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Save High School Sports For years, sports have been a part of American high schools. They have been a source of school pride and give people a connection to their school. They break up the otherwise mundane routine of going to class and doing schoolwork. In recent years there has been a huge push by researchers, educators, politicians, and parents to figures out why America’s schools are constantly falling behind other countries in crucial test subjects. One of the latest reasons to blame for the shortcomings of American students is the incorporation of sports in the American school system. Some are beginning to think that the focus of schools is no longer education and that sports are taking on a greater role within schools. It’s starting to become a topic of conversation to remove sports from schools altogether, but is this really the fix for American schools? Some people believe that students should just play club sports if they would still like to be involved in sports. Removing sports programs from schools is not the answer to fixing the problems in America's schools. Interscholastic sports programs allow students to become more well-rounded athletes, help them to perform better academically, and provide a sense of community to the students, parents, and others in the community. When students play for their high school teams, it provides them with a greater chance to become a well- rounded athlete. In the last couple of years club sports have begun to gain mass popularity across the United States, especially in soccer. Vikki Ortiz Healy, Chicago Tribune reporter explains some of the reasons students and parents are starting to move away from high school sports and to club sport. “Students and parents, often motivated by c... ... middle of paper ... ...stand that school has to come first. Lastly, school sports create a community environment with the athletes, students, parents, faculty and others living in the community. Sports are more than winning and losing. They give students a sense of pride in their school and make them want to go there. Sports have been a part of schools for very many years and do more good than harm. School can’t just be all work and no play! Works Cited Anderson, Joel. "Varsity Blues: Alternatives to High School Game Abound." Tampa Bay Times 14 July 2013`: n. pag. Print. Bowen, Daniel. "High-School Sports Aren't Killing Academics." The Atlantic 2 Oct. 2013: n. pag. Print. Ortiz Healy, Vikki. "Be True to Your School? Athletes Have Options." Chicago Tribune 14 Aug. 2013: n. pag. Print. Ripley, Amanda. "The Case Against High-School Sports." The Atlantic 18 Sept. 2013: n. pag. Print.
In the article, “The Case Against High-School Sports” Ripley discusses how some schools put a bigger emphasis on sports rather than academics. Ripley explains that since sports gets more attention, nobody pays attention to the academic side and their needs. According to the author, some schools are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure a sport runs, even if there is no money in the budget. She states that too much of a focus is being put on sports is affecting academic achievement negatively in American high schools. The author gives the reader three reasons why schools should focus more on academic achievement and less on sports.
High school sports can have a tremendous effect on not only those who participate but the members of the community in which they participate. These effects can be positive, but they can also be negative. In the book Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger shows that they are often negative in communities where high school sports “keep the town alive” due to the social pressure. In this way, Friday Night Lights gives insight into the effects of high school football being the backbone of a community, revealing that the fate of the individual football players are inadvertently determined by the actions of the townspeople.
Botstein begins his essay by listing examples to assert that the American high school is obsolete. He describes high school as if to someone who knows nothing about it, so as to better expose the failings of the institution. Current or former high-schoolers remember the team sport culture, but might not realize its harm without Botstein’s detached and somewhat analytical description.
Imagine this, Friday night, bright lights, the smell of popcorn, your classmates in the stands cheering you on, and the coolest thing of them all, the name of your own school on your jersey, representing the whole school. Some schools think sports cost too much money, but being a student is harder than ever. You are being held to tougher academic standards-and so is your school and that's why it is more important than ever for schools to keep sports because private and club sports are too expensive for most families and sport programs in school can affect and improve academic skills.
Abstract: High school football in the state of Texas has become out of control. The sport is no longer played for the sake of the school but rather has become a Friday night ritual to these small towns in Texas. The players are no longer just high school kids inter acting in school sports but have now become heroes to these small town communities. Communities simply no longer support their local high school team but rally in pride of their hometown rivalry against another team. School administrators and coaches no longer are teachers and mentors for the kids but are the equivalent to what in professional football are team owners and "real coaches". Parents have become agents and sacrifice their jobs and homes so that their child may play for the right team. Finally the fans, the fans have lost the sense that it is just a high school sport and changed the game to a level of professional sports. I plan to prove and show that for all these reasons Texas high school football has become out of control. It is no longer the game that it was originally meant to be.
Pappano, Laura. “How Big-Time Sports Ate College Life” Norton Sampler: Short Essays for Composition, 8th ed. Pages 591-600. 2013.
Amanda Ripley argues in The Atlantic in her article “The Case Against High School Sports”, that the United States place too much attention on sports rather than academics. Ripley argues that sports programs at schools should be reduced, maybe even cut out completely. She states that there are a lot of countries that outperform America on international tests, and it is because they put more of their emphasis on academics, where the United States puts more of an emphasis on athletics. Ripley says that high school sports negatively affects academics. (1). I disagree with Ripley on this topic; I think that sports are important for young kids because it teaches them very valuable life lessons and it keeps them out of trouble.
Throughout school I was never really athletic. While I excelled in all my academic and artistic classes, I barely scraped by in gym class. My parents forced me to join soccer and cheerleading as a child, in hopes that I would find something I was good at, but I would complain about it until, ultimately, they’d allow me to quit. Needless to say, I never really understood the fuss about high school sports. In Amanda Ripley’s article, “The Case Against High School Sports,” she argues that the craze over high school sports may actually be harming American school systems.
Shulman, James L. and William G. Bowen. The Game of Life: College Sports and Educational Values. Princeton University Press. New Jersey. 2001. Print.
Coakley (2009) starts off the chapter by introducing how participation in organized sports came about and how gender roles played a major role early on. He describes how most programs were for young boys with the hope that being involved would groom them to become productive in the economy. Girls were usually disregarded and ended up sitting in the stands watching their sibling’s ga...
Gatz, Margaret, Michael A. Messner, and Sandra Rokeach. Paradoxes of youth and sport. Albany: State University of New York, 2002.. 12-13.
"College Athletic Programs Undermine Academics." Student Life. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 27 July 2011.
Price-Mitchell, Marilyn. "Playing the Game: The Truth About Youth Sports." Roots of Action. N.P., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
Pennington, Bill. "Expectations Lose to Reality of Sports Scholarships." Nytimes. New York Times, 10 Mar. 2008. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
Sports programs have been an integral part of all schools. They support the academics of the school and therefore foster success in life. These programs are educational and help produce productive citizenship. They help students experience and build skills that may help them in their future, like interpersonal and time management skills. Education may kindle the light of knowledge, but sports help to maintain the proper physique. Sports are also an important means of entertainment and a use for energy after long hours of study. Sports increase a student’s performance not only in the classroom but also in their life.