In early March, Chicago White Sox player Adam LaRoche retired from professional baseball because the organization attempted to limit the amount of time LaRoche’s son could spend in the clubhouse. LaRoche disagreed with this request and retired, citing the fact that his family was his most important priority. His statement has ignited controversy in the media and in the White Sox organization. The decision to quit is LaRoche’s only, but his situation created an unrealistic expectation for the role of children in the American workplace.
One of the biggest problems in this entire debate is that LaRoche ignored initial requests to cut back on his son’s visits to the clubhouse. The administration did not originally ask his son to cease attendance entirely. LaRoche refused to comply with their request, so the White Sox organization asked him to stop bringing his son to work. The requested cut-back was a result of complaints by LaRoche’s teammates, so he should have respected that and complied with them to be a good team member. His son’s spot in the clubhouse was a stipulation in LaRoche’s contract, though, and it was not fair of the White Sox to cut this off completely.
That being said, LaRoche’s statement that he quit baseball because he is “#familyfirst” implies that the White Sox organization does not prioritize family. It does not make the White Sox anti-family to ask that a child spends less time at work with his father, because most children would not be afforded the same courtesy in their parent's workplace. Though unconventional, the ballpark is still a place of work. There are few professions in America where one can bring their child to work for every minute of every day.
If anything, LaRoche was awarded a better deal than most American workers in terms of the role his son played in his work environment. Though his career required that he spend large amounts of time away from his family, his contract stipulations made up for that fairly. By allowing LaRoche to spend time with his son at the clubhouse, the White Sox compensated in a fair manner for the long hours that LaRoche had to spend away from his family.
Also, while I admire LaRoche’s dedication to his family, many Americans cannot afford to live his version of #familyfirst. LaRoche implied in his statement that to be #familyfirst, one must quit one’s job to spend as much time with family as possible. In contemporary American society, however, #familyfirst could also be a single mother working 12 hour days to provide for her family. LaRoche is lucky that his profession has provided him with enough money to live by this #familyfirst ideal, but for the average person, it is just not practical. This is not to say that LaRoche’s hard work didn’t deserve contract-stipulated family time as a reward, but his belief that the workplace was an ideal location for 24-hour father-son bonding time was unrealistic, and quitting his job outright was not the mature way to solve the problem. LaRoche was ultimately an employee of the White sox organization and he should have respected their initial views on the controversy.
LaRoche’s stance brings up the question of how much time a child should be able to spend in their parent's workplace. While it is fun to experience Take our Daughters and Sons to Work Day every year, LaRoche’s situation was more disruptive than educational. Americans do have a problem with creating a balanced relationship between family and the workplace, but that will not be solved by just bringing a child to the office every day. By spending all of his time at work with his dad, LaRoche’s son gained baseball knowledge but was denied valuable time with children his own age. Ultimately, the work-family balance if just that: a balance. A child should not be in the workplace with a parent every day; however, in a situation like LaRoche’s, some visits from his son were appropriate. A parent can teach their child valuable lessons in the workplace but children do not belong there for extended periods of time.
Carly Mulvihill is an Viewpoint writer.
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