Today, on Yahoo! Sports, there is an article about a 16-year-old boy who is opting out of high school. Apparently, his parents are allowing (encouraging?) him to skip the last two years of high school, get his GED, and enroll in junior college, so he'll be eligible for the MLB draft a year earlier.
If you haven't already done so, go back and follow the link and read it - I'll wait.
Okay, are you back?
Now, let's talk about this. I'd like to start with my favorite quote from the article, courtesy of Bryce Harper's father, Ron.
""People are going to see what they want to see and say what they want to say. I think this prepares him for life, playing the game of baseball."
It's a little unclear, but it reads like Ron Harper believes that playing the game of baseball prepares you for life. That's almost too absurd for comment, so we'll move to the other possibility, that he's saying leaving high school prepares him for life AND for playing the game of baseball.
I think that is what is meant, and that's what I want to talk about.
Does it really?
He's leaving high school and starting junior college as a way of hurrying his eligibility for the Major League draft. I'm not going to touch the concept of whether he's good enough, I am assuming he is or this wouldn't even be a question. So fine, at the age of 17 he gets drafted possibly to play for the Washington Nationals.
Now, at the age of 17, they're throwing money at him (the most popular figure seems to be $20,000,000), he's incredibly famous (and look how well that works out for other young people), he's living away from his parents, he's spending all of his time with people who are older than he is, he is living in an insular community (i.e. not actually seeing "real life"), he is required to be fully accountable for his own actions (no more parents to keep tabs on him), and this is the rest of his life (at least his professional life). No going back. He's not a kid anymore. He's an adult who must live and act as an adult from this point forward.
Except, he's not. Let's be honest here, he's a sixteen year old boy. Not. An. Adult. His father also said "Bryce is a good kid. He's smart." Okay, great. I'm glad, but that's him at home, under your supervision. That's not him, out on his own, under the influence of fame, fortune, and men/boys that are several years older than him.
For me, it isn't about the education. Education is entirely what you make of it. How much he learns will be dependent on how much he tries to learn and he can put forth that effort in any number of settings. Alternatives to high school aren't (or at least, shouldn't be) the issue here. He can always go back at a later date and finish school. He probably won't, but he can if he wants to. The problem I am seeing here is the precedent we're setting. And it isn't just this kid. It's all kids who opt out of being kids and having a life for the possibility of catching the dream.
More than the article itself, I was very interested in the comments section. It amazes me how many people seem to think this is a good idea. (The poll at the bottom was at 55% to 45% in FAVOR of this being a good idea). After a page or two, the comments quickly become repetitive, no one seems to have anything new or original to say. But the comment I keep seeing the most is any variation on: "you'd do it if you could."
Well, it's probably true. If I were 16 and offered a chance to leave high school two years early so that people could throw fame and fortune at me, I'm sure I'd say yes. Probably lots of high school kids would. Most, even. But that's hardly the point, the point is that it shouldn't be his decision. There is a reason why kids aren't legally adults at 16. Kids are idiotic at 16.
They do things like sneaking out and trying to drive to another town (and they don't know how to get there) to see a cute boy (or girl depending on preference) and getting lost and crashing the car and needing a nearby farmer who looks eerily like Jesus to come and save them.
Or they'll drive down a dark country road and kill all the lights and try to drive in the dark, regardless of the danger.
Or they play chicken with cross traffic at an intersection.
Or do Chinese fire drills at the busiest intersection in town.
That's 16.
And that is exactly why we have parents. To keep us from doing the really stupid stuff, to check us and rein us in when we're not making the best decisions. So that at the end of the day, after we've crammed in as much stupidity as possible, we have to go home and be accountable to someone else.
It is up to his parents to decide whether or not he should be leaving home to go play baseball 2 years early. Evidently, they seem to think it is a good idea. (I think it is pretty obvious by now that I completely disagree). They seem pretty focused on the "opportunity" and the money. I think it is very unfortunate that they don't seem to put Bryce's needs first. If he's truly talented, then the opportunity will still be there in 2 years. The money will also still be there in 2 years. And honestly, he'll probably only be better then, than he is now. (Just look at the story of our hometown hero, Joe Mauer.)
I really hope that this kid manages to work everything out and that all his dreams fall into place. I hope that he doesn't have to learn every tough lesson in the book, all on his own. I hope that it's all sunshine and apple pie from this point forward, but let's be realistic. Life doesn't work that way. Not even baseball works that way.
It is so unfortunate that at such a young, impressionable age, this kid is getting his priorities in place as: baseball, money, opportunity. Now there is little room left for things like: family, friends, education, and youth. This kid is now done being a kid. Now he's an adult who was sent into the world with a very skewed perspective on what is truly important in life. And to me, that is the saddest part.
.....so, tell me. What do you think?
baseball
