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The Velcro effect: Are we raising a generation that can't tie shoes?
I love Velcro. I love the sound of it, the feel of it, and how it looks under a magnifying class.
(History lesson: It was created in the late 1940s by Swiss engineer, George de Mestra, who at first couldn't convince people that this "zipperless zipper" was actually really cool.)
Are you kidding me?
Anyway, despite my fascination with Velcro, it is to blame for what appears to be an entire generation of third graders who can't tie their own shoes.
Recently, I saw a soccer referee call delay of game on an 8-year-old because his coach was tying his shoe. Every parent on the sidelines glared at the referee and made a mental note to honestly, truly, this time teach their kid how to tie a shoe. It just never seemed like that big of a deal until now.
My third grader is still mentally following the "make a bunny ear, grab the tail, run around and chase Mr. Thumb through the hole" mantra I taught him, which works about half the time these days. He can multiply three digits and can send his grandma an e-mail, but the bunny ear can frustrate him to tears.
I've talked to other parents who believe that purchasing pair after pair of Velcro shoes has resulted in otherwise independent kids who can't tie their own shoes consistently or with any great speed.
Predictably authoritative and self-righteous Web sites, say it's a skill a child should master by age 5 or 6. Super. Bring on the mom guilt.
I was trying to remember when I learned to tie my shoes. I've got to think I was around 4. Velcro was not on the market until the late 1950s, and it didn't really take off until after NASA started using it in spacesuits. By then, I had already learned to tie my shoes. (Although later we did have Vans. Ahhhh. I loved my Vans.)
These days, there are products galore for teaching kids to tie their shoes. But honestly, the best "product" for teaching shoe tying is a shoe with shoelaces. Tip for the day: Thrift stores are filled with unworn and otherwise expensive, brand-name, lace-up kid shoes for about $3.
So, goodbye Velcro. While it has served us well, it's apparently time for us to grow up.
| November 03 2009 at 07:02 AM
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