[BMF]

I was in Minneapolis over the weekend. This weird convention was going on where social media "stars" go on tour and kids actually pay money to get into this convention to meet and greet them. Anyway, they were staying at our hotel. My wife and I saw about 30 kids (95% were female) waiting around for these so called "stars" to get their pictures with them to more than likely post them on social media. They were all on their phones and not many were talking with each other. My wife remarked is this what is happening now? I said, what do you expect it's a social media convention.

It's a social media world. That's why kids think they are more important than they really are these days.

I really hope my daughters don't end up like that.

Isn't Will Grier's brother a "social media" star? On "Vines" or something? What a tool!

Good for you Brad! It's unbelievable what this world has come to....

 

[MidwestChomp]

Isn't Will Grier's brother a "social media" star? On "Vines" or something? What a tool!

Good for you Brad! It's unbelievable what this world has come to....

Yep. I was hoping he'd be at the hotel so I could ask about his idiot brother and kick in the nuts.

 

[daytonacane]

Kudos to you who have set rules and regs on your children's use of electronics. When I was growing up and when I raised my two sons, we had telephone restrictions, but at least we talked and communicated with each other. My young grandson stated yesterday at dinner that he "prefers to text his friends as he doesn't want to get into a long, drawn-out conversation". How sad.

I have lived in the same house/neighborhood over 40 years and my sons and other kids in the neighborhood were always outside playing. We still have a number of children in the neighborhood, but they are never outside playing.

We are fortunate in many ways that we live in an electronic era with the availability of information at our fingertips (just ask Seri (sp?), MRI's CAT scans, etc. I have a pacemaker and every couple of months I put an electronic gadget around my neck over the pacemaker, hook a machine into a phone line and send an update evaluation of my pacemaker to my doctor; thus, negating an office visit and medicare charge. However, I feel our children are losing out on social interactions. In generations to come, we may end up a nation of robots.

 

[chferg]

To those who withhold electronics and not pushing technology; you are ultimately doing nothing to benefit your child.

Limitations are fine; I believe phones should be put away during dinner and etc...adequate time spent outdoors are a most and everything else like that is important...

With that being said; push technology in your home. The present and the future is and will be even more dictated by those who know how to operate, fix, and develop for these platforms.

I am thankful that my parents allowed me to spend unrestricted time with my electronics when I was growing up (although the 90s and early 2000s were a bit different)...it was a learning tool for me when I wasn't engaged in school activities.

 

[NVGator]

You guys are funny. What do you think your parents think of the kids and the world when you were a kid? What do you think your parents parents thought of it at the same time then? And so on and son on.

The world evolves fast. You just have to hang on as tight as you can.

 

[rogdochar]

Probably there's one singular human trait that allowed all ever-climbing superior development:
that trait was gregariousness. It led to all collaborations. Letting anything displace human contact
will lead to breakdowns = civil, social, mental, fiz-fitness, etc.

 

[MidwestChomp]

Probably there's one singular human trait that allowed all ever-climbing superior development:
that trait was gregariousness. It led to all collaborations. Letting anything displace human contact
will lead to breakdowns = civil, social, mental, fiz-fitness, etc.

The social gregarians are found on social media these days?

 

[TLB]

According to their Gregarian Calendar, things are due for another evolutionary change.

 

[maheo30]

We will not get a gaming console. Etc.

Stalin says hi.

 

[rogdochar]

The social gregarians are found on social media these days?

Can't wait for that facebook barn-raising.