I am truly disappointed and find it highly disturbing that someone like this is working with…read morechildren and lacks the self-control expected of an adult. My nephew's maternal grandmother found this program and thought it would be a great opportunity for him just before school starts back in September 2026. Unfortunately, by the third day, it had already turned into a completely bad experience. There were only five kids in total, and my nephew was the oldest. Despite being 13 and physically big, he's not a street kid or aggressive, but this grown man seemed to have serious anger issues and appeared to enjoy picking on the kids.
According to my nephew, they were doing drills when he started throwing his ball along with the other kids. Suddenly, this man began screaming at him and told him to sit on the sidelines. My nephew asked why, especially since his aunt had paid for him to be there, and explained he didn't know throwing the ball was wrong because the other kids were doing the same. Yet, the man continued yelling aggressively. Then, in a challenging and threatening tone, he told my nephew to throw the ball again as if expecting him to fail or do something "wrong." When my nephew complied, the man quickly approached him, puffing up his chest and nearly touching him, yelling even more. My nephew asked him if he was looking to fight. Later during the lunch break, the man called my nephew's grandmother, lying that my nephew had tried to fight him.
Here is my concern: if a child did something you didn't want, there is a respectful way to address it without making them feel attacked. As the adult, your role is to teach and mentor the children, not to yell and scream at them. Parents and relatives pay for these programs with the expectation that kids will learn and have fun, not be subjected to intimidation and aggression. And then to escalate matters by calling the parents with false accusations? That shows a complete lack of integrity. We all have misunderstandings, but asserting authority through yelling, talking down to kids as if they're not human, or acting aggressively is not correct or acceptable.
All the kids are talking about how terrible this program is and how this man constantly yells at them. Before you rate this program positively, please talk to your kids about their actual experience. No child is perfect and children's behavior can be uncontrollable at times, but it's the adults' responsibility to communicate respectfully with parents, not act aggressively as though they are challenging another adult. Maybe this is why only four kids remain enrolled. Parents and guardians, please do your due diligence. Unfortunately, this kind of unprofessional, disrespectful behavior is something we only see among certain adults in underserved Black and Brown communities.
