Dr LeCrone
05-21-2006, 10:11 PM
Surely you remember field days – a combination of track and field events usually held in early Mary. I do. As I watched field day events for my 7-year-old daughter, I was both spectator and participant as memories of my own field days flooded back.
I am fairly certain my first experience with butterflies in the tummy came during my first field day.
I vividly remember standing on the starting line with a gunny sack in which I was supposed to hop from a starting point to the finish line. At age 7, the route seemed at least five miles long. My father was a very competitive man who had encouraged me to compete in all the races with the intention of winning.
As the starting gun went off, I remember getting tangled up and falling to the ground. Surrounded by dust from the other participants, I began to cry. My father’s cries of support from the sidelines urging me to get up and resume the race didn’t help. I simply became more frustrated and sat there until the race was over.
This must have been the dawning of my realization of the risks and rewards of measuring one’s ability against others’.
As the years have gone by – and especially since I entered the field of psychology – I have realized even more how complex and important these early experiences with competition are for children. A child’s interpretation of these games influences how he feels about himself in other areas of life.
I remember when my two sons were involved in soccer. I found it extremely interesting to watch parents as they reacted to their child’s performance on the field. Their clapping and shouting of encouragement not only for successful plays, but simply for good effort, produced a strong positive response in the children. These are good memories.
But I also recall situations during the many years my boys participated in this sport which were less than positive. They were truly disheartening. Screams from parents – mothers and fathers – that took the form of threats when their children did not play well produced a feeling in my akin to my reaction to someone scratching a fingernail down a blackboard.
I remember a few situations in which a coach was asked to turn the coaching over to someone else because of negative behavior that produced destructive effects on the children.
It seems hard to believe, even if you are a psychologist, that adults of seemingly average intelligence can let their emotions and behavior become so outlandish and malignant. Fortunately, most of coaches and parents displayed a warm, nurturing feeling, a positive and healthy attitude at these events, all of which played a part in shaping the children’s’ self-concepts.
At my daughter’s field day events as I played the part of the spectator, I saw the smiles of success, the frowns of losses, and yes, even a few tears.
As I relived the part of the participant, I realized the only part missing was the dust and the beautiful grass in the infield. Artificial turf is after all a sign of progress.
Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1987
I am fairly certain my first experience with butterflies in the tummy came during my first field day.
I vividly remember standing on the starting line with a gunny sack in which I was supposed to hop from a starting point to the finish line. At age 7, the route seemed at least five miles long. My father was a very competitive man who had encouraged me to compete in all the races with the intention of winning.
As the starting gun went off, I remember getting tangled up and falling to the ground. Surrounded by dust from the other participants, I began to cry. My father’s cries of support from the sidelines urging me to get up and resume the race didn’t help. I simply became more frustrated and sat there until the race was over.
This must have been the dawning of my realization of the risks and rewards of measuring one’s ability against others’.
As the years have gone by – and especially since I entered the field of psychology – I have realized even more how complex and important these early experiences with competition are for children. A child’s interpretation of these games influences how he feels about himself in other areas of life.
I remember when my two sons were involved in soccer. I found it extremely interesting to watch parents as they reacted to their child’s performance on the field. Their clapping and shouting of encouragement not only for successful plays, but simply for good effort, produced a strong positive response in the children. These are good memories.
But I also recall situations during the many years my boys participated in this sport which were less than positive. They were truly disheartening. Screams from parents – mothers and fathers – that took the form of threats when their children did not play well produced a feeling in my akin to my reaction to someone scratching a fingernail down a blackboard.
I remember a few situations in which a coach was asked to turn the coaching over to someone else because of negative behavior that produced destructive effects on the children.
It seems hard to believe, even if you are a psychologist, that adults of seemingly average intelligence can let their emotions and behavior become so outlandish and malignant. Fortunately, most of coaches and parents displayed a warm, nurturing feeling, a positive and healthy attitude at these events, all of which played a part in shaping the children’s’ self-concepts.
At my daughter’s field day events as I played the part of the spectator, I saw the smiles of success, the frowns of losses, and yes, even a few tears.
As I relived the part of the participant, I realized the only part missing was the dust and the beautiful grass in the infield. Artificial turf is after all a sign of progress.
Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1987