College Cheaters by ACHUCKAllen
Seriously! Already wealthy parents that have been paying massive amounts of money to bribe and cheat the system to get their kids into elite colleges is just insane.
As if we didn’t know that this world was a mess, we discover that the Justice Department is having to invest time and energy into prosecuting more than 700 parents that have spent between $205,000 and $6.5m to have someone else take their kids SAT, or falsify resumes. It’s so bad that they actually photoshopped athletic and civil service pics that would make their kid “seem more attractive” to schools like Georgetown , Yale, Stanford and the likes. And at least one set of parents paid to have their kids pic taken to photoshop them into the coxswain position in a rowing team to get their kid into Southern Cal. What?
While we that cannot imagine such money and deceptive actions, and are appalled by this idiocy, we might also want to take a look at what we have allowed youth sports and academic competitions become.
We start our kids in youth sports before they are in kindergarten, commit to one sport by middle school, and travel around the country attempting to prove that our kid is worthy of some scouts attention.
Much of our freak-out about this story is the money used. The same things happen at almost every level, but the effort, bribery and deception is lessened.
What might happen if we let kids just play. And if they are in organized sports or academic competitions, just take the stakes down a bit? I think we would have far less fear, anxiety and pressure on boys and girls that deserve a chance to grow up learning how to cope without pro style competition at age 8.
I’m all about playing ball. I played everything you could play. But can we take the drama and stress down a few notches?
And in regard to the ongoing Hollywood script of these wealthy cheaters, go ahead and be appalled, as I am. But use it to look deep in the mirror and ask if you are doing the same thing with you kid…with a lot less money. Or maybe, the same money over the course of their youth.
Sorry. This just drove me nuts.
You can read more on this story here.
Peace, AChuck
