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Home › Articles › General › Too Much Encouragement

Too Much Encouragement

Overzealous Parenting Could Harm Your Child

By Carma Haley Shoemaker

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Extracurricular activities offer children of all ages an outlet for expressing themselves, their talents and their interests. Whether they are sporting or academic activities, these "after school" programs create a diversion from the normal school structure and offer kids a little fun and creativity. But there are students whose only reason for involvement in these activities is a pushy parent.

"I never really liked soccer," says Alec Kurdzel. "I only played it because my grandfather played and my Dad wanted me to play it, too. I love football and baseball, but soccer was never for me. I did fine playing soccer, but didn't enjoy it...it wasn't fun. I played because I knew it would make them happy and because I knew, to get my Dad's attention I had to play. He wouldn't let me try out for football, so I settled for soccer."

Forcing a child to participate in an activity in which they have no interest can have a lot of negative effects. "Children are entitled to their own recreational time just as adults are," Pieper says. "If an adult had free time and someone told them how to spend it they would be upset. Kids should be entitled to decide how they would choose to spend [their free time]. They need those choices and need to experiment to see what they enjoy, or what is best suited for them. When parents step in and make them specialize and do only do one thing, as well as do it to the level the parents wants but the child may not, that child is essential robbed of an important experience of childhood. The child may then grow up and always try to find an authority figure to tell them what to do or totally rebel and be against athority the rest of their lives."


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