Athletics and Academics: The Perfect Companions In “The Case Against High-School Sports”, author Amanda Ripley argues that public high schools are spending too much on their sports programs at the expense of academics. While athletic programs can be costly, they pay back what they cost in their benefits to the school and the students. A school without its sports teams is a very dreary place. High schools should keep their athletic programs because of what they bring to the school and the students. Good sports programs teach valuable lessons to players, unite a school, and encourage academic performance in players. Students who participate in a sport learn lessons and skills that
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Ripley argues that sports take precedence over academics, the purpose of school, in high schools (74). While this is a valid view, findings by the University of Arkansas’s Daniel H.
Bowen and Jay P. Greene suggest otherwise. They examined the athletic participation rate and schools’ sports winning percentages in comparison to graduation rates and standardized test scores in Ohio’s public high schools over a five-year period. Their study found that participation rate and winning percentage are positively related to higher test scores in addition to lower rates of high school dropouts (Bowen and Hitt). Roger L. Whitley of Currituck County Middle School performed a survey of North Carolina high schools over a three year period. He found that the educational performance of athletes is better than that of non-athletes. His findings held true for both genders and across all races (229). In light of this, schools should be pushing for more athletic involvement. The evidence points to the fact that athletes tend to outperform non- athletes. As both these studies show, sports improve academic performance, not hinder …show more content…
Athletes are also required to pass 5 of 6 classes per semester and be on track for graduation to be eligible to play. Alcovy gives out a scholar athlete award to the student with the highest GPA in each sport. A major advantage of athletics is that it gives students the opportunity to earn athletic scholarships. This provides some students with the only way they will be able to afford college. Also, to get a scholarship, they have to have good grades.
When teachers have problems in class with a student, whether it be grades or discipline, a lot of the time the coach is the first person they go to. Coaches are the best form of discipline for any Davidson 3 student; no one wants to run laps around the football field until even his or her coach gets tired.
Athletes are given all this extra help because of the extra time demanded of them by the sports they are involved in. Players that do not meet certain academic standards will not be able to participate in the sports they love to
Ripley argues that sports take precedence over academics, the purpose of school, in high schools (74). While this is a valid view, findings by the University of Arkansas’s Daniel H.
Bowen and Jay P. Greene suggest otherwise. They examined the athletic participation rate and schools’ sports winning percentages in comparison to graduation rates and standardized test scores in Ohio’s public high schools over a five-year period. Their study found that participation rate and winning percentage are positively related to higher test scores in addition to lower rates of high school dropouts (Bowen and Hitt). Roger L. Whitley of Currituck County Middle School performed a survey of North Carolina high schools over a three year period. He found that the educational performance of athletes is better than that of non-athletes. His findings held true for both genders and across all races (229). In light of this, schools should be pushing for more athletic involvement. The evidence points to the fact that athletes tend to outperform non- athletes. As both these studies show, sports improve academic performance, not hinder …show more content…
Athletes are also required to pass 5 of 6 classes per semester and be on track for graduation to be eligible to play. Alcovy gives out a scholar athlete award to the student with the highest GPA in each sport. A major advantage of athletics is that it gives students the opportunity to earn athletic scholarships. This provides some students with the only way they will be able to afford college. Also, to get a scholarship, they have to have good grades.
When teachers have problems in class with a student, whether it be grades or discipline, a lot of the time the coach is the first person they go to. Coaches are the best form of discipline for any Davidson 3 student; no one wants to run laps around the football field until even his or her coach gets tired.
Athletes are given all this extra help because of the extra time demanded of them by the sports they are involved in. Players that do not meet certain academic standards will not be able to participate in the sports they love to