When determining the importance of sports relevant to high school and academia, it is useful to acknowledge the greatest advantage of sports: sports keep students in school and out of trouble. While Ripley calls this argument “dangerously old fashioned” it is in fact still relevant and on par with today’s society. Early on in her article “The Case Against High-School Sports,” Ripley references early 20th century “vices” like prostitution and gambling. While not problems of most teenagers of today, sports keeps this generation away from drugs and crime. Though Ripley provides decent evidence against high school sports and aptly addresses the counter arguments in favor of said sports, I do not believe she has a true case against them. Ripley
…show more content…
Ripley when we can have both? Yes, there are international studies that tells us that the U.S. is not as academically inclined as other countries, but who is to say sports are the reason? A few schools having eliminated or scaled down sports and noticed a correlation increase in grades does not imply causation. The United States’ international educational ranking could because we are spending to much money on fine arts teachers in high schools rather than math teachers. There are a wide array of reasons America could be behind the academic curve, but until there is substantial proof that athletics are the reason many will be non-believers. It seems as though Ripley would like us to focus on the “pride and glory” of academics, but even she acknowledges that a “pressure-cooker approach” to academics can lead to stress and disappointment; the same could be said for sports. If the same amount of emphasis were placed on sports and academics, we would have a nation of well-rounded individuals who know the importance of scholastic achievement and
Ripley when we can have both? Yes, there are international studies that tells us that the U.S. is not as academically inclined as other countries, but who is to say sports are the reason? A few schools having eliminated or scaled down sports and noticed a correlation increase in grades does not imply causation. The United States’ international educational ranking could because we are spending to much money on fine arts teachers in high schools rather than math teachers. There are a wide array of reasons America could be behind the academic curve, but until there is substantial proof that athletics are the reason many will be non-believers. It seems as though Ripley would like us to focus on the “pride and glory” of academics, but even she acknowledges that a “pressure-cooker approach” to academics can lead to stress and disappointment; the same could be said for sports. If the same amount of emphasis were placed on sports and academics, we would have a nation of well-rounded individuals who know the importance of scholastic achievement and