Being a part of the sports industry does come along with a lot of responsibilities and limitations. One of the bigger First Amendment issues in sports today involves the freedom of speech and the use of social media by student-athletes as well as monitoring and/or prohibiting the use of social media by the athletic departments. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise therefore; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the personal or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” The Fourteenth Amendment addresses the equal protection of the laws for everyone that is born or naturalized in the United States. No state has the right to deprive anyone of life and liberty. College is a place where students can communicate and express themselves in new and different ways, unless you are a student athlete at NCAA.
NCAA Division I schools are putting a hold on student athlete use of social media. The NCAA fears that the use of social media can only be a huge distraction but also release game-day strategies. It blames Twitter, Facebook and other social media networks for negative attention and conduct that violates the NCAA regulations. The NCAA is placing bans on Facebook and Twitter, however they do not realize that these restrictions contradict with First Amendment and the freedom of speech. Several Division I programs have gone as far as to contract with outside vendors to keep an eye on the social media accounts of student athletes. The students are required to becomes “friends” with the vendors Facebook page in order for the vendor to be able to ke...
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...ngst student-athletes. Attending a Public University means that the First Amendment guarantees protection for students. Public universities are limited to the kind of ristrictions they can put on student-athletes when signing a contract. While students who attend private universitie, s are not bound by the First Amendment. They might however be protected by state laws or contractual agreements that will give them the same freedom of speech rights.
Coaches and athletes should discuss the choices that the athletes make while using social media networks instead of completely banning them. Another way to approach this issue would be to stress for the players to keep their social media accounts under control. Prohibiting the use of social media due to harmful actions is also prohibiting all communications that would be made that are unrelated to the college/university.
In an article written in the New England Journal of Higher Education, 2008 issue, by Dana Fleming, “Youthful Indiscretions: Should Colleges Protect Social Network Users from Themselves and Others?” Fleming poses the question of responsibility in monitoring students’ online social networking activities. Fleming’s purpose is to impress upon the readers the need for education institutions to state the guidelines and rules governing social networking, and “to treat them like any other university activity, subject to the school’s code of conduct and applicable state and federal laws” (443). She creates a dramatic tone in order to convey to her readers the idea that social networking can be sinister and their effects inescapable. Dana L. Fleming is a Boston area attorney who specializes in higher education law, with the mission of the New England Journal of Higher Education to engage and assist leaders in the assessment, development, and implementation of sound education practices and policies of regional significance. However, while Dana Fleming emphasizes the horror stories of social networking, she scatters her thoughts throughout this article springing from one idea to attempting to persuade her intended audience then juxtaposed stories about minors being hurt by poor social networking decisions contrasting the topic suggested in her title.
Those who play popular and highly competitive college sports are treated unfairly. The colleges and universities with successful sports like football and basketball receive millions of dollars in television and ad space revenues, so do the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which is the governing body of big time college sports. Many coaches are also paid over $1 million per year. Meanwhile, the players that help the colleges receive these millions of dollars are forbidden to receive any gifts or money for their athletic achievements and performances. As a solution college athletes ...
Fleming, Dana L. “Youthful Indiscretions: Should Colleges Protect Social Network Users from Themselves and Others?” New England Journal of Higher Education.22.4 (2008): 27-29. Print.
To have multiple ways in expressing your thoughts, it can conclude in many opposing individuals who don’t necessarily agree. In the situation with Colin Kaepernick, Kaepernick was caught in between a situation as to whether his way of expressing his freedom of speech was right or wrong in the name of being an American. Kaepernick had kneeled down during the national anthem and some people were offended and others praised his acts. When that had occurred, two separate authors had written an article in response of Kaepernick’s act-- one agreeing with it and the other disagreeing. In E.R Shipp’s article, she goes about writing the reasons- as to why Kaepernick should be proud of what he did, and how she is one of the individuals to agree with
The Civil Rights Era impacted the realm of sports in a great and powerful way. Throughout the mid 1900s, many minority athletes emerged through all odds and began to integrate themselves in the white dominated athletic business. These athletes endured constant hardships in order to achieve their goals and dreams; facing much racism, segregation, and violence. Minorities across the country began to look up to these sportsmen and realized that anybody could attain greatness despite the social troubles of the time. Stories depicting the struggles of minority athletes soon arose and grew popular among different cultures. These true accounts passed from generation to generation, each admiring the courage and bravery of athletes and how important they became in obtaining an equal society. Producers and directors soon found a way to revolutionize the film industry by retelling the racial discrimination that minority athletes faced. Remember the Titans, The Perfect Game, 42, and The Express are all examples of how minority athletes overcame racial adversities in order to obtain the championship. These Hollywood movies contain many inaccuracies that draw away from the true impact minority athletes had during the Civil Right Era. Although these films do depict the racial components of the time, they do not depict the accurate occurrences of the stories they try to recreate.
Introduction- An antitrust violation happens when a professional sports league such as the MLB,NFL,NBA, OR NHL have an agreement to effect such things as raising the price of something, lowering an output, or holding onto an output which effects the customer of the product. When a league controls a market it also controls how the customer will have to purchase the product and how much it will cost. (Ross 2001)
"College Athletic Programs Undermine Academics." Student Life. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 27 July 2011.
This argument has reached its peak of debate when Northwestern University football players planned to form a union in order to receive some form of representation. Northwestern quarterback, Kain Colter, started this movement when he reached out to the President of the National College Players Association, Ramogi Huma. He said, “This is about finally giving college athletes a seat at the table. Athletes deserve an equal voice when it comes to their physical, academic, and financial protections” ( Farrey). Huma filed a petition to the office of the National Labor Relations board on behalf of the players of Northwestern. Besides this being the first move towards a labor union in college sports what’s important is that the athletes of Northwestern are not seeking unionization due to mistreatment by Northwestern. According to Colter, “The school is just playing by the rules of their governing body, the NCAA.” Also, this isn’t about just helping players at Northwestern. Colter expressed how he wan...
I believe that college sports should be considered a profession. Athletes deserve to be paid for their work. College athletics are a critical part of America’s culture and economy. At the present time, student-athletes are considered amateurs. College is a stepping-stone to the professional leagues. The NCAA is exploiting the student- athlete. Big-time schools are running a national entertainment business that controls the compensation rate of the players like a monopoly (Byers 1).
College athletes are manipulated every day. Student athletes are working day in and day out to meet academic standards and to keep their level of play competitive. These athletes need to be rewarded and credited for their achievements. Not only are these athletes not being rewarded but they are also living with no money. Because the athletes are living off of no money they are very vulnerable to taking money from boosters and others that are willing to help them out. The problem with this is that the athletes are not only getting themselves in trouble but their athletic departments as well.
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...
Many people believe that College athletes have it easy, and who wouldn’t think that? A free education, free living; getting to travel and play the sport that many people would love to still be able to. Student athletes also get to pick classes earlier than a regular student and have the ability to be excused from classes to go to games and special events. The life of a student athlete sounds like an enticing thing for many people; especially those who are not student athletes on scholarships or walk-ons to a college team. The rising cost of attending college has made the younger athletic population work just as hard to receive a scholarship to play a sport, because they may come from poverty where they can’t otherwise afford to attend school, which is beneficial to them. Understand, that college is a place where academics comes first, and everything else is second; this includes athletics. But are these athletes treated fairly and given all the right things they need to succeed in life, let alone college?
The Health and fitness industry have many ethical issues involved which was very interesting to me. I have never purchased a membership at a health club, but from the reading I learned a lot about how they operate. It amazed me that health clubs push their sales representatives to get 200-300 new members a month (Amend, 1992). This is a large amount of people for such a short amount a time, which means some members are not fully aware of the fine print of the membership agreement. Also the reading mentions that more than half of instructors at these clubs do not have valid certification (Copeland et al, 1988),. This is unethical because the members pay each month for the service of a qualified staff member to assist them in exercise and fitness. Safety of the members could also be at risk working out with a non-qualified trainer. Learning how these companies do business make me want to hold off as long as possible to join a gym.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson shocked the sports world when he revealed his HIV-positive status and continued to participate in professional basketball games. He faced varying reactions including scrutiny and acceptance. With rising fears of contracting HIV during sports games that turn bloody, the dilemma exists of requiring athletes to be subject to more testing. With this comes an ethical dilemma due to the stigmatization of individuals with HIV. Considering that HIV is a potentially deadly and dangerous virus, some argue that it should be part of the regular routine testing that athletes already go through. So now the question that exists in the sports world today is: should all professional athletes be subject to regular mandatory
First of all, schools should keep students focused during classes. By giving students access to social media for anything in the class, that starts leading to these issues. “All universities have been struggling to balance freedom of speech and the right to express an opinion, with reasonable