The never-ending battle between sports and academics goes on and on.  Today I was involved in coordinating a finals prep workshop for ninth and tenth graders who we identified as “support eligible.”  Our marker was for students who held a GPA below a certain number.  It’s encouraging to see such a large presence of student-athletes that have signed up.  I feel like traditionally, they don’t always take advantage of opportunities for their academics like they would if it were sport related.

So what’s the catch?  It isn’t actually the students who are taking the initiative – it’s the parents.  The students with the most in-tuned, involved parents seem to be taking advantage of everything possible.  I don’t know if this is a good thing or not in the long run but I do see that what’s to offer, they have access to.  Parents would like to think that because their child is now in high school, they can fend for themselves.  For many this may be true, but I’m seeing a growing trend of the opposite.  I see kids who don’t check their emails, don’t make their schedules and hardly make their own decisions.  The decisions they do make usually end in them getting in trouble or being told they need to rethink their actions.

I wonder, although these kids have “access” to support and extra means, what are we as parents actually preparing them for?  What skills are we actually teaching our children?  These are things I ponder daily as I work with students.  The discussion I’d like to have is, what skills are needed for them to be prepared for their future.  Their future isn’t that far away from mine…