The American reports:
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal was headlined “Youth Participation Weakens in Basketball, Football, Baseball, and Soccer.” In solid journalistic fashion, the article went on to document the decrease in sales in sports equipment, the many new interests competing for the time and attention of the young, and the opinions of various experts in health and physical education. A girl from an athletic family gives her reason for abandoning the track team in her high school in Ohio — too time-consuming — and high-school athletic directors blame video games for the decreasing participation in sports. “The causes of declines in youth sports aren't clear,” runs a characteristic paragraph. “Experts cite everything from increasing costs to excessive pressure on kids in youth sports to cuts in school physical-education programs.”An interesting article.
Kierkegaard, who isn’t quoted in the article, spoke of being “drowned in the sea of possibility,” and it is true that kids today are faced with a great many more possibilities for their leisure time than they were 30 or more years ago. Many of these possibilities come bearing screens: computers, smart phones, PlayStations, iPads, and other toys from what is now nonchalantly referred to as digital culture. In an odd way, life was richer without these gadgets, for then, kids could fall back on a toy that was much less expensive and vastly more educational. The toy was called the out-of-doors.
