... or at least significantly changed. "Women's" gymnastics is child abuse.
... or at least significantly changed.…
"A sinister cabal of superior writers."
Why Gymnastics Should Be Banned - Comments Page 4
... or at least significantly changed. "Women's" gymnastics is child abuse.
... or at least significantly changed.…
Article comments
126 - Tommy
I'm soured on the whole olympics. Ping pong is about the only thing that wasn't tained by underage athletes or steroids. I enjoyed watching it.
127 - May
I'm glad you enjoyed watching the Ping Pong. I enjoy watching ping pong myself. It is too bad that there is so much controversy over steroids and possible underage athletes. But no situation is perfect. A lot of good came out of these games, too.
128 - Marcus
Natalie, get with the program, Jennifer Sey trained at Parkettes, which is notorious for turning out unhappy gymnasts. It's all about the coaching. Once they get to NCAA with other coaches, they're much happier doing their sport.
If your coaches don't know what they're doing, OF COURSE you're going to be screwed up! But again, that's in any sport. If you have the right coaches and are willing to work hard, you can be great without sacrificing your happiness.
129 - lkjuio
I LOVE GYMNASTIC it is the best thing ever
130 - ThatPerson
OMG OMG I MIGHT GET HURT.. I am going to go play Foot Ball now. That way instead of flipping onto a mat I can get all the same problems from people running into me.
From what I can tell the writer has no clue about the Sport and should either do some better research or just shut up period. Go to the OTC in Co and watch the national team train for a bit.
If it isnt fun then why is gymnastics such a popular sport? Why does the gym that I work at have over 100 people on our team? and Why do we have over 500 other kids come to take class at least once a week?
If you only search for the Bad parts of gymnastics on the internet thats all your going to get. Duh. If I looked up Problems with Child Porn then I am not going to get articles saying that it is alright. Try searching for Brain Development with gymnastics.. Motor Skill Development with gymnastics....
Gymnastics Schools try to develop a good citizen as well as a good gymnast. Each one goes hand in hand. Example...Every athlete is required an A/b average at school Perfect Citizen ship in order to compete.
Sound to me like your misinformed.
131 - paige
i would dye if it was band becasue gymnastics is very very fun if your willing to take the pain even though i ony spend 6 hours a week in the gym i work out at home alot and gymnastics is greast its fun to do the tricks and then for people to tell you if there good or if you goto work harder personaly i luv gymnastics but so did my dad i guess its in my blood and if you people think it sould be band maby you sould try it because it is an powerfull sport just dont get hurt!lol
132 - Tinkerbell
I LOVE gymnastics!! I did it for about 2 years and got to level 5. I din't want to quit but I wouldn't have time to do my any homework and I had just started Jr. High. I was under to much stress. My grads are better now but I really miss it. =(
133 - Dan
Hi Natalie,
After just recently reading your article i would like to comment back. I hope you can take the time to read mine too =)
I'm Canadian and have been doing gymnastics for 10 years. I am 18 now and for the last 3 years have been a junior elite competing across Canada at Provincials, Winter Games, Nationals, and the American Pan Am Games. i enjoy the sport so much that i am now a level 2 men's and women's coach. I hope to one day open my own gym and have some pretty good athletes =) and instill upon them the morals and qualities I have learned over the years through the sport.
I saw another article or paper on Google that said "women's gymnastics is one of the most viewed sports during the Olympics." As a gymnast fanatic, I think thats great! I just wish people knew more about the sport.. *wink wink*
Guys - do you ever get those people who are like
"cool you're a gymnast? ...so you do like the balance beam and those 2 bars ...the high one and the lower one?"
LOL, you just want to smack them, sit them down in front of a tv or something with a text book called "Gymnastics for Dummies"
Sorry, I don't want to write an encyclopedia.. there are more angry responses than there is article. LOL. i think that's funny. Bet you weren't expecting that.
Anyways - just to touch base with you on some of the point you made in your article.
1. I do agree with you that China may be more extreme and competitive in the sport of gymnastics than the West. Especially Canada. LOL. But that's their culture. And not trying to sound racist or culture-what-ever (wish i had a better word.lol) but many eastern civilizations have that custom due to the type of government, a child can be placed into something without choice; and once you're there ..you're there!
2. About puberty and diet, i know you understand that girls hit puberty years before boys. So in a sport solely based upon physical requirements as a gymnast or a coach you would want to learn as much as possible before the nature of change arrives and throws you off balance. As far as diet goes. Again, gymnast for 10 years - elite level. NEVER BEEN ON A DIET! ..unless you call eating healthy a diet. When i have children, whether or not they participate in competitive gymnastics - i expect them to eat just as healthy as me. Its not torture or restricted diet, it's something that we should all do! Yes a Big Mac tastes great.. but we probably shouldn't eat it.. the ancient Greeks where able to live without them. Im sure we can too=)
3. Number of hours. Personally, i train 23hrs a week still find time for my last year of highschool, an 83% grade average, homework, coaching and a little "me time"=) What's the big deal. 1 thing about gymnastics - any gymnast can and would love to tell you, it teaches you great time management! ..aside from a hell of alot of other stuff=). "I TRAIN BECAUSE I LOVE IT - I LOVE IT BECAUSE I TRAIN - IF I COULDN'T, I WOULDN'T BE THE SAME!" Too bad more of the world weren't as fit as gymnasts. Maybe there would be less obesity, diabetes in young children and strokes. Wish we could all do those deadly rope climbs before the 15min run=)
4.INJURIES, lol. ohhhh injuries. i've had my share. nothing too serious tho. lets name them off: 2 hair line fractured wrists, 1 dislocated elbow, 6 broken fingers, shoulder tendonitis, rotator cup something (dont remember what it was exactly but it hurt) bad back, bad neck, water in knee, tendonistis in knee, shin splints, fractured ankle, 2 broken toes and not too mention 3rd degree sprains all over! lmao. Will it hurt when i get older ..probably. Would i do it all over again... in a heart beat. Any gymnast would tell you that. from any continent. if they're in it because they love the sport (which should be the only reason) then thats your awnser.-----Everysport has injuries. but look at it this way. gymnastics is one of the only self injurable (lol. my word) sports. whatever happens, happens because of you. Not like hockey were someones neck get cut because they got skated on. or foot ball paralization where they got full out on eachother. or soccer with a compund fracture to the tibia and fibula. What sport is more dangerous, THATS THE REAL QUESTION. a sport where the athlete takes years of training and practice just to learn the move and compete it safely and easily. or a sport no matter how safe or nice or none diet you and your coach is, if that big guy hits you you're toast?
5.SEXUALITY ...say what?.. sexual?? why? ..cuz the girls dance? cuz they wear tights? cuz they smile? cuz splits is kinda hot? ..Okay i can kinda see your point. ...okay how bout mine now?
- girls dance. what's wrong with that? it's the only thing that seperates the girls floor from the guys. if they didnt it would be just as boring as the guys. or are you saying it's sexist BECUZ WE ARE differentiating the girls from the guys? ok. but isnt it sexist that just recently there is a women's hockey league? that you probably wont see men and women play basket ball together in a competitive game in your life time? gymnastics is one of the only sports that has involved women and men together equally in history!!! ps. if men had to dance in routine it would look very funny. trust me =) ...youtube it. lmao. if girls didnt smile in routine or showed that they liked it. they would look just as constapated as men do on rings ..and aside from the cool tricks ..nobody like to see that! ..guys wear tights. ...splits.
Alexei Nemov ..have you heard the name? ..beautiful gymnast. artistic, beautiful form, great flow, nice face, good hair, amazing splits and toe point ...MALE GYMNAST!
6. AGE. no gymnast under the age of 16 can compete in the olympics or trials. ..thats all=)
7. JUDGING. why not? every sport is judge one way or another. heck i bet you've been judge an thousand times based on you article ..no affence. should hockey be judge based on icing or if your stick was too high. its not fair that that team got "judge" higher than us beacuse they scored more touchdowns. i say stop being so soft and pick up the game Steelers!! lmao!
Anyways i could go on and on and on but i didnt want to write too much, LMAO! OMG! THATS SOO MUCH! HAHA! SORRY!
..but seriously just saying a feww things.
i hope in the last few years you have been able to do some more research on the topic of gymnastics and come out with a new article! i can't wait=)
just a little tip for people out there.
if you dont like something ..dont watch it! ..
especially dont write an article about it. lol
again. no affence =)
134 - Dan
ps. the one who wrote
Hannah:
You train almost 30 hours a day, you say?
Wow, can I borrow your time stopper?
that is amazing!!! omg!
135 - Dan
I DONT USUALLY COMMENT ON STUFF LIKe THIS. IM NOT ONE OF THOSE YOUTUBER COMMENTORS types BUT THIS PAGE IS REALLY... GRRR!
for all those who say gymnastics stunts your growth...
..like go do a sit up or sumthing. cuz apparently you have no idea about the human body. go ahead name 1 way gymnastics stunts your verticle growth? name 1 exercise? instead of just saying it stunts your growth?
maybe if that specific coach puts that specific athlete on a specific diet than maybe it might change their body's clock. later puberty. perhaps ..im not a girl.i wouldn't know. i've never tried it. but gymnastics doesnt stunt your growth!!
but it does help in the sport of gymnastics if you are smaller in hight.
so whether you are in a gym for 1 one day or 10 years you dont get shorter. it may help if you are genetically/already or gunna be a bit stumpier/shorter
when was the last time you saw YAO MING (basket ball player) do a handstand?!
ever heard of neutons theory of motion and rotation? ...while in rotation if you pull your body parts closer to your center of gravity you will spin/ rotate faster. if you are 6 or 6.5 ft tall and it takes you 100 years to pul your arms close to your body then you probably wont spin that fast!! GOD!
lets try another shall we?
when do you have the most stability? when your center of gravity is high or low?
...YOU FACKERS BETTER NOT SAY HIGH!
now that you know the answer, who would be more stable a 7 ft. YAO MING guy or a 5.1 ft. FABIAN HAMBUCHEN guy?
136 - Dr Dreadful
I don't know, but Yao Ming wouldn't need to be lifted up onto the parallel bars!
137 - Jet
Now Dan.... you'll wake the children!
138 - Dan
lol..
..who gets lifted onto the parallel bars?
haha!
139 - Dr Dreadful
I just thought it sounded funnier than rings.
140 - Karen
I stumbled on this article when I was trying to find out whether gymnastics stunts your growth, and I read through a lot of the comments, and they were so entertaining! 4 years after being written, this article still gets comments.
I think the best comment here is by Dan. He addresses everything reasonably. After reading through all those conflicting comments, it was so relaxing to read something that basically summarized what I was feeling. I don't take gymnastics classes (I do a little gymnastics independently), but I think it's a beautiful sport. China is psycho though. IMO, BAN CHINESE GYMNASTICS! lol jk but seriously China gymnastics is messed up, that's what Natalie should have focused on.
She ruined her argument by making her opinion generic (ban all gymnastics) and her evidence and reasoning specific (china and a few other people are crazy). Could have been a good article on Chinese gymnastics, but was a stupid article that is still mocked years later.
141 - Douglas Mays
I agree overall. Gymnastics should NOT be banned, however the training methods must be scrutinized.
Oh heck, why don't we ban ballet also.
Remember back in the 60s the brutality Japanese female volleyball players endured?
It ain't the sport, it is how some train for it.
DM
142 - Cassandra
Hello. I do gymnastics at a club level for my college. I have never been a competitive gymnast besides high school or middle school competitions which are nothing like leveled competitions that gymnasts compete in at very young ages. Although I do not think that gymnastics should be banned, I do think that COMPETITIVE gymnastics (or leveled) can be harmful to young children. You should check out my blog. The address is : www.thefalllfromgrace.blogspot.com
143 - H
Gymnastics DOES. NOT. STUNT. GROWTH. This is a MYTH. They are short because, unfortunately, gymnastics is easier for short people- so it attracts them. So freaking SHUT UP about how "doesn't it stunt growth?"
AND. Gymnasts are not washed up by 16 or 18. Some prefer to go out on top when they are this age, but it's really a personal choice and doesn't always mean they are "washed up."
"I suspect these ladies, some of them mothers, would set you straight if you asserted to them that gymnastics makes its athletes washed up by the age of 18."
-miss zara
I could not agree more.
"The answer surely is to limit the age of participation - should children of 12 really be competing in Olympics and World Championships?"
Uh, dude? You have to be 16 to compete in the Olympics.
Another mistake: You are not expected to "smile pleasingly" while performing routines. Most gymnasts concentrate much too hard during routines to even think of smiling. Smiling before and after is custom in many sports.
All that needs to be changed about gymnastics, is that coaches sometimes need to be more sensitive about the gymnast's personal needs.
144 - A former gymnast and coach
Natalie, Jennifer Sey is not the most qualified to give any information about gymnastics. She wrote a diatribe about perceived abuse, but talking to her teammates tells a different story. She is completely mental and the public should be protected from her abuse.
She was obsessed with weight when she was about 6 years old. She is the one who got into someone else's laxatives. If anyone in the world abused her, it was her parents and herself. Gymnastics had nothing to do with this. This girl was going to have an eating disorder whether or not she ever participated in a sport.
You should probably do better research into the sport before you make grand stupid statements like this one.
145 - Susan
I think you make an excellent point. I think you make a number of excellent points. To acquire the skills necessary to reach high level gymnastics requires a certain number of drills, pounding, and time.
We DO have child labor laws. They are for the children's protection. I fail to understand why underage girls can spend 30-45 hours in a gym working their developing bodies to the limits with the typical result of injuring out, and no one usually speaks out.
THANK YOU. Keep it up.
Also, consider following up with the former gymnasts as their bodies age. Somehow I think there will be physical breakdown similarities that are not in line with the general population or their age.
146 - Susan
One last thing. Many of the comments are purposely missing your larger point by focusing on rather unimportant details.
While I do not think the sport should be banned, a systemic method for real oversight is way overdue. And while a girl must be 16 to compete in the Olympics, she has probably been competing those skills since about 12-13.
So. Your larger general point remains. The people that refuse to acknowledge it are most likely quite conflicted, uninformed, and unwilling to see that children are giving their bodies for public entertainment and revenue.
147 - TG
Dear Natalie,
I am a feminist. Please stop embarrassing me.
You are doing this by falling back on decades-old arguments about how wearing makeup (which few gymnasts ever did in competition, except at the Olympics or Worlds when tv cameras are on them) is "a harmful, damaging model of what it means to be female in our society".
Utilizing overused and inaccurate cliches of condemnation such as "makeup" "smiles" and "sexualization" to condemn gymnastics, makes your agenda obvious and your conclusions suspect (if the use of inaccurate facts and selected extreme examples had not already done so). In fact, I am left semi-convinced that girls getting injured playing hockey would be more acceptable to you since they are playing in a non-stereotypically "feminine" sport.
And therein lies the rub for other feminists.
The statement quoted above pretty well shows where you're come from - and it's late second-wave. The concept of that feminity must be re-defined in opposition to previously existing norms has largely been abandoned as too rigid to encompass human diversity. In other words, accepting certain aspects of traditional "feminine" behaviour cannot be automatically deemed damaging or demeaning.
I might also add that if you think gymnastics should be banned as an providing the most negative role model a young girl can aspire to in "our" society, you would do well to look at gymnastics in a larger perspective. And perhaps outside "our" society (which seems to be defined here as the world of predominantly white Euro-American privilege). Here's a quote from Dominique Dawes, Olympic gymnast until her 24th year, regarding her coach:
"Kelli took a young, little African-American girl from a not-so-great part of town and she showed me I had something special inside of me. I did not come from a home where my parents talked about dreams, hopes, aspirations, where they talked about education...But when I stepped into the gymnastics gym, this lady taught me all of that and more"
(International Gymnast magazine, Jul/Aug 09)
Gymnastics is one of those sports which transcends sport, for both women and men. Like tumbling and freestyle skiing, it's as close as human beings can get to the freedom of flight.
Your few supporters have called upon people to look at your "larger point". However, that "larger point" seems to me to be largely invalid. All children fortunate enough to receive an education begin at an early age. In writing examinations or doing assignments they may be pressed beyond their limits. If pressed too hard and too inflexibly, permanent emotional damage can result. Some may become burnouts by the time they leave secondary school. In some cases, their ambitious parents push them to get high marks to get in the best nursery schools, prep schools, universities, planning life for them. It's not necessarily always a good thing. But excellence in any field is not achieved without cost. But if we don't push for excellence, where will the doctors, scientists and scholars of tomorrow come from.
You quoted one burnt-out national gymnast. Here's another gymnast who left the sport at the international level.
"Gymnastics is a sport to be enjoyed by all -- for the process, not the end result. The glory doesn't come from winning medals. It comes from ... Acquiring a work ethic and discipline... However, when the goal is extraordinary, so is the work and sacrifice that has to go along with it.
We should not blame the USAG, coaches, and the sport of gymnastics for turning out bitter, broken down athletes."
For every Jennifer Sey, I'd say there is at least one Betty Okino or Dominique Dawes
148 - TG
I just thought I should add one or two things.
Firstly, while it is true that Dominique Dawes and a few other gymnasts have come from a lower-income background, the fact the Dominique is African-American is here beside the point. For many gymnasts of different races and backgrounds in the U.S. gymnastics is the ticket to a scholarship-paid university education. U.S. collegiate gymnasts perform at a variety of levels, and while some are former national and international competitors, for others it is their chance to shine in the sport as well as progress academically.
The ridiculous idea of banning gymnastics would effectively kill those opportunities.
149 - Robert
I started gymnastics at age eight and competed through the college level. I have coached and judged at least part-time since then. I have debated the merits of my participation in the sport both as an athlete and a coach.
I'd first like to comment on the pain. Pain is not limited to any sport, occupation, activity or even lack of activity. How much pain anyone endures unnecessarily is greatly debatable. Avoidance of pain, however is futile. I see pain as having two types or stages. The first is a warning, and the second is a sign of injury. Because gymnastics is such a difficult sport, gymnasts who want to be the best will push themselves to the limit. To a certain degree gymnasts will tolerate some pain, if that's what it takes to excel. Because injury brings great setbacks, a good gymnast will not ignore it. Sometimes their limits can be misjudged and injury occurs. I have experienced coaches pushing me, but it was always my decision to continue. As far as sports go, gymnastics is one of the safest, thanks in large part to the gymnastics community going to great lengths to make it so.
All great gymnastics programs recognize their gymnasts as their greatest asset. National programs like China have their own trainers, doctors, dieticians, etc, etc. They want their gymnasts to be as healthy as possible physically, mentally, and emotionally. Although I disagree with the way they do some things, they probably disagree with the way some things are done in American programs, too.
As for the age issue, we have to recognize that life in China is very different for these kids. For many of those kids, they have been given an alternative to a life that would be even more difficult than the life of a gymnast. And in China, gymnasts are superstars, like being a pop star or superbowl hero. They are living their dreams. They play, they learn like most kids, but they are primarily learning to be gymnasts. So the Chinese do become better at it at a younger age. THIS DOES NOT EXCUSE CHEATING. And if their gymnasts are "burning out" at a young age, then they need to and will (if they are smart) change their program, not just for ethical reasons but in order to remain competitive. Unfortunately, if there is abuse the only thing we can do is pressure their government to change. Banning gymnastics would do nothing but punish all the good people; especially the gymnasts who love the sport.
To make the grand generalization that female gymnasts are washed out by the age of 16, if not 18, is erroneous at best. The primary reason that this age sticks out is NOT that these girls could not continue with the sport, but that they choose different paths for their lives. As it is considered the age of maturity for women in most cultures it opens up many opportunities. Also, after we stop growing, healing and building muscles becomes much slower for both men and women. As women mature earlier, this happens sooner for them. But this does not man they can't continue. There are many women who have decided to continue well beyond this age, and even some who have returned after choosing to have a family and/or pursue a career. Within the gymnastics community everyone has great respect for those who have participated and no one is labeled a failure for stopping because of injury or any other reason.
As for the so called "vast hours of physically hard training", it's FUN! That may sound strange to some less active people, but many people actually enjoy being physically active. And the enjoyment of gymnastics is hard to describe. Honestly I find most everything else boring. Learning a skill. practical or not, is very fulfilling. No matter how far you go in the sport, learning the dedication and process it takes to acquire skills is invaluable in life. I have met many gymnasts, famous and not, and they are all regular people except maybe that most are successful with above average intelligence. I think very few of them would view the time they spent in the gym as a waste. And I think the vast majority would see it as a benefit to their personal and professional lives.
As for comparison of boys to girls, I have to say that we boys were awfully jealous of the girls our age that could do harder skills than we could. That fact that female gymnasts reach a higher level at a younger age is quite simply because they mature sooner. If anything we should feel bad for the boys who have to wait a couple years to catch up. Girls go through a much larger change physically than boys at puberty. I don't want to sound sexist, but the mature female form is more complementary to procreation than sport. No one should in any way see this as a detraction of the value of a woman. As many have shown, experience and skill can mean they are still competitive. I have great respect for women athletes. Puberty was hard enough as a guy. As a woman athlete… I can’t imagine.
As to whether or not large amounts of physical activity delay puberty, I have to say… that depends. The trigger for puberty in girls is weight. Gymnastics does take a tremendous amount of energy. If a girl cannot eat enough to keep up with her activity level, it could be said that puberty is delayed. But when should puberty occur? Is later worse or better? I’ve read that late bloomers live longer. It could also be said that the majority of American youth do not get enough physical activity and overeat. This would mean many American girls go through puberty early. So in comparison, girls from other cultures may look younger than they are, from our perspective. One way or another, it does happen and girls do grow up. I’ve had the honor of witnessing quite a few very well built gymnasts grow into beautiful women. And moms, don’t worry, they will get boobs. Yes I said it. It can be deceiving though, because many gymnasts strap them down as best they can. From what I understand, loose is uncomfortable. Ugh, the things you really never wanted to know as a guy.
Does gymnastics stunt your growth? The apparent shortness of gymnasts is primarily due to the fact that it is a bit easier for shorter people to do gymnastics. Conversely it is easier for taller people to do other sports. So you don’t see a lot of tall gymnasts. Obviously, if all the food an athlete eats goes to fuel, less will be left over for growing. Judging these things can be difficult. How tall should someone be? We must also not think of growth as purely upwards. Athletes, especially gymnasts, tend to have higher muscle and bone density. It could be said that one could grow stronger rather than taller, but I think that this effect would be quite minimal. And is taller better? Statistically people who live longer are shorter.
Eating disorders. While I feel for the girl, now a woman, that the author refers to as having an eating disorder and all these other bad things, I have to say that case is the most extreme exception. It is amazing that she made it as far as she did. An athlete not eating properly will suffer poor performance first, and as this girl did, frequent injury. Parents need to talk with their kids, parents from other gyms, and their daughter’s coaches. If you stay well informed, any gym with questionable policies, practices, or behavior should stick out like a sore thumb. Weighing is largely considered extremely inappropriate. Any diet recommendations should be discussed with a dietitian and your pediatrician. Also I would like to say that eating disorders are far more common than most people realize. As a parent you need to make sure you child is eating right no matter what sport they are in or even if they are not in sports. This includes not just anorexia and bulimia, but overeating and obesity. And help your child stay informed as well. There are no “bad” foods, only a balanced diet.
I don’t mean to scare parents, but anywhere your child is not directly supervised by you they are susceptible to inappropriate behavior by adults and even other kids. The best way to protect them is to let them know what they should never allow and what they can do about it. Let them know that no matter what the person promises or threatens that you will protect them when they tell you. Don't think your teen knows everything either. Keep up to date with age appropriate topics. But also realize that these things are also incredibly rare despite what the media may say. The gymnastics community does not stand for any inappropriate behavior by its coaches, especially men. Being a male coach, it can be difficult and stressful because of how careful you have to be in what you do and what you say. It is important for you as a parent to form a relationship with you coaches. The coach-student relationship is like family, but not. Being a part of it helps you and the coach establish boundaries benefiting all involved. It also allows your child to share more freely with you, and for you to understand the sport they love.
“Sexualisation of routines”? This has to be pure opinion. What one person thinks is sexual another sees as purely benign. I have seen some dance I thought was inappropriate, but the parents thought it was wonderful. In my opinion most of it has become very formulaic. I think girls should be girly, even the buff ones. I like cute and original routines. When it really comes down to it, the final discretion has to be that of the parents.
Makeup is not allowed. And this lady obviously does not have daughters. Despite it being a competitive sport, it is also a presentation. Try telling a girl not to put ribbons in her hair or glitter on her face. And tell her “Oh and by the way, no smiling while doing something you love”. Good luck with that. And if a girl can pull off a difficult skill with a smile on her face, I say give her more points. It must be harder while smiling. Even if makeup was required, it seems strange to ban it on grounds that the guys don’t wear any. That would be like requiring the men to wear makeup. Ridiculous.
And lastly… limiting the age of participation. If we are going to limit the age of participation of one sport, we might as well ban sports all together. Kids start young in all sports now. Kids can swim and ski when they can barely walk. Being able to excel at gymnastics at a young age makes it great. To be able to compete at a national or international level and still have the option of a career and family afterward. What a treat. And what did you miss from your childhood. Doing things with friends? Nope did that. Did I miss playing video games and watching television? Probably should have, but nope I did that too. I had a part time job in high school, dated, went skiing, camp, trips… Let me know if there is something crucial to my life that I missed, so I can not mind having missed it. The truth is, if it weren’t for gymnastics, I probably would have driven my mother insane and gotten into all sorts of trouble out of seer boredom. Gymnastics didn’t detract from my life it added to it. I encourage every parent to find something their child is good at and enjoys at a young age and let them do it as much as possible for as long as possible.
I also hope that by the sheer response to this article that the author changes her mind about gymnastics, or at least becomes more informed before she judges, instead of just making wild assumptions based on a narrow view of the most extreme examples.
150 - November Anders
PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THIS COMMENT!!!!!
Hi, my name's November. I am a gymnast and take the sport very seriously. Now, I know better than all of you how rough this sport can be physically on a young girl's body. Yet, when you stick that landing, or whatever it is, you have an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment, and that makes it all worthwhile. Why we get up in the mornings, knowing we'll have to push ourselves, and are willing to do so, I may never know. But I do know that I do not regret doing gymnastics, and nor do my fellow gymnasts. IT SHOULD NOT BE BANNED!