I read, with great interest, Rossi Santo’s recent Another Viewpoint column in The News-Herald titled, “Why I fear for our youth.” I must say that I disagree with Santo’s observations and conclusions.
I don’t believe or fear that our kids are a soft generation. Actually, I think they are one of the strongest generations in recent history. They certainly are a different generation than the ones that preceded them.
Currently about 20,000 young men and women per year pass through Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina to become young Marines and protectors of this wonderful country. Thousands more are at our military and police academies, training to protect the rest of us.
I would venture to say that just a short few years ago, they were the same young kids we see at malls and restaurants and perhaps the dinner table playing with their phones. I might agree that this could be construed as bad manners, but not being soft.
The very phone that we carry in our back pockets or in our purses has more computing power than the technology that put the first people on the moon. It’s likely that many of today’s technologies were developed by people most would consider soft or nerds. God bless people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and so many more.
People are correct that most kids haven’t had the opportunity to play in back yards or in the local fields like we used to, but that’s not their fault. Most fields have been torn down and replaced with housing and/or parkways because of the expansion of urban development.
Most local sports teams end in mid-season for travel teams that only take the very best, leaving those who need more development to themselves. Dear parents, I wouldn’t worry about your kids getting participation awards, it could be the only sports awards they get. The facts are only a small percentage of middle school athletes play high school varsity sports and even a smaller percentage play college sports. My Dad and teachers were my inspiration, not coaches and players making millions of dollars.
I can assure you the kids who play varsity sports are no different than those who don’t when it comes to the use of cellphones and hand computers. After watching many teams compete and give their all, it would be hard to say these kids are soft. By the way, most of them are picking up their phone by the time they hit the locker room. I do believe kids have changed: They are bigger, faster and smarter, with emphasis on smarter.
My experience goes back to 1969, when I first started coaching football, basketball and baseball in the city of Euclid. I’m currently licensed and certified with the state of Ohio as an active coach. I’m still an active middle school basketball coach in the city of Willoughby.
I would like to conclude by declaring how proud I am of our youth in the aftermath of the school shooting massacre in Parkland, Florida. They have communicated and rallied the nation for changes that need to be made when our government has failed to do so.
I think we are in good hands with today’s youth.
Editor’s note: The News-Herald invites opinion column submissions so all sides of an issue may be aired. Robert Pollutro resides in Mentor.