Posted: 31 Aug 2010 02:07 PM PDT

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Are kids old enough to be playing adult games?

Posted: 30 Aug 2010 11:58 PM PDT

August 31, 2010

Are kids old enough to be playing adult games?

By Nancy Armour The Associated Press

NORMAN —

They sail solo around the world, climb the highest mountains and race around ovals at breakneck speeds.

They're kids, some not old enough to get into an R-rated movie on their own.

On Sunday, a 13-year-old became the youngest person to die at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he fell off his motorcycle and was run over by a 12-year-old during a race, raising the question: How old is old enough when it comes to extreme sports?

"They're not just small adults," said Dr. Lyle Micheli, director of the division of sports medicine at Children's Hospital of Boston and an adviser to the International Olympic Committee's medical commission on youth sports. "Kids are different. Kids have to be protected by society."

Peter Lenz fell off his motorcycle during a warm-up lap for the U.S. Grand Prix Racers Union event at the speedway. Then he was hit by 12-year-old Xavier Zayat.

Kids pushing boundaries is nothing new. Mozart was composing music when most children are still mastering their ABCs, and an 8-year-old's paintings are fetching six figures in Britain. Tiger Woods first showed off his golf skills at the grand old age of 2.

But several child psychologists said there's a big difference between academic or cultural prodigies — even phenoms in traditional sports — and kids who risk their lives.

In the last six months:

· 13-year-old Jordan Romero became the youngest climber to summit Mount Everest;

· 16-year-old Jessica Watson became the youngest person to sail around the globe solo, nonstop and unassisted;

· 14-year-old Laura Dekker from the Netherlands is currently at sea trying to top Watson's record.

"A lot of teens, physically, are very much able to do similar things as adults because their body types have developed, and they've got the muscular strength," said Dr. Robyn Silverman, a psychologist who specializes in child and teen development. "Where we go wrong with these teens is that they have problems with impulse control, stress management, abstract thinking.

"They really need to be able to understand the risks," Silverman added. "It looks so cool and teens have this process in their heads: 'It's cool, let's just do it.' There's not the, 'Let's step back and look at the pros and cons of the situation,' as adults would."

That goes beyond the physical risks, Silverman said. Lenz had been riding bikes for six years, winning nine national championships and nine regional titles. He appeared to be a rising star in a series that bills itself as a prep for riders 12 to 18 who hope to compete at a higher level. Photos of the crash show Lenz sitting on the track with his arms raised and then getting up, raising his arms so other riders could see him.

But one rider did not.

In some cases, parents can't — or aren't willing — to impose boundaries on their children, said Kiki Weingarten, an education and parenting coach.

"You have some parents who enjoy their children's notoriety — good, bad or indifferent. You have the Lindsay Lohan moms, the 'Toddlers and Tiaras' moms," Weingarten said.

Some parents are concerned their children won't like them. "No, no, no, no. You don't have to be their best friend. They don't have to like you. You have to be an authority figure.

"Somebody," Weingarten said, "has to be the authority figure."

But kids, like adults, are different, and some are able to handle the physical, mental and emotional rigors of extreme or high-level sports. Four-time Cup champ Jeff Gordon was driving Quarter Midgets at age 5, and two-time Cup winner Tony Stewart raced go-karts at age 7. British diver Tom Daley was 15 when he won the world title in the 10-meter platform last summer.

Rather than imposing hard-and-fast age limits, each child should be considered individually, said Robert Epstein, former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today and author of "Teen 2.0: Saving Our Children and Families from the Torment of Adolescence."

"Look directly at competence and maturity and then decide," Epstein said. "In our society, we treat all young people as equally incompetent and irresponsible, and we don't really nurture their confidence. So end up nurturing immaturity. ... As long as you're holding people back, holding them down, you don't see what they can do."

Marianne Sunderland understands the concern — and disapproval — over children taking on what seem to be very adult pursuits. She's had the same reaction herself.

"I think of a 13-year-old climbing Mount Everest and I think, 'Are you serious?' But I don't know mountain climbing," Sunderland said.

She does, however, know her own two children, Zac and Abby, and what they did to prepare for their around-the-world sails. Zac Sunderland set the then-record for a solo sail around the world last summer at 17. Abby, at 16, failed earlier this year in her attempt to top her brother's mark.

The Sunderland kids are experienced sailors. But when Abby Sunderland first talked of sailing around the world, her father tried to dissuade her by taking her out for long voyages in tough conditions. That, however, only fueled her passion for sailing, Marianne Sunderland said.

After making sure their children were emotionally ready for their voyages — including knowing that they could stop at any time — did the Sunderlands let them go.

"All I would say is that the parents should know their kid better than anybody," Marianne Sunderland said. "I wouldn't send Abby to climb Mount Everest next week. She's not ready. You try to train them. Or give them the experiences they need. If they continue to have a passion for it, you have to be able to judge if they're skilled enough or mature enough."

PBS KIDS PLAY!(TM) Now Available for Classroom Use

Posted: 31 Aug 2010 10:22 AM PDT

Press Release Source: PBS KIDS On Tuesday August 31, 2010, 1:22 pm EDT

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 31, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PBS KIDS PLAY!^TM, innovative educational games for children in preschool, kindergarten and special education, can now be licensed for classroom use. The standards-based, cross-curricular program adapts to each student with three learning stages for each of 30 skill areas. The game-based learning program includes content in mathematics, science, language development, literacy, creativity, healthy development, and social studies. The program also features exclusive new foreign language learning games in Spanish, French and Mandarin from LITTLE PIM, the award-winning DVD language series.

"This unique game-based learning program provides a highly engaging experience that's personalized for each student," said Rob Lippincott, PBS senior vice president of education. "Using PBS KIDS PLAY, teachers can easily monitor each student's progress throughout an individualized skill-mastering process. Children get focused help, and teachers can see the results immediately."

PBS KIDS PLAY! is a winner of the Association of Educational Publishers' 2010 Distinguished Achievement Award and a 2009 Teachers' Choice Award for the Family from Learning Magazine. The Classroom Edition provides the same award-winning content found in the Home Edition, plus these enhancements:

Classroom management for up to 30 students, with individual progress tracking and personalized learning for each student;
Easy classroom setup without IT assistance; and
Ease of use in a shared computing environment.

The program is a broadband subscription service, which requires no software installation except Adobe Flash. It runs full-screen on any Windows 7/XP/Vista, Mac OSX or Chrome OS on a desktop, laptop, or interactive whiteboard. A broadband Internet connection is required; new content and features are delivered without any need to upgrade. No servers or infrastructure changes are required. The program is scalable to any size school district or state system.

The Classroom Edition costs $499 per account, each of which serves 30 students. The cost per student is 50 to 80 percent less than similar programs. A $200 per-account savings is available through Sept. 30, 2010.

Educators may evaluate the program free for 30 days at http://classroom.pbskidsplay.org. Only an email, organization name and ZIP code are required.

About PBS KIDS^(R)

PBS KIDS offers all children the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, online and community-based programs. PBS is a nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation's nearly 360 public television stations, serving more than 124 million people on-air and online each month. For more information, visit pbskids.org.

Kids swarm Hornet Stadium

Posted: 01 Sep 2010 12:33 AM PDT

Kids dream big and the Sacramento State football program made some dreams come true on Aug. 21.

Hornet Stadium hosted the first Bee a Hornet event, which gave the youngsters in attendance a chance to play with their favorite Hornet players before the season begins.

The event started off with Sac State football's first scrimmage, followed by kids rushing out of the stands and out onto the new turf field to do drills with the Hornets.

Dozens of kids participated with the players in drills throughout the afternoon as Hornet alumni, parents, coaches and Hornet Girlz dance team cheered them on.

Keith Lombard, 6, said he was out there with all the football players in hopes of fulfilling his dream of playing professionally.

"I'm gonna play football," Keith said. "I wanna play for the Raiders!"

One of the kids, Hayden, attended the event because he used to play football a few years ago.

"We're just kids running around on a turf football field. It's fun to hold the football again," Hayden said. "I've played football before and I think it's really fun."

In previous years, the football program had a meet-and-greet session after the first scrimmage, but with the new turf field and new facilities like surrounding Hornet Stadium, this year was an expansion of what the program has done in years past.

Center John Taylor said he wished he had an opportunity in his youth to be on the field with players he looked up to.

"I never really had something like this as a kid," Taylor said. "My father actually pushed me to do football. But I never had any outside support from the community."

When the drills came to an end, the kids were able to get autographs from their favorite Hornets and left with an autographed Sac State sports poster for the kids to put up on their wall.

Holly Macriss, wife of Deputy Athletic Director Bill Macriss, said she was thrilled how comfortable the children felt with the players and dancers during the event.

"The coaches are so great at getting the young kids involved," Holly Macriss said. "But the players are really cool and will always come over and try to help the kids and bond with them. It's a great family feel with this event and I appreciate this."

Her son, John Macriss, 13, participated in the drills and said he enjoyed being with the players even though we does not want to become a football player.

"It was nice out there trying to be a football player," John Macriss said. "On the third time around, I actually made a field goal. It was fun."

While Bee a Hornet was all fun and games, the football team had work to do on the field earlier in the day.

The offense racked up six touchdowns throughout the 72-play scrimmage, while the defense ended the day forcing three turnovers and had several sacks.

Head coach Marshall Sperbeck and the coaching staff rotated players every few series so they had a chance to look at everybody during the game.

"The first scrimmage for us is just the kids' first test," Sperbeck said. "They get to get out and be evaluated for the first time in a live environment. There was good and bad and we have a measuring stick now to work from."

Senior quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson went 14-27 passing for 140 yards and threw the first touchdown of the scrimmage to wide receiver Chase Deadder.

"The offense did a great job and the defense did a good job holding us down," Bethel-Thompson said. "It was overall a great scrimmage. I mean, both sides were competing and it was the first time live going at each other."

With leg injuries to receivers John Hendershott and Brandyn Reed, Morris Norrise, Ronald Richardson and Chris Broadnax filled in and combined for 14 catches for 193 yards and three touchdowns.

"We realized we had a lot of things to work on. We did well with our snap counts," Taylor said. "We just have to practice on coming out faster. We had a really nice passing game going on with a lot of deep balls and nice catches. We obviously set our expectations high and we always strive for the best."

As the team looks ahead to the season opener against

Stanford, the Sac State community was able to share some fun, lighthearted time with the football program.

"We figure it's a good time to get the kids out here and get the community involved," Bethel-Thompson said. "And for the kids, hopefully they'll be coming here when they get older."

Marshall Hampson can be reached at sports@statehornet.com

Kids Games

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

“Kids, parents, sports and risk: Who gets hurt - and why” plus 3 more

“Kids, parents, sports and risk: Who gets hurt - and why” plus 3 more

Are kids old enough to be playing adult games?

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