i have renewed hope for common sense

[chad]

my daughter is 8, third grade. she just joined this intermural basketball program at her parochial school. they play other public schools, etc. we had the first game today.

so, we showed up, got ready to play, only to be informed of the dreaded "we don't keep score, it's for fun."

after the first quarter, the kids were BITCHING (our team and the public school) about not keeping score. by the middle of the second, there were lots of "what is the point if i make a basket it doesn't count anyway?" comments floating around.

finally, a couple of us dads agreed we would keep score on paper. changed everything. kids were scrambling, hustling, etc.

all of the parents in the place were happy we did, kids were excited as hell (even my girl's team who got CREAMED, but at least they knew their baskets counted). only people miffed were the 2 adults running the program.

i have renewed faith in common sense, as a bunch of 8 year olds schooled everyone in WTF today. ;D

[Ponce]

That's like.......why have a war if we don't keep score of how many we kill?........or why work if we don't earn any money?...numbers is what moves the universe.

[Neuro]

Children know!

[sunshine05]

That is so ridiculous not to keep score! My 10 year old plays flag football. When he was 8 or so they didn't technically keep score, but everyone did. Of course they want to know if they won or not! Now that he's older, they officially keep score. It's a big deal to the kids.

[Sparky]

Not keeping score. Kids hate it. Parents hate it. It really makes you wonder who's running the show.

[Ponce]

Sparky? do you really have to ask? hummmmmmmmm.

[Sparky]

Sparky? do you really have to ask? hummmmmmmmm.

I know, I know. I just thought I'd say it out loud. ;)

[JohnQPublic]

... It really makes you wonder who's running the show.

scannning morans

[MAGNES]

There is some sort of an agenda going on with this from the top.

I have seen this reported in the local media.

Some high level athletics organizations are promoting this agenda.

Competition and sports is important, it is a great learning tool,
sportsmanship, doing the best you can, fair play, showing
respect to the winning team and players, personal development,
self improvement, achievement, a strong body does make a strong mind,
leadership skills and building leaders is under attack with this.

Next stop is studying and other standards do not matter,
like reading, writing and arithmetic standards. In some places
we are already here. No marks, free passes.

This is a Marxist agenda to dumb down society further.

[k-os]

I am very moved by this, chad. I have often wondered what the new generations will be like, particularly because of the "no score" type of thing. How do you determine success if nobody wins?

[banjo]

I am very moved by this, chad. I have often wondered what the new generations will be like, particularly because of the "no score" type of thing. How do you determine success if nobody wins?


That's just it. The other way that they do it, is everybody wins and all the kids get a ribbon regardless of their performance. It's the same thing really. No difference between winners and losers. No incentive to perform, no reason to improve.

[joboo]

I'd play scoreless for the rest of my days as long as I could get out of parochial school. badda bing.

[sirgonzo420]

Damn commies everywhere! Good on you for keeping score!

[sunshine05]

Before I pulled my son out of public school I was surprised that he wasn't even getting grades on tests or assignments. They used numbers 1-4 instead so it didn't have much significance to him. Most of the time, he got all 3's on his report card which meant "on target for grade level". a 4 was "exceeds expectations" and they did the same on tests. No 90% = A. I felt it gave little incentive to try.

As it stood, he was getting all 3's but he wasn't learning anything. It really felt like I was putting him in daycare, not school. Now that we're homeschooling, I put grades on all of his work.

[chad]

update.

went to a big fundraising dinner at the school yesterday and this was a big topic of conversation at our table. apparently the program directors (from the YMCA) felt that if we didn't keep score, it would make the kids play harder because they would be focusing on playing rather than the score (the score would be too big of a distraction apparently).

everyone at the table was for keeping score. we all decided that from now on at least one adult in our group will be bringing a clipboard to the game and keeping stats on all of the kids. i'm signed up for the next game. :D

[k-os]

It makes me wonder . . . do they call fouls? Where does the madness end?

Never mind, stupidity knows no bounds. I have told this story before on GIM (RIP). I had a roommate who was a teacher, and she told me that they couldn't use red pens in this county anymore because it was too upsetting to the children. Whhhhaaaaaaa? So, she uses a purple pen. What about when the purple ink becomes frightening?

[chad]

It makes me wonder . . . do they call fouls? Where does the madness end?

Never mind, stupidity knows no bounds. I have told this story before on GIM (RIP). I had a roommate who was a teacher, and she told me that they couldn't use red pens in this county anymore because it was too upsetting to the children. Whhhhaaaaaaa? So, she uses a purple pen. What about when the purple ink becomes frightening?

no, they don't call fouls unless it turns in to a big dogpile for the ball. i can **kind** of see not calling fouls, though. if they did, all they would do is stop the game every 2 seconds. the kids are so excited that it's a constant crash into each other fest.

[Awoke]

Magnes is right.

[Silver Rocket Bitches!]

I signed my 6 year old daughter up for soccer. They too keep no score. I don't mind it much since these are 1st graders and don't have much grasp on the concepts of the sport itself. They're still learning the very basics. Once they reach an age where they understand the game and their roles in it, I would want score to be kept. I'm thinking 8 or 9 years old. If you don't win the game, how can you have tournaments and things of that nature?