Middle school was hell, because it was in middle school that I became painfully aware of my complete and utter lack of athletic prowess. Tall, skinny, and awkward, I was consistently left among the little clutch of other athletic outcasts when the stronger and more capable girls picked teams. It didn't matter what sport it was; I was hopeless at all of them, and it didn't take me long to figure out my standings in one fairly important world.
Fortunately, I outranked many of those kids in other ways and didn't suffer too much in the long run (after all, P.E. was only one period out of an entire day and could be blocked out mentally if I worked hard enough at it). But many kids aren't so lucky, as a new study reveals. Kids inherently know how they stack up in the jock world, and there is a complicated but obvious-to-everyone ranking system that goes along with it. And kids who can't play sports are regarded, even by themselves, as lonely and less well-liked, while popular kids automatically are thought to be better athletes.
I've got a kid who just entered middle school this year and I see in him the same pattern. Not terribly confident either athletically or socially, he feels a bit of an outcast even though he shines academically. It makes me want to just hold him close and tell him that in ten years it won't matter, but what about those ten years?
It's sad that physical achievement, while obviously of importance in maintaining fitness and overall health, is still the benchmark of social acceptance in childhood. This skewed perception certainly is likely to skew the little minds of many generations of kids to come, as I don't see a change occurring any time soon. But hello, a little more emphasis, maybe, on other ways of being successful would likely cut way down on therapy for kids who just haven't yet grown into their bodies. And placing greater importance on achievement in the arts or academics would certainly help create a better-balanced world, don't you think? Yeah yeah, call me idealist.
