HEE: There is a clear and present danger

We are at a crossroads in time. Yes, time is running out. There is a clear and present danger in our community and all over America and we have to fix it before our kids grow up.

And yes, this involves sports.

When I grew up there were maybe one or two obese kids in class. Now they are a common sight.

Just in November of last year the New York Times said 38 percent of Americans are obese.

In schools we try to get kids to take on exercise and short of turning schools into boot camps, that is not happening.

Schools do enough already.

Like studying, taking care of your body comes from the home and when the adults aren’t doing it, how can we expect our children to do it.

Adults need to be parents again.

So, I turn to sports. And people are saying to themselves kids don’t want to play, or there is no money to put Johnny in one and the excuses are many.

The problem is not the kids, but the adults in our community. As a community we have to recognize the importance of exercise and it has to be a way of life.

Again, adults need to be parents.

Kids spend a lot of time at the schools, but parents must realize that the teacher is not the parent. They are not responsible for homework or physical fitness or even hygiene issues and certainly not responsible for sex education and yet the schools do many of these things.

Again, adults need to be parents.

So parents, it is on you to get the kids involved. Parents must take back the parenting.

Parenting is not buying kids video games or a phone. Some parents actually believe a couple of texts a week is parenting or having kids play all day on the video games is parenting.

Parents must tell the kids to get involved. And oh, this means you might have to discipline them once in awhile. Did you know that “no” is most often the correct response in a dialogue with your child. Why? Remember, parents are in charge and not the kids.

Oftentimes I think ofwhen I go to the DMV to renew my license to drive. To operate a car on the road you need a license, but to raise a kid for life, you don’t. It doesn’t even require a class to have one.

Then parents take issue with the cost of sports. Did you know most sports in town have scholarships?

Some churches even pay for kids to play a sport.

As a community I would have no problem getting a kid involved in a sport. Why? Because it may be the only time in the child’s life that an adult says he is good at something, or an adult even says “no” to the kid. In other words, it may be the only time the kid is praised for doing something or receives any kind of discipline.

I am also going after the kids. Kids, do something! It’s simple, staying at home is not an option. Get off your butts and go outside and enjoy the fresh air. If you don’t like organized sports go to the park and play games.

As a child growing up, all I needed to entertain myself was a ball.

Kids, you always say you have nothing out here to do. Sports really is the only thing out here to do and yet in some sports the numbers are shrinking and that tells me the interest is not there. Keep this attitude up and those sports will disappear too.

Times have changed, but not necessarily for the good. Technology should not rule us so much that we ignore our kids and our kids ignore the world. How often have you seen entire restaurants filled with people and not one person talking. What is wrong with our society?