In a recent study by the Arlington Partnership for Children, Youth and Families, only 24 percent of students said their parents were actively involved in helping them succeed in school.
With that in mind, APCYF has issued some advice for parents to help their kids “get off to a great start” as Arlington starts a new school year.
Parents and spectators will be encouraged to only silently support their kid’s team, and coaches will be asked to only provide “positive and encouraging feedback and allow players the time to work through issues on the field.”
“The reason for Silent Soccer is to let the kids enjoy the game of soccer and make decisions on their own,” the ASA said in a blog post. “While the practice does remove positive cheering of the kids accomplishments from the field, the goal is to make parents aware that the kids can play without their coaching, yelling, and other disruptive influences during play. At any age. So we remove all voices coming from off the field for this one day.”
Registration for winter parks and recreation classes, popular with school-aged children, opened at 8:00 a.m. The registration website was beset by technical problems within 5 minutes of the opening, but was back up and working by 8:15 a.m., according to Arlington Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources spokeswoman Susan Kalish.
Even though the problems lasted less than 15 minutes, some parents — who rushed to register their children for classes before the classes filled up — weren’t pleased. Similar technical problems have plagued the class registration system in the past.
A number of parents told us they had trouble trying to submit the forms, after spending time to fill them out.
“After typing 20 minutes of information in 6-point type, the online form just throws you out to the beginning,” one parent said. “We wouldn’t all be trying so hard except that the alternative is to fill it out by hand every September for the next 10 years.”
Replacing Arlington at No. 1 is our neighbor, the District of Columbia. Parenting says the District was chosen as the best city in the country to raise kids based on “the quality of schools, affordable homes, low crime rates, jobs, and parkland.” Needless to say, some are questioning the methodology that allowed D.C. to top a list based on schools, affordability and crime.
Last year, when Arlington was the top-ranked city, Parenting said it was due to the county’s “fabulous schools, great home values, and an attractive unemployment rate.” This year, the District won praise for its cultural attractions.
