Personal Trainers for Children

[MomentoMori]

Give Me 10 ... Thousand: Parents Shell Out Small Fortunes for Kids' Personal Trainers - ParentDish


Is it just me, or do American parents not know what to do with their children? Whatever happened to letting kids be kids? I can understand wanting your kid to reach his/her potential when it comes to athletics, but personal trainers? Parents are taking cash out of retirement, savings accounts, and even their kids' college funds to pay for these services - in the long run, I would think that kids would need all that money for college should they decide to go a lot more than they'll need a personal trainer.

 

[LongLiveLife]

This topic really hits home for me.

I believe kids should be given personal trainers. It is ultimately for their own health and to their benefit, and if your parents are willing to fork out the money to make you healthy and know how to take care of your body. Why not?

Obviously, things like a proper college fund and savings take precedence over athleticism and appearance, but if you have the cash to spare, go for it.

 

[MomentoMori]

This topic really hits home for me.

I believe kids should be given personal trainers. It is ultimately for their own health and to their benefit, and if your parents are willing to fork out the money to make you healthy and know how to take care of your body. Why not?

Obviously, things like a proper college fund and savings take precedence over athleticism and appearance, but if you have the cash to spare, go for it.

What happened to playgrounds, sports practice, and backyards? What about community centers like the Y? If you want your kid to be healthy, why not just use those instead of forcing your kids to use a personal trainer? If you're worried about eating habits, go to a pediatrician or nutritionist.

 

[LongLiveLife]

What happened to playgrounds, sports practice, and backyards? What about community centers like the Y? If you want your kid to be healthy, why not just use those instead of forcing your kids to use a personal trainer? If you're worried about eating habits, go to a pediatrician or nutritionist.

I agree. Forcing your child to do something they wish not to is simply wrong, but if both parent and child are in agreement, then I see no harm in children having personal trainers.

Playing sports with friends is all fun and good, but sport at a recreational level does little to help your college application. And to get any decent training whatsoever, you have to be on a team. To be on any sports team, you have to be of a certain caliber. To quickly get to that caliber if you naturally lack it, you could use a personal trainer or a coach or whatever.

 

[krexia]

I agree. Forcing your child to do something they wish not to is simply wrong...

Yeah, forcing your children to do things they don't want to - like go to school, or do their homework, or eat vegetables - is just wrong!

I do think employing personal trainers for children on a widespread scale would make kids' sports over-competitive, though. One shouldn't have to excel at sport to enjoy it.

 

[MomentoMori]

I do think employing personal trainers for children on a widespread scale would make kids' sports over-competitive, though. One shouldn't have to excel at sport to enjoy it.

Pretty much this. I wonder what kind of message parents hiring these trainers are sending to the kids: "Yeah, you know what? You're not good enough."

Sports are over-competitive enough as it is.