Mothers Do More When It Comes to Japanese Youth Sports
I read an interesting article on nippon.com about parental involvement in youth sports in Japan. The study, conducted by the Sasakawa Sports Foundation, on parental involvement in youth sports in Japan found that mothers did more than fathers in all categories. The survey was based on the responses of 2,400 mothers whose oldest child attends elementary school.
It found that mothers looked after their child's participation to a greater degree than fathers, even when both parents worked outside the home. When the youth sport involved a team (like baseball or soccer) mothers took on even more of the duties, like transporting groups of children or preparing snacks for the team.
I don't have children and I wasn't involved in elementary school age sports myself, so I don't know who does what when it comes to youth sports. What is it like where you live? Has parental sports involvement changed any since you were a child? What would you suggest is a fair division of the youth sports tasks for parents?
4 comments:
Many parents in Japan have their children do a lot of lessons. Kids keep on being funny and quit if they're boring. I think swimming is an active class for parents and children.
There are many families around me where mothers play a central role in supporting children's lessons.
The father seems to support mainly during weekend breaks.
In Japan,it is not easy for father to take a rest on maternity leave.
Therefore,it is a high hurdle for the father to intervene like a mother until the lessons.
But now,Japanese father are activity intervening in school education and events. little by little,It's becoming easier for father to participate in parenting. It would be nice if good trends spread to lessons.
It was much the same when my boys were growing up. I did the sports transport, washing, helping etc until they got older and were in different age grades and were playing at different venues, then their father had to help.
My husband and I were both active in our daughter and then her kid's sports. I can say that the mothers were mostly equally involved. As far as Little League we did provide transportation and snacks. We were also involved when needed in school sports. We all took a very active interest.
xx, Carol
I wasn't really a sports kid either, so I can't really say. But I'd suspect the roles would be pretty similarly split around here.
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