Athletic Participation Is Affecting Adolescents

In recent studies it has been shown that participating in athletics may lead to adolescents having more success in the classroom than their non-sports playing counterparts. A survey done by Michigan State University and USA Today shows that, “35 million United States children between the ages of five and eighteen are involved in youth athletic programs and have a regular AP” (Youth Sports Statistics, 2013). Please note that AP throughout all research studies mentioned means “athletic participation.” While all research projects my classmates have done this semester in the field of child and adolescent development have relevance to a demographic today, mine has connection across all demographics. Whether it is students in low-income neighborhoods

A culmination of sorts between the values of exercise in recess and gym, crossed with the study of skills students need to succeed in the classroom; such skills as cooperation, information processing, and time management skills. Cooperation is defined in our textbook as, “collaboration on a task a small group of people working toward a common goal.” While information processing is, “a symbol-manipulating system of the human mind through which information flows” (Berk, 2012). These general skills, along with other become general themes as I review three articles on the topic of athletic participation on academic success of adolescents and then later as I discuss and critique the studies alongside each

Ward, Jr. (2008) of Francis Marion University also examines the effect of athletics on academic achievement. His report mentions the idea that since the 1960s, while there has been some disagreement, almost all studies on individual involvement in athletics have pointed to favorable outcomes in the classroom. The difference, however in Ward’s studies to others I have read about is that he examined the effect of interscholastic athletic participation on the overall academic improvements of a group; is this case Arkansas school districts. Ward collected data for his research from the website of the Arkansas Department of Education, information was analyzed from 227 (Arkansas) districts for the 2004-2005 school year. In analysis, he assessed student results for 1) basic skills, and 2) preparation for college. Basic skills were examined through math scores and scores on the American College Test (ACT) judged literacy while college preparedness. Ward in his research found that participation in athletics had no real effect at the district level of academic performance. An area of study that is said to be largely unnoticed, group effects of athletic participation outside of schoolwork at this point does not show the same positive effect that individual students experience. “Thus, it appears that school districts neither lose nor fain an academic performance advantage