Last fall my son turned into a calorie torcher. Every time I looked at him he was running in place, doing jumping jacks, or engaged in “hyper-mode,” his own full body workout invention. He was on a mission to accrue as many activity points as possible on his SQORD Booster.
Herald writer Sharon Salyer wrote a great article about this in November called “Keep kids moving for points and prizes in fitness program.” A large group of local organizations donated about $300,000 so that 10,000 fifth graders in Snohomish County could participate in Gear Up &Go! and receive SQORD Boosters, which are like Fitbits for kids.
There are SQORD sync stations all over town. You might have seen them at the library, pool or YMCA and not recognized them. When a kid taps their SQORD Booster next to a sync station, all of their activity points update. Parents can also download a free app on their smartphone that does the same thing.
To be clear, SQORD monitors a child’s activity level but not their location, name or identity. For a while SQORD knew my son as “Burp100” but thankfully he’s changed his username since then.
My son is a fourth grader in a 4th/5th split so he got his band a year early. For a couple of months he was obsessed. He ate, showered, slept and played with the Booster strapped to his wrist. The mom in me worried his skin might wrinkle so I made him remove it for spot checks once a day.
At school his classmates swapped tips about what earned the most points. “Just Dance” on Wii became very popular. When I volunteered in the classroom I saw that every kid was wearing one.
Spring has come and my son’s interest in SQORD has worn away. The Booster’s battery needs to be replaced, and it’s currently sitting on my kitchen counter awaiting attention.
I would imagine that evaluating the success of Gear Up &Go! with hard-core statistics is a challenge. All I had to do as a parent for my son to receive his Booster was sign a permission slip. There has been no before or after health assessment, or Big Brother looking over our shoulder.
But I have a hunch that Gear Up &Go! is responsible for incredible results. True, not every child is still wearing his or her Booster. You might look at my son’s empty wrist as an example. But if you investigated further you’d discover that my son’s Booster inspired me to purchase a Fitbit, and knock out 10,000 steps a day.
Plus, there are a lot of fifth graders still obsessed with SQORD. I know many of them personally and am proud of their families for exercising more too. Anecdotal evidence isn’t the same as charts and statistics, but does it really matter?
If Gear Up &Go! inspired just 10 percent of participants to get more exercise, that’s 1,000 children living healthier lives. Well done, donors. I’d say that was money well spent.
Jennifer Bardsley is an Edmonds mom of two. Find her on Twitter @jennbardsley and at www.heraldnet.com/ibrakeformoms and teachingmybabytoread.com.
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