We recently got the Fall Recreation Guide in the mail. I sat down with and scanned the children’s section for classes my daughter Hannah might enjoy. There was Young Chefs, Eco Heroes, Cheerleading and Holiday Day Camp. There was Rhythmic Gymnastic and Fencing and Floor Hockey and Karate and Swimming. And there was Boot Camp for Children. Here is the class description:
Boot Camp for Children
For ages 6-9 years. This Boot Camp will include cardio conditioning, strength, power, agility and much more! This program is led by a qualified fitness instructor.
Boot Camp for Children – for 6-year-old children – stopped me in my tracks. The other classes centered around a specific subject or skill, or just promised to give your child something fun to do over the school break. Many classes involved activity, but activity that happened through martial arts, dancing or sports. Boot Camp, on the other hand, seems to be centered around promising a physical outcome for your child. Cardio conditioning. Strength. Agility. Not fun, teamwork and a non-competitive environment, like Basketball for Children advertised.
I have never taken a Boot Camp class, so I may not understand how they work. I associate Boot Camp with adults getting in shape and losing weight. They often seem to be advertised with taglines like, “Get bikini-ready for summer!” While I chafe at the implications of that statement, I see nothing wrong with taking a structured fitness class to help you achieve your personal goals. I know that I’m much more likely to do something if I have time set aside to do it, especially if that time was set aside by others. If Boot Camp works for you, cool.
But Boot Camp geared towards adults feels much different than Boot Camp geared towards 6-year-olds. And, I’ll go ahead and say it, 6-year-old girls in particular. We spend so much time in our society, so much time, telling girls that they are not OK. They are too fat. Too thin. Too tall. Too short. Their toes look weird. Their noses are too big. They need hair products, skin products, perfumes and the right clothes. They need to buy fashion magazines to tell them what to wear, and then they need to buy the stuff to wear. Otherwise, no one will like them.
Suggesting that a 6-year-old should have fitness goals that include cardio conditioning seems to feed into this mindset. Already our children are getting the message that they need to improve their physical selves. When I think of my own 5-year-old, perfect as she is, this makes me sad. I don’t want her to feel that she needs to take a class geared solely at improving her physical condition. Especially not as a school-aged kid.
I know that kids need to be active, and that many kids don’t get the activity that they need. But an 8-week Boot Camp class isn’t the answer. Getting outside and playing, participating in sports, spending days swimming and cycling, these are the answer. I was a pretty bookish kid. I mostly sat inside and read. But my mom sent me outdoors, or took me outdoors, and some of my fondest childhood memories were formed. I climbed trees, played baseball, rode my bike and waded in a creek until my feet were numb. Once I got moving it was hard to stop me, and I think most kids are the same. They want to play and explore their world, they want to run and jump and climb.
I’m sure that many kids would enjoy Boot Camp. Hannah sees me doing yoga, and wants to do it, too. Even 2-year-old Jacob imitates my poses. If their parents are doing Boot Camp, kids may want to do it, too. This is totally understandable. But maybe the stated goals of the class should be different. I think that there’s a way for kids to have fun and be active without focusing on their bikini-readiness or agility. Our children have enough people telling them that they’re not good enough. I don’t think Parks and Recreation needs to join in, too.
Tell me – what do you think about Boot Camp for Children. Do you think I’m over-reacting? Or do you find it as disturbing as I do? Would you enroll your own 6-year-old? Please share!
PS – July’s Crafting my Life series is about role models. On the last Thursday of the month, which just happens to be tomorrow, I will include a link up. To participate, write a post or track down a post you’ve written on the subject sometime in the past, and add yourself to the list. Check out the link-ups from January, February and March to get a feel for how it works.
I think this trend is concerning- particularly because it plays into the false belief that ‘getting healthy/in shape’ is a short term persuit, rather then a life style change. There may be parents out there that (rightly so) may feel a sense of urgency regarding getting their kids healthy. There are a lot of over weight kids. But those kids problem isn’t going to be fixed with a boot camp, particularly if what they eat day to day and how much (fun) activity they regularly get doesn’t change after the program ends.
This really creeps me out, and it is actually something I was thinking about just this morning. I was just this morning reading a Herbal Magic pamphlet and they apparently have programs for youth (12-17) as well as pregnant and breast feeding women. Huh? Out of the three groups, pregnant women was the one that shocked me the most, but the youth group was the one that tugged at my heart the most. I was 11 years old the summer my mom and I joined weight watchers as a mother-daughter bonding experience. My dance instructor had suggested that I was a worthy of a front line position if only I could drop some pounds. And drop them I did…all 25 of them over the summer before I turned twelve. In the fall I got my front line position. But along with it came a whole suitcase of food issues. My mom had her own issues with weight and was always on some sort of diet.
Since having my own children I have made a concious decision to do the opposite of my mom when it comes to food and diet. My children are allowed to eat food that is healthy and nutrious. We get outside and play all the time. We take family walks. We go to the playground. The girls swim and dance and play soccer. I think that a life full of regular activity and healthy food is a great combination for sucess. My kids have limited tv, no video games, no computer time. I know that as they get older this will change. I am counting on the healthy foundation I am laying today to hold strong through those years though!
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Wow, that is scary!
At first I thought you were talking about the *other* kind of Boot Camp. You know, the one where defiant teens are sent to be “kicked into shape” by a screaming army guy?! Hee hee. When my kids act up, we always (jokingly) say we’re going to send them to Boot Camp!
Anyway, I totally agree with everything you said, and I can’t believe that there is a need/demand for this type of class for CHILDREN! What are we teaching our kids (especially girls)?! Sheesh!
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I think it is a sad state when the realization comes that our children ARE lazy and overweight AT 6YEARS OLD so that a community center would think, “hey, let’s offer a Boot Camp for kids! I bet it will fill up instantly”
My kid would probably love a boot camp, just because it would involve a lot of running around which she seems to delight in. Me? Not so much. But I probably could USE a boot camp!!
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I DO find it disturbing, and I would NOT enroll my children.
That being said, there are a LOT of overweight, overfed, underexercised kids in this country (USA, and being that you’re from Canada & found that rec guide near you, I’m going to make a wild assumption that Canada has the same problem). So while boot camp sounds horrible, when applied to little kids re: fitness, I wonder in the age of parents who think a bike plugged into a TV is exercise, kids who think texting ot twittering is a social activity, and companies who think putting the word “whole grain” on a box of chocolate rice cereal makes it a healthy breakfast choice (and parents jump on board), if boot camp for kids isn’t just the way things are going?
The reality is that parents work more, kids are left alone more, and while alone, have every entertainment option in the world available, stationary, at their fingertips (Xbox, iphones, ipods, computers, etc.). With no one actively encouraging them to get outside, and nothing to engage them outside, they don’t.
When people think McDonald’s yogurt parfait is a healthy snack, when yoga, vegetarianism, and movies like Food Inc. are regarded as hippie or hype, when articles in parenting magazines tell parents to “calm down”, “let go”, “chill out” when it comes to nutrition and their kids (starting with the foundation of good nutrition – breastfeeding), and are bombarded with advertisements in the same magazines featuring skinny jeans, boot camp for kids (and adults) just doesn’t surprise me.
Kids, and their parents, need to be outside. They need to eat fruits & veggies & other healthy treats, prepared by hand.
Boot camp is just sad, and its a sign of the times. I could go on….
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In my daughter’s 2nd grade class last year, 6 out of the 18 7-year-olds were overweight. Five out of those six were girls. I agree that boot camp is not the answer, and I won’t be signing my daughter up for one as a way to be active, but I can see a child watching Mom at her boot camp and then asking to go to a class. That would not bother me, as long as it came from a genuine interest on the child’s part, and the focus was on fitness and not weight loss.
When I first heard you mention it yesterday I reacted similarly. Then as I’ve mused on it the past 24 hours I’m much less surprised. It seems more like “trickle” down effect. After something is popular for adults it eventually trickles down to a “hey, wouldn’t that be cute if we made that into a kids’ class”. Kids are going to be open to it b/c they’ve heard/seen their kids doing it. I’m thinking the intention was cool and if my kid wanted to do it and it made them happy…sure. Seeing my almost six year old has no interest in signing up for any classes so far I’m thinking it would reach out to more of the 7-9 year old crowd? Is that healthy for that age? Not sure. I guess it could depend a lot on the instructor. I could see one instructor doing a fantastic job with it and making it super empowering and feel good. I could see another instructor taking it another route. But this could be so with t-ball or any organized sport. I guess I’d be more interested in knowing the specific instructor’s philosophy towards exercise AND children.
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I definitely think it’s an inappropriate approach to the problem of childhood obesity and inactivity. I think kids that age should achieve fitness through active play, not through “workouts”. Maybe it’s better than it sounds, but it sounds pretty bad to me.
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This is really interesting to me and my first reaction is I don’t know how I feel about it. It is not clear to me and I need to reflect. I absolutely DO NOT believe in contributing to poor body image in children. I think we are in some ways taught to hate our bodies. My kids sometimes come to pick me up from boot camp and love watching the end of the class. I want them to be excited about exercise. Just like in a perfect world I would like them to be excited about eating lots veggies!
I don’t believe in strength training at all for young kids. If the name makes them feel like it is cool because Mommy does it, but it doesn’t focus on the same things adult classes do, than that is different.
This is my first year ever of doing boot camp. I signed up because I needed to be motivated by people and have a set time to do it because before I really didn’t have any motivation. I wanted a class that would work all parts of my body at once with limited time. The instructor is fantastic, the people are great and I feel a lot better which it what I was after.
For kids though…I need to hear what the instructor had to say…get the full picture. Right now I really dunno?
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We don’t have that kind of boot camps for kids here, but we have more and more different kinds of summer camps primarily aimed at the increasing number of families who feel their kids need to be engaged in some structured activity all year round.
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I don’t like the thought of sending my kid to a boot camp. To me, I think they are noticing a boot camp trend and hopping on the band wagon. I would send either one of my kids to a full-on exercise program though. I would much rather they they are active by doing team sports and other activities that are fun and just happen to be active – opposed to pure exercise which I don’t think is fun at all.
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Okay, I’ll be the black sheep here. I think maybe you’re turned off simply by the term “boot camp,” but frankly, kids find that more exciting than “exercise class.” I’m slightly biased because I’m a fitness instructor, but fitness classes for kids are a great way to introduce them to exercise, and teach them that physical fitness can be a fun, integral part of their lives. My kids love doing push-ups and lunges with me; and they think it’s cool that their dad and I are strong and fit. Keep in mind, too, that physical strength is mental strength; a strong body can carry a person through some sad and emotional journeys.
I call my classes “boot camps” not because it’s for people looking to lose weight — we NEVER discuss weight in class – but because it’s for people looking to jumpstart their days, weeks – even lives.
Make sense?
PS Great discussion,though. Good post!
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I cold see if it was like Boot Camp. Dress up in camo, climb walls, run through tires. Kids of military parents, or even just kids on a army kick (which is a lot of 6 y/o boys I know) would love it. But a “boot camp” to get into shape? Nope. Basketball, dance, karate would be a better workout, for more than just the body.
The unfortunate part is it’s not going to be the kids who need the extra exercise that get signed up for this class. It’s going to be the kid who’s parents are obsessed with him becoming a hockey star, or the girl who’s mom wants her to be a famous dancer ect. It’s going to be the kids who are already pushed hard. It’s not healthy.
Your right that if there write up was different they may reach a broader base of kids, especially if its described as fun oriented exercise. They way they describe it is marketed towards the narrow demographic I spoke of above.
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I don’t think you’re over-reacting and I wouldn’t sign my child up for that class, either. I think you’re right when you said it’s a symptom of a larger problem: focusing way too much on physical appearance and not enough on living an active life. Great post!
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I don’t think you are over-reacting either, in fact I have been writing a letter (or maybe a blog post) about something similar in regards to my daughter and how it is time for the family to stop talking about how much she eats and praising her for it. Not that I’m not grateful that my 2-year old loves to eat and will eat anything but I feel it should be a non-issue. I can only imagine how her 7-year old cousin felt the other night at a family dinner when everyone was comparing how little he ate and how picky he was to his 2-year old cousin. I saw them picking roles for these kids “I’m the picky eater” “I’m the good eater” and it made me made. I’m 5 weeks away from having daughter #2 and I was already conscious about how much emphasis is but on beauty and weight in our society and I want to make our home a safe-zone from such criticism/obsession. So (after that long rant) I think that sending your 6-year old to “boot camp” is going to teach them that they should be working hard to stay thin – as opposed to staying fit through physical activity that can be part of every day life.
I share the sentiments given by all the other commenters. Boot camp isn’t the way this class should be advertised if the class should even exist at all. “Workout like mom or dad” might be a better way to go. But emphasizing whipping kids into shape is no way to set up a lifetime of enjoying exercise.
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I don’t think it’s that alarming, but of course, I don’t know the true class content. My guess that it isn’t all that different from any activities class that gets the kids running around, but that they thought it would be eye-catching and trendy to use a “boot camp” name from a marketing perspective.
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I remembered my younger days were pretty active too; cycling or running around the neighborhood, going to the library with my friends, or just chilling out at the playground, in the field, playing marbles etc. Those memories certainly continue to live with me till this day. What I am seeing for the kids now are endless enrichment courses one after another. The courses may prepare the kids for the competitiveness today but what they really need is pure fun! The idea of the Boot Camp may not be so bad if the focus is for the kids to have fun through activities.
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I totally don’t think that boot camp is a productive for kids at all, if kids are overweight than a lifestyle change is what’s needed; not 8 weeks of running circuits or lifting medicine balls. I don’t want to get nasty so I’ll stop there.
OK, happiness now, I’m passing on an award to you.
http://jennoreilly.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/i-won/
enjoy.
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Remember “Get in Shape, Girl!” “toys” and videos from the 80s when it was all about Jane Fonda/aerobics. Maybe this is the same thing… but it still bothers me.
Holy nostalgia, Batman! I do remember those. In fact, now I have the theme song stuck in my head.
I had to look it up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56udkINI_-g
I agree with the above comments of Hillary and Tricia. I think people might be reading too much into the title and bad description of the class. What I first thought when I saw “Boot Camp” was that it might be a military-style fitness class, which I would have loved at that age. I’m not sure what people think the difference is between this kind of activity and regular sports. You learn new skills, you learn how to play with others, you challenge yourself and you meet new friends. I have a hard time believing it’s the kind of class where you have a bulky, head-shaved, frightening drill sergeant barking at young kids about how large their tummies are. Children only get the wrong idea about body image from adults, and if adults aren’t pushing boot camp, or any physical activity, as a means to lose weight and be pretty, then I think it’s a good idea as any.
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Boot Camp sounds like hell to me, and would have at age 6 I’m sure, but I still would have picked it over team sports, which were especially not my thing. I would have to say to each their own, and wouldn’t knock it until I observed the class and heard how students felt about it. Boot Camp makes me think more toning and muscle than weight loss – I would assume the typical ballet class (especially on a serious competitive level) would put on more pressure to simply be thin.
I’m not sure what the fitness level / average weight is for someone is where you are, but down in the fat United States I find it hard to knock engaging kids in physical activity, even though I’m decidedly not athletic. There is also a definite balance between teaching our kids to accept their bodies no matter what and teaching them to be healthy. Low self-esteem is a concern, but I have a hard time accepting that it’s worse than Heart Disease or Diabetes. :/
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“Boot camp” connotates quick, fast weight loss from intense, brutal exercise (often with a coach yelling at you to “suck it up!”). It is definitely wrong and disturbing to inflict this on children. It sends all the wrong messages. I would never sign my child up for it simply because the title of the program is so offensive.
I understand why a Boot Camp for kids seems shocking, but I have to disagree that I think it’s a bad thing. Now, perhaps the choice of the words “Boot Camp” is not the best — it suggests hard, mean, military-like training. But fitness training for kids? I think that’s an excellent idea. As a child, I was so intimidated by exercise, so confused about how diet and exercise worked, and far far too freaked out by a gym to ever set foot in one. It was only when I got to my 30s that a boyfriend dragged me (kicking, screaming) to his gym that I realised *I love lifting weights* and *I love getting fit*.
Note I said “getting fit”, not getting thin or getting bikini-ready. And I think that’s the key. When we assume that fitness-focused activities for kids are a covert way of imposing unrealistic body-expectations on them, we actually feed into the process that makes little girls slaves to that norm. If, instead, we teach them from childhood the importance of incorporating exercise and healthy eating into their lives *with a focus on being fit instead of being thin*, they are less likely to fall into the traps of crash dieting, eating disorders, not understand how exercise works, and being afraid of the gym.
My girls see me exercise every day and they do every move right alongside me. I love the fact that they will never be intimidated by exercise, sweat, dumbbells, the gym. I love that’s it’s just part of what we do, like eating lunch, brushing our teeth, cutting our toenails — and I hope it carries on this way through their whole lives. “Boot Camp” is probably a bad choice of words, but I think the idea is spot on.
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I think everyone missed the point of boot camp. It’s not a weigt-loss clinic. It’s for unruly, out of control kids. It’s obvious parents don’t have any backbone these days and spend too much time counting to 3 in 50 million different ways or placing kids in time-outs. I see it daily and all my daughter says is” i will not abuse my child”. Abuse no. discipline yes. The Bible says it best “spare the rod spoil the child”.
This seems to be a wholly civilian misinterpretation of military terminology. The term boot camp was coined to define an activity commonly conducted during basic training. Boot camp is not about fitness per se. Its about discipline, respect, honor, integrity and values like these and instilling them into people, young and old. There is a yuppy mentality that has made spanking your child abuse, so now children are out of control. Not mine, but thats because if my children misbehave, they will be in the front lean of rest doing push ups, of some other variety of physical training. This is not the objective, but instead a corrective action to reinforce negative behavior will not be tolerated. Some of you will not be happy until your six year old is standing on a corner with a fifth in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
Children’s rights are limited in scope to life, and not being physically or mentally mistreated. They are not able to think for themselves until they have been taught what is acceptable and what is not. For some, there is a disconnect, and barring taking the belt to them, what would you have these parents do? Ask their children permission to discipline them? Negative. Thats the wrong doggone answer, and its wrong. Boot camp may sound cruel, but here is the bottom line. Children are fed, clothed, and taught right and wrong. They are taught values that people who don’t care about discipline would have them do without. Before you down boot camp, how about you go find out what it is, because its clear you have no clue.
Dude. This particular class that I’m talking about is offered through a civilian parks and recreation department in a suburb of Vancouver, Canada. The description, as offered in the class guide is:
Boot Camp for Children
For ages 6-9 years. This Boot Camp will include cardio conditioning, strength, power, agility and much more! This program is led by a qualified fitness instructor.
I don’t think I am misinterpreting THIS CLASS when I read it as a fitness class for children as young as 6. In the community that I live in, where this class is offered, “Boot Camp” style classes are commonly offered to women like me who want to get in shape. The military term has been co-opted, here, and not by me. In common parlance, a boot camp class bears no relationship to actual military boot camp.
I stand by my opinion that 6-year-olds don’t need a class geared towards improving their cardio conditioning. If their fitness level needs to be improved, then a more holistic, lifestyle-based approach would be far more effective than sending them to the local rec centre for 1 hour a week for 8 weeks. That’s my point.
Your point, I guess, is that kids need more discipline, including push-ups. You’re entitled to your opinion, but I can pretty much guarantee you that the “qualified fitness instructor” teaching the course is not having the kids “drop and give her 50″ for mouthing off, she’s having them bounce around to music. If you think the kids should be doing that, then we can discuss it in the context of this post. Otherwise, feel free to find a blog where you can discuss your opinions with like-minded people.
Take care.