Do Team Sports Guarantee Good Teens? Not Necessarily

With both parents having grown up playing competitive sports, it is no surprise that our kids are on the same path. Fortunately they seem to like it and are fairly athletic, so at this point in the game (which is early on) it seems like a healthy, positive way to spend their time. Miss P, at 10, is already involved in premier level soccer (which is 10 months of the year) and plays softball, a little tennis. This winter she'll give a shot at basketball. JJ is only 7 but is already passionate about baseball and basketball. He has his eye on football, which he'll be eligible to play next fall.

I realize we may sound like crazy sports parents who overschedule and push their kids into way too many activities, but honestly we see our kids enjoying themselves and at the same time learning about discipline, rules, respect. We have also had a longtime goal of preparing the kids so that they could play some kind of sport in high school. Why? Because there's much to be gained from being on a team, plus it keeps them active, occupied and less likely to engage in typical teen troubles (smoking, drinking, truancy, etc..).

Or so we thought.

I was a bit dismayed when I saw this recent study, which says being on a high school team sport won't necessarily keep your kids away from drugs and alcohol.

Researchers basically found that sports participation results in both positive and negative effects. For a majority of young men surveyed, team sports kept them from depression and smoking, but made them more likely to fight and binge drink. For a majority of girls, team sports decreased levels of fighting, depression and smoking but increased unhealthy weight loss practices.

Obviously this is just a warning that you can't throw all your eggs into the sports basket as a 'panacea for social ills'.

That said, we are not stopping our sports training anytime soon. At the very least, being on a team -- and committing to practices, training and games -- will give the kids less time to be doing the things they shouldn't.