Round 3: Varsity Letters and Good Intentions

Remember the story that was going around Facebook about a young athlete with special needs whose mom bought him a varsity letter jacket and whose school made him stop wearing it? Amanda had a chat with Charlie Zegers, who writes about sports and also about parenting kids on the autism spectrum, on whether buying a kid a letter to honor participation on a non-varsity team is something parents ought to be doing, however well-meaning and understandable such an effort may be. They talked about the meritocracy of sports, what a varsity letter signifies, how appropriating such a symbol may stir bad feelings along with good ones, and why there may also be unintended consequences to extending eligibility so that students in special education who get to high school a little older than their peers and stay longer can keep playing.

How do you feel about using a varsity letter as kind of an A for effort? Share your opinion in the comments, and if you're reading this somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience. (And if you share Amanda's very basic level of sports understanding, listen to Garfunkel and Oates's "Sports Go Sports" right along with her.)