I saw an interesting football one today.
"...I am very blessed to verbally commit to the University of XXXX (my recruiting is still open) Thank you"
If I was the coach of the school this kid committed to I would reply with a tweet that says "Yes your recruiting is still open because you are no longer wanted on my team" 
Do kids/parents not understand the definition of committment???? It's not difficult. You commit, you're done! If you're not ready to commit....then don't!
No, they don't understand or simply don't apply the word. But to be fair, neither do the schools. It's a two way street and there are committed players every year that will ultimately not be given an LOI from the school that offered and accepted the verbal.
In football and basketball, it is the norm to continue to shop yourself around after making a commitment. Likewise, when a kid commits, it just tells the other schools to pursue the kid harder if they want to swing him. It's simply that way it's done in those sports, largely because they're headcount sports, so the scholarships are basically interchangeable between one school and another. In equivalency sports, the money offer between schools can vary significantly, so committing and de-committing can be far more risky.
I'm old school and don't believe that a kid should rescind on a commitment, however the schools hold ALL the cards and continue to recruit, look to pull in JUCO transfers, etc., for the same positions that they have commits, so I certainly understand the landscape and don't fault families for looking out for what's best for them.
