Activities you would never do...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised at the anti-dance responses here. I didn't grow up dancing because my family had no time or money but I started taking some dance classes in college and the feeling I get when I'm dancing is really unparalleled. I wish my parents could have afforded dance lessons for me as a kid. I assume I'm not the only one who feels this way about dance.

There are pretty much zero adults that continue to dance. Most girls are done with dancing by 14

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never in a million years, would I allow DD to become an empty-headed, vapid, cheerleader.

This + poms

I think Poms is most popular down South and the Midwest. Have you seen the Pom teams and dance teams in the D1 college division? They are remarkably talented. Watch videos from some of their competitions and explain why you have a problem with it. These girls are not super thin. For the most part their weight is right where it’s supposed to be and they are strong.

Just like female sports teams there are mediocre dance teams but the top Pom teams are on par with the colleges top sports team with regard to the work put in and the results.

Except for things like pay. Or scholarship money. Or future career prospects. But sure other than those minor things for which no one looks at colleges, these are great.

The sports teams getting paid significant money starting this year are football players, basketball players and hockey players. some athletic programs like tennis, swimming, diving, wrestling, volleyball are being discontinued because they don’t produce revenue for the school. The court decision to pay college athletes will cause a lot more programs being dropped to focus on academics because money is tight.

What does the activities you choose have anything to do with future careers? Most college students don’t get sports scholarships so that doesn’t matter.

Most parents encourage their kids to pursue activities they enjoy as long as they don’t see them as dangerous. They are realistic and do not force their child in a sport that the parents think would be the best bet at a scholarship. That’s crazy.

You offered nothing that would dissuade a dancer from choosing a dance team or dance pom for a college activity. Harvard university competed in a national contest for the first time. They have a ways to go but they’ll make it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hockey - the practice times for our local team are ridiculous
Ballet and gymnastics. My sister and I were pretty involved in these growing up and they were incredibly toxic environments.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never in a million years, would I allow DD to become an empty-headed, vapid, cheerleader.

This + poms

I think Poms is most popular down South and the Midwest. Have you seen the Pom teams and dance teams in the D1 college division? They are remarkably talented. Watch videos from some of their competitions and explain why you have a problem with it. These girls are not super thin. For the most part their weight is right where it’s supposed to be and they are strong.

Just like female sports teams there are mediocre dance teams but the top Pom teams are on par with the colleges top sports team with regard to the work put in and the results.

Except for things like pay. Or scholarship money. Or future career prospects. But sure other than those minor things for which no one looks at colleges, these are great.

The sports teams getting paid significant money starting this year are football players, basketball players and hockey players. some athletic programs like tennis, swimming, diving, wrestling, volleyball are being discontinued because they don’t produce revenue for the school. The court decision to pay college athletes will cause a lot more programs being dropped to focus on academics because money is tight.

What does the activities you choose have anything to do with future careers? Most college students don’t get sports scholarships so that doesn’t matter.

Most parents encourage their kids to pursue activities they enjoy as long as they don’t see them as dangerous. They are realistic and do not force their child in a sport that the parents think would be the best bet at a scholarship. That’s crazy.

You offered nothing that would dissuade a dancer from choosing a dance team or dance pom for a college activity. Harvard university competed in a national contest for the first time. They have a ways to go but they’ll make it.

The Harvard dance coach probably can’t tip anyone into Harvard whereas the football coach can help 25-35 kids get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These make me a bit sad for girls. I had no eye hand or eye foot coordination, didn't enjoy the repetitive nature of swimming but was a damn good dancer then figure skater then cheerleader (I did all 3 over the years and cheered in college). I took absolute JOY in moving to music and had both a natural talent for it and love for it that made me work hard to build my skill.

I never once was body shamed in it or felt I had to be skinnier for my activity (vs the general be skinny pressure on girls). Maybe I would have been if I was at very high elite levels, but aren't all high elite athletes under body pressure whether its strength or weight or whatever. I am naturally petite which helped me with cheer and skating but that was no different than being naturally tall helping for basketball or tall and lean helping for cross country.

I just makes me sad that parents wouldn't let their kids do an activity out of potential future fears that gave me and many others such joy. I've circled back on all them in my adult life (just started taking skating lessons again after a 25 year hiatus) and I get energized from it in a way i never have any other physical or artistic persuit.

+1 I loved dance, and made national teams. My dad, in particular, decided dance wasn't really a good thing for me and forced me to play "real sports". I made teams, but never excelled the way I did in dance. Luckily a high school coach figured out my dance ability made me a natural hurdler and I ended up running track in college. But even now, in my mid-40s, I'm bitter about this.

Cheer and dance objectify and demean young women in really toxic ways. No to both!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised at the anti-dance responses here. I didn't grow up dancing because my family had no time or money but I started taking some dance classes in college and the feeling I get when I'm dancing is really unparalleled. I wish my parents could have afforded dance lessons for me as a kid. I assume I'm not the only one who feels this way about dance.

No, I don’t think this is a typical sentiment outside of dcum. Also pro dancing here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised at the anti-dance responses here. I didn't grow up dancing because my family had no time or money but I started taking some dance classes in college and the feeling I get when I'm dancing is really unparalleled. I wish my parents could have afforded dance lessons for me as a kid. I assume I'm not the only one who feels this way about dance.

No, I don’t think this is a typical sentiment outside of dcum. Also pro dancing here.

I am shaped like a hippo and dance with delight.

[Anonymous]

This thread has been eye-opening, to say the least! I really had less appreciation for how dangerous many of these activities really are. It is all honesty kind of terrifying.

Glad I found out before letting my kids do these things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised at the anti-dance responses here. I didn't grow up dancing because my family had no time or money but I started taking some dance classes in college and the feeling I get when I'm dancing is really unparalleled. I wish my parents could have afforded dance lessons for me as a kid. I assume I'm not the only one who feels this way about dance.

PP anti-dance.

Most of us former dancers started way younger and I’d argue, pressure to stay thin, fit, underweight really ramped up in teen years.

I was told that uniforms were not ever to be let out or altered. You bought new from a catalog and the student captain saw the sizes (and would refuse to buy) or you bought used from a similarly sized graduate. This was in the 1980s and if you were even slightly chubby, you would not make the team. Didn’t matter how skilled you were.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sports- waste of time

not as much as spending your time on this website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These make me a bit sad for girls. I had no eye hand or eye foot coordination, didn't enjoy the repetitive nature of swimming but was a damn good dancer then figure skater then cheerleader (I did all 3 over the years and cheered in college). I took absolute JOY in moving to music and had both a natural talent for it and love for it that made me work hard to build my skill.

I never once was body shamed in it or felt I had to be skinnier for my activity (vs the general be skinny pressure on girls). Maybe I would have been if I was at very high elite levels, but aren't all high elite athletes under body pressure whether its strength or weight or whatever. I am naturally petite which helped me with cheer and skating but that was no different than being naturally tall helping for basketball or tall and lean helping for cross country.

I just makes me sad that parents wouldn't let their kids do an activity out of potential future fears that gave me and many others such joy. I've circled back on all them in my adult life (just started taking skating lessons again after a 25 year hiatus) and I get energized from it in a way i never have any other physical or artistic persuit.

+1 I loved dance, and made national teams. My dad, in particular, decided dance wasn't really a good thing for me and forced me to play "real sports". I made teams, but never excelled the way I did in dance. Luckily a high school coach figured out my dance ability made me a natural hurdler and I ended up running track in college. But even now, in my mid-40s, I'm bitter about this.

Cheer and dance objectify and demean young women in really toxic ways. No to both!

No they don’t. A child who is a cheerleader for Pop Warner is not demeaning her. That’s so rude. And the top cheerleaders are not just women. There are men on the teams and they cheer, dance, tumble and do amazing stunts.

Maybe some dance competitions are just teaching routines that are inappropriate and don’t focus on teaching the basics, mostly on the West Coast and the South but there are many more dance schools that do a beautiful job teaching classical dance or world dance and don’t wear glitter on their faces.

For all the posters who have a negative opinion of dance I would recommend to go see a broadway musical, the Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet. Most kids dance for enjoyment and many do amateur versions of famous dances. Don’t knock what you don’t know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sports- waste of time

not as much as spending your time on this website.

Sports are not a waste of time at all. It’s what kids are supposed to do, play games. I loved playing Lacrosse and Basketball, running back and forth across the field or court. There needs to be more intramural teams that play after school for fun. Not everyone wants to take sports seriously or have parents who think their kid is the future Tom Brady.

Sports for fun needs to be prioritized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sports- waste of time

not as much as spending your time on this website.

Sports are not a waste of time at all. It’s what kids are supposed to do, play games. I loved playing Lacrosse and Basketball, running back and forth across the field or court. There needs to be more intramural teams that play after school for fun. Not everyone wants to take sports seriously or have parents who think their kid is the future Tom Brady.

Sports for fun needs to be prioritized.

Kids can and should do it in an unorganized way though. Kids are too overscheduled.

[Anonymous]

No to anything that has a crazy hectic unpredictable schedule. Also no to the incredibly toxic girl things like pom, cheer, ballet, etc. We're lucky that mine was never interested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sports- waste of time

not as much as spending your time on this website.

Sports are not a waste of time at all. It’s what kids are supposed to do, play games. I loved playing Lacrosse and Basketball, running back and forth across the field or court. There needs to be more intramural teams that play after school for fun. Not everyone wants to take sports seriously or have parents who think their kid is the future Tom Brady.

Sports for fun needs to be prioritized.

Kids can and should do it in an unorganized way though. Kids are too overscheduled.

It’s too bad there’s not enough support. I do think there would be minimal supervision needed because they don’t have a clue how to do this without an adult. No coaches but someone would have to start it.