After just recently being a part of a number of Senior Night celebrations, I have come to the same sad and angry state that always follows these events.

I remember once upon a time when Senior Night festivities were met with large groups of boys and/or girls playing their final home game of their high school career. Not any more. You are lucky to have anywhere from one to just a handful of actual senior athletes being recognized. Recently, I have even seen a couple of Senior Nights with NO SENIORS.

This is wrong. Yet, I'm not really sure who to blame anymore. Initial thoughts always go to the kids not sticking it out to the end. And that still happens. Teenagers have so many options and responsibilities to take care of that, quite honestly, didn't exist that long ago. So many kids hold down part-time to full-time jobs while finishing their last two years of schooling. Some do it because they want to; others because they have to in order to help their families make ends meet. In my glory days, I worked part time and so did a number of my friends, but school athletics were still a top priority. Now, those priorities are having to be reevaluated.

But it would be wrong of me not to take a look at the other foot, the coaches and schools themselves. Now, I'm not here to cut down the school systems or coaches. On the contrary, I'll probably do more praising them that criticizing. More and more schools are turning students toward working on their first year of college while still in the high school classroom. To me, that's a good thing. For sports, that's a bad thing. There are more and more athletes who are having to choose one or the other, based on the number of hours in the day. To those who choose furthering their education and looking toward their future, kudos. I can't fault you for that. But I don't like what it does to high school athletics, either.

Also, coaches deserve some credit/blame. More and more coaches are asking athletes to "specialize" in just one sport, thus, giving up two or maybe even three others. And it's not just coaches, I've seen other extra-curricular leaders asking the same things. But what this does is forces kids to make choices now that they are likely to regret in years to come. Whatever happened to teens being involved in whatever sports they wanted, playing in the band or participating in the speech and debate teams and still finding time for a relaxing summer? It's not an option anymore. A basketball player has to be involved in summer basketball camps and leagues in order to remain in favor of the basketball coach. A volleyball player had better be involved with a club volleyball team during the summer or they will never be given proper attention during the regular season. Football players have summer weights that begin long before the sun comes up during the summer.

I have many college students tell me how they wish they had not given up a sport or school activity, but, at the time, they saw no other way to remain sane. So many of the high school kids I see now look like zombies walking around the school halls or at their places of employment, basically exhausted from the schedules they try to keep.

Even parents are to blame. We want our kids to experience it all while in high school, but forget to let them have some say in what is important during those short four years. And too many of us like to relive our high school days through the activities of our children.

I don't mean to throw a sword at any particular group. I totally understand where coaches are coming from, as they have the added stress of needing to put wins in the books in order to keep their jobs. Jobs, that, by the way, are to be educators first and coaches second. Too many school boards have that reversed and fire a coach and take away their educating job as well. And I get it when it comes to school counselors and advisors pushing for kids to continue their education. In society today, it's crucial to have all the education you can get. And parents, I stand beside you when you lay down the law, saying your children need to help pay for their own gas, insurance and even possibly groceries. It's a hard knock life we all live in and kids have to help out whenever possible.

It's just those nights when senior athletes are recognized that I get sentimental. Where are they? At work? At home studying or at a college prep class? Or just too tired to participate anymore? I miss seeing them standing with their parents, proud as a peacock!