Music and Athletics

compmom
Wed, 23 Jan 2008 07:40:52 +0000

The kids themselves find a need to choose. I don’t know anyone who “locks their kid in a room and tells them to compose.” A student who commits to composing can’t help it, and couldn’t stop writing music if they tried.

If kids want to do two things intensely, they run into problems at some point, and, in mid-teens or so, often seem to naturally begin to cut back on some previous things. This is without any parental involvement at all. Being multi-dimensional and well-rounded is different from being really time and energy-intensive about two things at the same time.

Stress is also a concern. We see this in a lot of kids doing too many things at once. A friend recently quoted a guidance counselor about her daughter’s simultaneous ambitions in academics and dance: “At what cost?”

Down time is such a precious commodity these days. Even just taking 4 courses and doing work-study at college, our son can’t seem to get to the post office.