My son is a 13 year old middle school defensive back who thinks his coach is God.

[ScreamingMeemie]

This is Texas, and football is---well we all know what football here is. My son works hard and basically will take the word of his coach and assistant coach over anything I have to say. Going as far as switching from the offensive side of the ball to the defensive, and those who know football know how tough that can be. My son, and his team mates, spend a lot of time with their coaches, and I trust them. Because I believe (or believed) that, if one of them were to be found acting in an inappropriate manner with my son, the police would be called...not the principal. Because that is what is supposed to happen in the right world, when one sees a minor being assaulted. What is not supposed to happen is fumbling and bumbling and telephone calls within an organization. If that were to happen I can tell you this, the person who lays a hand on my son would be but a memory, the person who decided to call a "higher up" within the school would get no pass, and certainly no peace...

Sadly, as a football fan, I was naive (and more than a little stupid)...and I never thought I would have to have the discussion that I had about coaches with my son this week.

It takes a village to raise a child, but what if that village is more interested in personal pursuits?

[MADem]

1. It ain't just football, it ain't just sports.

ANY time you have adults interacting with children you need to keep an eye out. It's a sad fact of life that not all people mean well.

It doesn't mean you have to be paranoid, but you do have to be aware, and you also need to give your children the tools--the sense of self and right to their own personal space--that enable them to stand up and say no and TELL. This kind of stuff needs to be part of their persona from a very early age, before they go off to nursery school.

It needs to be an ongoing topic of discussion, too.

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. Agreed.

But, to be honest, I never gave football a second thought. It is also a head's up for a widowed mom... to be careful with fatherly interest in my child. So many of us welcome it, and most involvement is for the good. This was just another dose of reality for me.

[seabeyond]

7. absolutely. we extended our conversation out this morning beyond football, beyond

sports.

agree

[Jamastiene]

2. K&R

[madrchsod]

4. i coached youth soccer for close to 17yrs

i doubt none of the boys and girls thought more of me than their parents. to me it was just a game that was FUN to coach and i tried to get my team to play because it was FUN for them. several of the kids i coached went on into high school boys and girls programs. i knew the coaches at the high school who thought the game was FUN.

[ScreamingMeemie]

5. My husband coached youth soccer for not as long and it was fun for

him as well. I think you misunderstood my point. Does my son listen to me in matters of the home? Yes. But when it comes to football, nope. And it is often that way in the sport.

[seabeyond]

6. "It takes a village to raise a child". i had a similar conversation with son. the slippery line of

dismissive attitude with sexual abuse, assault, rape. the adults responsibility in protecting ALL kids. this man that has done so much good, fails in character with one action of dismissing the victims and not doing all he can.

there is a line.

he failed.

look at all the sexual abuses/assaults/rapes in NFL and how we minimize it to have our heroes.

brett farve, all he accomplished, ends career as penis boy.

the students throwing a tantrum. and we they are adults and have kids, they will know what the priority is.

interesting conversation on what is right.