in defense of pushy parents

From a figure skating coach, Xan Nelson:

What, exactly, makes a parent “pushy?” And why do we always use the term as though it’s a bad thing? I don’t know about you, but I don’t know many 11 year olds who will get up at 5 a.m. every day to go freeze and fall on their butts over and over without a little whining. Or who then have the energy to finish their homework before an early bedtime, and then do it all again tomorrow.

You gotta push a little. In fact, you gotta push a lot. You’ve got to push a 10 year old to have the mindset of a 20-year-old, and a 15 year-old to approach their skating as though they’re 25 year-old grad students, with that level of commitment, sacrifice and maturity.

So what’s the difference between a pushy parent who’s effective, and one who’s just pushy? …

read more – Why figure skating needs pushy parents

‘Pushy’ is the wrong adjective. We want parents supportive, consistent, dedicated and ambitious.

That’s the reaction of others, too, on an Chalk Bucket forum thread. And in the comments on that post.

You might be interested in this:

A Parent’s Questionnaire
Dr. Alan Goldberg
Competitive Advantage

It’s for parent education. The higher the score, the more potential damage that they are doing to their child.