Dorchester Times: Survey: Readers Split On Reasons For Lower Student Participation

Friday, November 22, 2013

Survey: Readers Split On Reasons For Lower Student Participation

Why aren't kids today going out for athletics in the large numbers of generations past?

A new Dorchester Times survey of finds more than one-third of respondents blame "growing complacency and laziness of today's youth."

Meanwhile, nearly a quarter of respondents say the low participation rates are due to the fact there is "less emphasis placed on athletic success and physical competition today compared to earlier generations."

Just over 17 percent say the Internet and other electronic entertainment is to blame; another 17 percent say the finger should be pointed at parents.

One reader wrote: "Maybe it's just because there weren't as many boys born for a period of time." That reader is making reference to the fact that at DHS, male sports have suffered more than female.

The survey findings come after Dorchester School officials have told district patrons that DHS' participation rates are lower than they would like, and as the DPS Board weighs its options to include girls and boys basketball, as well as volleyball, in the athletics co-operative with Milford.

As the Times has noted, the problem of lower student participation in school activities is not unique to Dorchester. It is impacting many schools all across the state.

Here's the full breakdown of the survey when readers were asked: "Which ONE of the following do you believe is most responsible for the low student participation plaguing high school athletics all across Nebraska?"

The informal survey was conducted over a 24-hour period from Nov. 20-21. Exactly 39 individuals from unique households or mobile devices took part.

3 comments:

AnonymousNovember 22, 2013 at 8:44 AM
Interesting in how this blog tries to figure out what is going on at the school.

We need to look at the whole picture when placing blame.

Many reasons can't be put on this blog because it will offend someone, but many of the problems are very obvious.

ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousNovember 22, 2013 at 9:56 AM
I grew up in the 50s and 60s so maybe I'm too old fashioned, but let's face it: 90 percent of students mirror the attitudes of their parents. It's too easy to say "Oh kids are just lazy these days." Instead, the reason they don't participate in outside activities is more likely that they get no encouragement from mom and dad. Another problem now days is that parents think their kids can do no wrong. If they aren't starting or if they get benched, it is the coach's fault or the other players' fault. Then those kids quit the team or mommy and daddy take them to another school. I say parents are to blame almost 100% of the time.
ReplyDelete
Replies
cynical richardNovember 22, 2013 at 10:34 AM
................just gotta say as i sit next to the woodstove .................................... seems like yer school was a little better functioning when you had more country kids in the mix ................................................................. country kids were the backbone of the dorchester teams since the start of the school ...................................................................... now the city kids cant hack it ..........................................................
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Village Dweller checks all reader comments to determine if they are appropriate for print.

Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."