Question 1:
A. Read the following scenario:
Teresa is an exceptionally gifted female athlete and participates in a variety of sports, such as ice skating, gymnastics, and softball. Her high school has a hockey team that, since the school was founded, has allowed only boys to play. She is the best skater in the state of Oregon and wants to pursue a professional career as an ice hockey player. To realize this goal, she feels it is essential to receive experience playing hockey in high school. You are the new coach at Washington High School, which Teresa attends. She has petitioned to play ice hockey.
B. Answer the following questions
1) Will you allow her to play? Why or why not?
2) How will you structure her initiation into practices, if you allow her on the team?
3) If you allow her on the team, how will you handle the obvious gender-related circumstances that might arise, such as travel accommodations, locker facilities, male/female relationships, and so on?
4) How will you handle parents/caregivers and school board members who disagree with allowing (or not allowing) her on the team?
5) Defend your position regarding this topic, "Should girls be allowed to play on boys' teams?"
Question 2: Play With Toys
Imagine you are a child walking into a toy store. What do you experience? Bright colors and loud sounds beckon you toward toys that promise to enlighten, engage, and excite. As a child (or even an adult), you may not realize that these toys act as part of the socialization process. That's right-even toys are constraints! Toys can encourage children to be active or inactive. For example, a Frisbee or Nerf ball encourages a child to throw, catch, and develop an accurate shot. On the other hand, a board game or doll encourages sedentary play. Toys can also stimulate children to emulate sports figures; among others, you can find basketball, soccer, and cheerleader Barbies as well as UFC action figures. Video and computer games may simulate sport without promoting any physical activity at all (e.g., EA FIFA or Axis Football), or they may promote some physical activity (such as the Wii Fit Plus or EA Sports Active 2). Each kind of toy has its advantages, but certain toys facilitate children's socialization into sport and physical activity more than others do. Toys are also a means by which gender typing can occur in the socialization process (Auster & Mansback, 2012; Cherney & London, 2006; Murnen, Greenfield, Younger, & Boyd, 2016). Manufacturers often use gender-typed strategies to advertise their products. Parents also enjoy giving their children the same kinds of toys they played with as children, thus tending to perpetuate traditional gender typing.
(From K.M. Haywood and N. Getchell. 2020, Life span motor development, 7th ed. (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics).
1) Consider a toy that is popular today, such as LEGO Boost Creative Toolbox or Hatchimals. How might these toys encourage certain behaviors and discourage other behaviors in a child and Why?
2) How could certain types of gender-typed toys act as constraints on motor development? Think about both short-term and long-term effects and describe it in detail.