Extra-curricular activities have many benefits for children, and the over-involved parents aren’t one of them. It shouldn’t be the parent’s dream when it comes to their child’s extra-curricular activities. Many kids feel that their parents are too involved in their athletic activities. This is called hyper-parenting; this is where parents over-schedule their kids. Sometimes parents get too involved, and they start to become “bad sports.”

Did you know only 1% of high school athletes get scholarships to play at college level sports? And out of all those college athletes, only 3% of them go on to professional sports. So it’s not a big deal if your child is only mediocre at the sport you want them to play. Chances are they won’t even make it past the high school level. If you push children too hard, are they really going to even like the sport anymore?

Over-scheduling also takes a lot out of the families lives. By over-scheduling multiple sports seven days a week, family dinners in America have decreased by 33%! Kids already have school and stress to deal with. Most kids are even sleep deprived. Does a pushy parent really help?

Did you know about 15% of parents at sporting events, show unsportsmanlike behavior at youth sporting events? This really says, maybe some parents are way too involved in their child’s athletic activities. In Texas, a parent at a swim meet got mad, and shoved the referee into the pool. Later, that parent was arrested. Unfortunately, some parents get too involved and become “bad sports.”

Parents should be happy if their child is playing a sport, even if it’s a sport the parent doesn’t care for. There are many benefits from playing a sport. In athletics, character is definitely put into play. Character is doing what’s right, from doing what is wrong. Learning to respect your teammates, coaches, opponents, and referee’s is another very important characteristic that is learned in athletics. Also, learning how to deal with winning and losing, teamwork, humility, sportsmanship, self-esteem, and discipline are other major characteristics gained from athletics. Getting exercise is one of the reasons people even play sports. Whether the parents like the child’s choice of sport or not, they should be happy with the benefits gained from athletics.

Some parents take their kids sport too seriously, to the point of where they go to extra measures just so they can win. Surprisingly, a few parents will make their kids take-performance enhancing drugs, to improve their game. Parents will even take their child to have surgery to get a part of their body removed, so they have a better performance level. Some parents even tamper with the sports equipment, to make their child perform at a higher level. It’s seems weird that a parent could do something like that, even when their child could be in danger.

Some parents are ruining the athletic experience for their kids. They keep pushing their children to limits; they may not be possible to reach. Parents are over-involved by over-scheduling and pushing too hard. The parents should support and except their children for who they are, and what activities they want to be involved in. It shouldn’t be the parents dream; it should be the child’s dream.