Must See Video: Cleveland School Kids Slam Lebron James With Poem
I personally would not have allowed my child to participate in something like this and while some may think it is funny, I think it sends a bad message to the kids.
The children are from Wade Park School in Cleveland and they do a rendition of the Lebron James Nike “Rise” commercial.
Kids should not be made to feel that a grown man who was a free agent and had the ability to do what he wanted is “cruel” or “wrong”.
Especially African-American kids, who need to understand we weren’t always “free”.
Cleveland I am asking you to get over it.
It is one thing to have adults whining and crying, but to bring children into it, is just wrong on so many levels. It is also sad and pathetic.
Lebron is a basketball player.
Let me repeat.
LEBRON JAMES IS A BASKETBALL PLAYER
There are so many more important things to teach our children than Lebron was cruel for taking his talents to South Beach. Those children would be lucky if that is the cruelest thing that happens in their lifetime.
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My man. I bet if this were white kids it would be a totally different article huh?
No, because it is stupid to have young children do something like this. It is even more stupid to have black kids doing it.
These kids wrote their own words. They chose to do this. What makes you think the adults endorsed this?
Because they're KIDS! If Kids said they wanted to jump off a tall building and adults endorsed this would you say that's cool too?
Adults should know better. This makes Cleveland look EMO
As an adult if my child wrote something like this, I would sit them down explain what being a "FREE AGENT" means and how having negative energy toward someone will only hold you down in life.
That is what ADULTS are suppose to do.
Wow you're stupid. A negative energy? Wow.
How about sitting your kids down and explaining them what "CLASS" is you idiot (Please tell me you don't actually have kids, that would make me very sad). If Lebron had just left without the circus that he brought with his departure then I am sure most people outside of Cleveland wouldn't even care that he left. Instead he shows no CLASS by destroying a sports team on live, national television without even having the courtesy to tell the team beforehand. It was a boneheaded, classless move and even Lebron has acknowledged he would do it differently. People in Cleveland were going to hate him even if he did do it with class but the reason everyone in the country hates him is because of the way he did it. He was a classless monkey. No way getting around it. Tell your kids that.
The fact that you called him a "classless monkey" .. tells me all I need to know about you John, I hope you don't have kids
BTW anyone else find it ironic that the school is named Wade?
Touche'
Didn't listen to the poem b/c I think it's just stupid and it goes too far. With the U.S. public school system as ineffective as it is, shouldn't these students be doing something of substance?!? Between T.I. and Cleveland fans, all of my sympathy and good will has been used up for the decade.
Im sure these kids are being taught better things. But if they didnt do this skit/poem it would not be on your website. Sports are a very big part of our culture so i dont see anything wrong with this whatsoever. Yes he was a free agent but he played cleveland like that ex girlfriend that you knew you were never going to get back with but would not tell her to her face, only to get caught with your pants down by her.
people negative thoughts in a child's mind about something that isn't negative in the grand scheme of things and have them act it out, is wrong in my opinion
@robert Littal You're pontificating about an organically created group poem, written by 8-12 year olds. They lost an idol and felt btrayed, and used their creative minds as an outlet. I can think of far worse ways of expession. Many of their lines are not even their reactions, but observations. In an interview one of the students even says that "I don't think people should burn his jersey or anything, just stop buying his stuff if you don't like him."
You have done these kids a great disservice. I personally know these kids, and their teachers. They have enough to deal without the weight of your social anxiety on these kids. Their are plenty of kids in our school system that can't read or write, why sensor the ones that can.
@ skeptical at best. I hope it makes you feel like a man to call a bunch of 10 year olds stupid. secondly, coherently arranging thoughts, writing, editing, working together, and public speaking all seem to things of substanse in my view. what is lacking in substance however is your post.
The fact they felt "betrayed" but their idol, pretty much proves my point that the parents aren't properly explaining to them A- what happened and B- why there is nothing to feel betrayed about.
I think the problem is that there is such a double standard for what sports represent in our culture. We do idolize athletes, as we as humans have always idolized the strongest and most physically gifted human. We idolize them (right or wrong) because they have reached a pinnacle of success in our culture, for their physical attributes as much as the power, money, and fame that accompany it. But yet, we turn around and claim it's "just a sport". True, there are many things in life that are more important than sports, but sports in this country is something that many people (athletes, news reporters, beat writers, analysts, management, investors) dedicate their entire lives to. It's a multi-billion dollar a year industry. So to trivialize national sports by claiming that it is "just a sport" does not do reality justice, because it is so much more, regardless of whether that is a morally or societally beneficial thing. We all have idols in culture because they have attained what we desire, whether that is athletically, politically, socially, financially, or academically and regardless of whether they want to be or claim to be idols worth looking up to. For kids that dream of growing up to be a star athlete, it would be natural to have an athlete as an idol, and thus be disappointed if they act out of accordance with what that kid deems to be proper.
That isn't natural, as a parent you should be able to sit down with your child and explain them the difference
Of course it's natural. For the people who grow up to become athletes, it IS their whole life. It pays the bills, it brings them recognition, it's where they make friends. Who would LeBron be without basketball? Or Peyton Manning without football? Tell them that it's "just a sport" and that it really doesn't matter. I'm sure if they played like that, they wouldn't still have a job doing what they do. Just because it's a sport doesn't mean that it isn't also a job.
And it's natural because we value physical prowess in our society, be that Hercules, Spartans (from the 300, Halo, God of War, Achilles), Olympians like Michael Phelps, or underwear models. Athletes represent success in an area that we value, so therefore we value it. I agree that things like education, non-violence, and community service might be more socially and morally important by far, but we love our sports and our sports athletes. And athletes have played significant roles in our society, whether that be Muhammad Ali, Pat Tillman, Jackie Robinson, or Jesse Owens. They were able to make huge contributions to society solely due to their influence as an athlete. So it's not sufficient to dismiss the contributions and influence that sports teams and players have on our society, by saying that it's "just a game".
Of course it's natural. For the people who grow up to become athletes, it IS their whole life. It pays the bills, it brings them recognition, it's where they make friends. Who would LeBron be without basketball? Or Peyton Manning without football? Tell them that it's "just a sport" and that it really doesn't matter. I'm sure if they played like that, they wouldn't still have a job doing what they do. Just because it's a sport doesn't mean that it isn't also a job.
This article explains as much: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/mic…
So do you think Lebron using the kids on his special was okay? Did you listen on "The Decision" the excitement in the room? No- there wasn't any excitement. There was only disappointment. You can say, it raised so much money for the boys and girls club. Well, Lebron got more money out of that deal than the club did. He should have just donated the money to them and left the special out of it, especially the kids. None of them talked/cheered or gave a crap about what he "had to go through" when he "made his decision".
The kids in Cleveland feel this way because for 6 years, Lebron talked about being loyal and wanting to do good for the community. What the kids in Cleveland saw was a figure who they could relate to- a person who defied the odds of living in poverty to become successful- abandon them and their hometown, with a 1 hour special dedicated to him and his decision. What they saw, was a person in their life abandoning them, so he could take his "talents to South Beach".
Would Michael Jordan, Larry Bird or Magic Johnson do this act to the children who hope they could be like him? Plan and simple, NO. Lebron James only cares about Lebron James. Not the children that he could have positively impacted to show the meaning of loyalty.
Do many children idolize athletes in the USA? They sure do. You seem to blame the idolization of athletes on parents. Lebron (and every other athlete) should know, as an athlete, they are going to be in the public and children will want to be like them. They should know how to act, they are getting paid millions of dollars to play a game, they should have the knowledge about the power they possess because of the constant media exposure that they get.
Idolization of Athletes- There are many athletes that it would be great to follow in their footsteps- Tim Duncan (the Big Fundamental- who is known for his teamwork and his loyalty to his team), Troy Polamalu- one of the classiest NFL players ever and always is kind/courteous/respectful/thankful to and for his fans, Albert Pujols- best player in MLB and sets up foundations for Down Syndrome and taking medical supplies to the Dominican Republic for needy people. Lebron James should never be in the same sentence as any of these respectable athletes. What Lebron James has done, is set up a bike foundation, in which he donates $50,000, so children can ride a bike- that's great to help out the community. But actions will also impact what you are doing. His actions speak, if you want to leave the job that you have been at where the team/city/region/state loves you, you need to make sure you have a 1 hour special to tell everyone how hard it has been for you to make "the decision". You also don't need to tell anyone thanks for all the support (unit big Z already had took out a 1 page ad in the local newspaper and you figured you should do the same), or give anyone the heads up about it. You should also tweet messages about how you are taking "mental notes" of everyone who has hated on your decision.
A simple search you would have seen that I have slammed Lebron for using the Boys and Girl Club..This isn't about Lebron, this is about the kids and they shouldn't be put in the middle of this
The best part is the ending. The Taller kid forgets his line, but his little buddies don't let him give up. I like it, "Its OK' and "You can do it.". For some reason I found that nice to see.
that is the point right there. The kids supporting one another through tough times. That evening there were 18 groups of kids performing poems about everything from soccer, to precious stones, to being bi-lingual, emotions, to bullying, to conquering fear. . . and so forth. This particular piece got picked up because. . . well you know why it got picked up.
Are these kids quitting on their lives because of Lebron leaving? NO.
Is Cleveland descending into dysfunction?. . . no futher than we already were.
Sure the kids could have had more sophistacation to their piece, but they're in 5th grade and represented themselves well in front of hundreds of people.
Some of their parents suck. Others are great. It's a mixed bag and we have to deal with it, just like we have to deal with distasteful decisions made by some athletes, and the carnal nature of the tabloid news cycles.
my favorite line (it gets kind of muddled in the audio) is "we thought you were a believer, but in Cleveland we're over-achievers." Like you said Mr. Littal it's not about Lebron. . . It's about the kids, and they are always in the middle of it.
I live in Cleveland and never heard about this story until I stumbled upon it via another link…regardless, it's a non-story and a waste of everyone's time to write and or read it. Every city has it's sports villians, and right now LeBron is Cleveland's…and from what I can tell, a lot of people agree with us.
I grew watching the Kardiac Kids and Bernie Kosar and still hate Oakland and John Elway…ever been to Boston? Mention Johnny Damon's name and see what type of reaction you get…Curse of the Bambino anyone???…come one man…Cleveland fans have the right to be pissed…and will be for a long time….it's our right as fans.
I have never heard of Robert Littal before reading this article, but I can promise that him "asking Cleveland to get over it" will have no impact on how we feel. Might be time to find a new topic Robby…let us sulk and handle this the way fans do.
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