Daniel Paul Horn wrote:

>I'm almost willing to bet that for every pathelogical Suzuki parent
>in our program, there are at least five parents out on the soccer
>fields of Wheaton and Naperville loudly and loutishly wringing all
>the childhood joy out of their kid's athletic experiences.

I'm sure Daniel would win that bet.  Too many parents, to compenstate for
their own deficiences, map out their childrens' lives with no regard for
the natural preferences and abilities of the children.  This is a major
disservice to the children whether the field is sports or classical music.
However, nothing is worse than children in modeling - so superficial and
meaningless.  Try listening to a world-class model's philosophy on his/her
profession; it is pathetic, and the models are the victims.

I was pushed significantly by my father when I was young to excel in piano
and clarinet.  When anyone came over to the house, I was required to play
one of my instruments.  Did the visitor want to hear me play? - made no
difference to my dad.  How did I do? Terribly, I always screwed up in
public.  These pressures plus others that my dad passed my way in academic
areas helped make me a relatively disfunctional teenager.  All is well now,
but I know that I play my instruments less frequently and I developed quite
an anti-intellectual mind set as a result of childhood rearing.

Don Satz
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