College athletes and their learning struggles are common through higher educational facilities. Their marriage to two fulltime activities is not well known to the public. Why we are not seeing how many young athletes are used by the academic system? Is Petrie’s article true reflection of struggling athletes in crude education? Sad truth hidden in those articles is collecting dust in libraries. The truth is addressed to teachers, coaches and trainers.
Petrie is forced to write down his thoughts and feelings, even if they would not be read by anyone. His personal experience with a sad story of a former student, had forced Petrie to publish his article in school’s Journal. Publishing his essay has specific significance to its readers, where many different audiences are addressed. These audiences are not clearly identified; only detailed investigation and full understanding of the article will allow us to see who is guilty. Because author is not directly holding responsible anybody, we can only assume various potential readers are targeted.
Scholl faculty is the main audience of Petrie’s assay. Teachers, coaches, trainers, advisors and counselors are working closely everyday with students. Involvement and understanding of athlete’s lives should be in their interest. Petrie is forwarding his message to people, which are working next to young and unfortunate minds. Young minds which are played like little puppets. Petrie is asking everybody to stop, and look what is being done behind the curtains.
Very important audience is teachers, who are dealing directly with young athletes. Filling out questionnaires, spending additional time and extending assignments due dates for most athlete students. These procedures show us great concern from academic department. Through years teachers have developed different views and opinions for these special students. Some teachers are working closely with athletes, giving them special treatment. Others are handling them as regular students. Petrie is trying to reach those teachers, who treat students differently and on individual basis. The treatment varies because some of students enrolled in their classes are seen as school’s sports stars, which will bring fame and good reputation to that school. Those teachers see that as an advantage to them also, because it might benefit them directly; possible increase in salary and popularity. Teachers have to realize that their so-called help, will benefit young athletes in academic education. Professors need to be aware that some of their students may become victims, because as the authority they do not see how their help may affect future of alumni.
Most student-athletes grow up as very innocent lads bedecked with tremendous talents and become very promising in sports. Thus, they become rays of hope for their families, neighborhoods, and schools yet to be determined. Like the lamb in William Blake’s poem The Lamb, they are fed “by the stream & o’er the mead; gave…clothing of delight, softest clothing, wooly, bright…making all the vales rejoice.” (Smith 24) Then they are exposed to the life of hard work in which only the fittest survives. This makes them ready for the different challenges in the sports scene.
In today’s college atmosphere equality is stressed but is there a double standard for the college student/athlete. In the paper I will briefly outline the various ways college athletes are among the chosen ones in the college realm.
Pappano, Laura. “How Big-Time Sports Ate College Life” Norton Sampler: Short Essays for Composition, 8th ed. Pages 591-600. 2013.
Throughout the country young men and women are losing their priority for an education. To attend a university should be a highly cherished privilege, and it should be an even greater honor to play athletics for the university. Therefore, the writer supports the decision that the “student” comes before “athlete” in student-athlete. Playing for pay should be considered a job for “professionals”. In the rulebook, the NCAA views college athletes as armatures. This statement sums it up best. When athletes go to college, not all of them go in with the mindset that athletics is going to be their future job....
In reasoning with his readers, Hartenstine provides statistics that correct Marx’ argument on student-athlete graduation rate. He states, “82 percent of Division I freshmen scholarship student-athletes who entered college in 2004 earned a degree. In Division II, 73 percent of freshmen student-athletes who entered college in 2004 graduated” (Hartenstine, 476). He wants readers to feel that it isn’t the college that is failing the students. The students can do fine coping with school and sports with the aid of tutoring and assistance programs in place at colleges. I found it easier to accept that players don’t need to be paid because the school is investing more into their education than just
Paul Dietzel, former head coach of LSU, once said, “You can learn more character on the two-yard line than anywhere else in life.” Ever since the beginning, not only children but also college athletes have been playing sports for the love of the game and have used it as a way to grow character, teamwork, and leadership. Although when playing for a University an athletes job is to bring in profit for the school, this is not why these young men and women have continued with these sports they love. It is usually these students passion, a way for them to express themselves like others have art and music. The question has been up whether these college athletes should be paid for their loyalty and income for the University but by paying these students more than their given scholarship, it would defeat the purpose and environment of a college sport versus a professional sport, cause recruiting disputes, and affect the colleges benefits from these school athletics.
Playing a sport in college is equivalent to working a full-time job (Thomas). There are rules that allow major-college football coaches to only demand twenty hours of the players time each week (Wieberg). However, studies show that those athletes are doubling those hours per week during the season (Wieberg). Other sports are putting in the equivalent of a full time work week (Wieberg). Some NCAA officials are concerned with the amount of time spent stating that beyond forty hours is inhumane (Wieberg). Most of the athletes compete and do whatever it takes to succeed, so they enjoy spending countless hours on sports (Wieberg). Many athletes even have struggles in the classroom because they do not have enough time to study. Student-athletes at top Division I schools think of themselves as athletes more than students (Wieberg). Less than one percent of college athletes actually make it professionally (Wieberg). That means these kids should focus more on their education than on athletics. In reality, these official...
Howard-Hamilton, Mary F., and Julie Sina. "How College Affects College Athletes." New Directions for Student Services (2011): 35-43.
The impact of college athletic programs on academics has always been a controversial and contentious topic. It seems that athletic programs have some contemplative effects on academics of colleges and universities. Different people have different ideas about how college athletic programs should be carried on. College presidents, administrations, student athletes, parents of students, and athletic trainers are along with these people who point out different facts about the fallouts of athletics on academics. A bunch of people suggest that athletic programs should be dropped from college system, while another group suggests that athletic programs should be taken care with more advertence. An analysis on the effects of college athletics on academics has two personal approaches: college athletics undermine academics, and athletics amplify academic experience.
Collegiate athletes are already under an enormous amount of pressure even before enduring career-ending injuries. According to Kissinger (2009), student athletes normally struggle with six unique challenges. Student must be able to balance both athletic and academic responsibilities, along with balancing social activities, maintaining the stresses of relationships with coaches, teammates, friends, and parents. They also have to manage athletic success and/or failures with emotional stability. More importantly they have to balance physical health and injuries with the need to steady compete and with the termination of one’s college athletic career.
In the study the graduate student, Mary Willingham a learning specialist now found that some student athletes she had worked with and researched read at a middle school or lower reading level. Willingham explains that she encountered many athletes who faced many academic problems which she admits to helping them get around standards set by the NCAA. In the article written by Ganium, she reports that as CNN did extensive research they found that UNC-Chapel Hill wasn’t the only college guilty of admitting athletes whose academic abilities were less than college level twenty-one colleges to be
College is a time for young people to develop and grow not only in their education, but social aspects as well. One of the biggest social scenes found around college campuses are athletic events, but where would these college sports be without their dedicated athletes? Student athletes get a lot of praise for their achievements on the field, but tend to disregard the work they accomplish in the classroom. Living in a college environment as a student athlete has a great deal of advantages as well as disadvantages that affect education and anti-intellectualism. Around the country, college athletic programs are pushing their athletes more and more every day.
Student athletes live very busy lives. A typical school day runs from 8:00-2:30, add in a two- hour practice or game, score a part time job, dive into some family time, a grand slam of homework and catch a little bit of sleep. Students are more stressed due to the many activities they are a part of. This issue affects a lot of people not only in this school district, but most other high schools throughout the country. All student athletes exercise more than other children who are not involved in an extracurricular sport. In school athletics, the players are called “student athletes” meaning that school activities come first. There are strict rules for student athletes, not only on the field but in the classroom as well. In physical education
For decades there has been a debate on student athletes and their drive to succeed in the classroom. From the very beginning of organized college level athletics, the goal to want to succeed in athletics has forced students to put academics to the back burner. In spite of the goal to want to succeed over a hundred years of attempts to check limits of intercollegiate athletic programs on colleges' academic standards still seems to struggle to this day. This brings to surface one of the most asked questions in sports, “What effect does college sports have on academics and economics?” Herbert D. Simons, Derek Van Rheenen, and Martin V. Covington, authors of “Academic Motivation and the Student Athlete” researched the topic on whether athletics and academics benefit each other. Bryan Flynn, the author of “College Sports vs. Academics” poses the question “Should institutions of higher learning continue to involve themselves in athletic programs that often turn out to be virtual arms races for recruiting talented players who bring big money and prestige, but put academics to the back burner?” Although both authors agree that sports have an impact on an athlete’s academics, the focus of their argument differs.
The main goals behind Sport Education are to help students become knowledgeable about different sports and activities to the point where they can participate in these outside of the classroom to stay active. Also it teaches execution and strategies and encourages competitiveness. It is important for kids to be competitive because they will have to be in life and it will teach the importance of winning and losing the right way. “Sports offer kids a great chance to work cooperatively toward a common goal. And working coope...