My column on the addiction that many have to sports and athletics prompted some strong rebuttals. Opening a dialog on this topic, in my opinion, is a worthy goal.

I would like to respond to Mr. Jaenicke and the “Guests” that chose to endorse this “Addiction.”

Mr. Jaenicke cites ““Life long productive skills” his daughter has acquired: Teamwork, Collaboration, Tenacity, Humility, Perseverance, Determination, Handling Adversity, Organizational Skills, Mentoring, Motivational Skills, Goal Setting/Goal Achievement, Building lifelong friendships with a positive peer group” as a positive benefit of the athletic programs in his children’s schools.

For some kids this is absolutely true, just as these attributes are also taught in Little League, Select Teams, and other programs that are conducted in the community.

Are they desirable? Certainly! If Mr. Jaenicke believes them to be so why do we not require them of all students?

I taught in a school that required all students to participate in athletics two of three semesters every year. Every faculty member was required to coach at least one semester every year without any additional compensation. I would be all for this in Federal Way instead of limiting the exposure to these desirable traits to a very limited few.

There is one precaution. A look at the local daily paper’s sports section is often a look at the “Crime Blotter.” Evidently not all who have participated in these highly taxpayer subsidized activities learned the lessons that Mr. Jaenicke suggests.

The Federal Way School District, one of the “poorest” in the state, has a primary charter to “Educate” the children of Federal Way in the “3-R’s” as spelled out by the Legislature. There is no mention of athletics in the charter they have from the Legislature. Should a district that has less than 50% of it students graduating, according to Education Week, be expending very significant dollars, per student, on “Exercising the Physically Fit?”

Do I ever suggest “Workable Solutions?” It depends upon what you want to call “Workable.” When I was on the Board I proposed many solutions, some accepted and some not.

The ones that were not were often “Not workable” in the eyes of the administration as they would have required students, parents, and educators, to get out of their comfort zone. When you have so few students leaving the schools with the tools for either a well paying job, or admissions to “Real” colleges, I would suggest that we have to get out of the “Comfort Zone!” There are other school systems, even districts, that have made this adjustment and it has benefited their communities immensely.

A “Guest” who seems to be a coach also wrote to defend sports. Not surprising! Did I suggest that “Sports” be eliminated from Federal Way? No not at all. In the rest of the world, save Canada, there are very competitive sports programs in every community. They, like Little League, Select Teams, etc are not integrated into the educational system. It is probably not a coincidence that these countries seem to have much higher achievement rates. Could it be that kids in these countries are not constantly distracted by sports while in school?

Another “Guest” criticized my attempt to ban “Flip Flops” in school. We have a constant conflict in schools between content and “Fluff” that is nothing but a distraction. Kids come to school dressed provocatively, behave provocatively, and in many other ways try to divert the concentration of others in school.

Does anyone think that this is a significant problem in schools that are achieving at far better levels than our schools? I don’t think so! Flip Flops are just a part of a “culture” that is a diversion from learning. I continue to believe that dress codes are part of learning where to be an adult. I often advise kids that “Adults have all of the Cookies. Your friends don’t have any Cookies. Adults can either give, or not give, you Cookies. You need to impress adults.”

Finally another “Guest” suggested that athletes have higher grades than those who do not participate in sports. I can’t find any evidence of this, but there is some evidence that many “athletes” do have trouble maintaining the minimal levels of academic success required for eligibility.

So where do these highly selective, very expensive, often distracting, activities belong in a school district that constantly complains about lack of financial resources? I think somewhere else.