Apr 15, 2015
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.)