Gaston-Gayles Argument Analysis

Multiple studies have shown that college athletes do not perform as well in the classroom as their nonathletic peers. For example, according to Michael Maloney in the article An Examination of the Role that Intercollegiate Athletic Participation Plays in Academic Achievement, he states that “SAT scores of athletes are, on average, 150 points below non- athletes. Similarly, athletes come to college with inferior high school preparation in academics. Their high school rank is 20 percentage points below nonathletes.”

The Atlantic article, “High-School Sports Aren’t Killing Academics,” by Daniel H. Bowen and Colin Hitt make a statement on the sports programs in schools. They oppose the thought that participating in sports programs results in a student’s academics suffering, but instead believe sports programs provide academic benefits. Their article targets the article, “The Case Against High-School Sports”, by Amanda Ripley who argues that participation in sports at school cost students’ academic success. The duo constructs their argument around Ripley’s claims and counter her points to strengthen their own. Their argument has a mix of supporting information and points that weakened Bowen and Hitt’s claim. This is due to the methods and evidence they provided which didn’t appear as convincing when trying to persuade readers.

The impact of preserving sports in high schools has been surrounded by much controversy as people suspect that it is the reason behind the poor academic achievement of students. Opponents to high school sports feel that allowing athletics to be a part of schools sidetracks the focus of the student body, which goes completely against the main purpose of schools. Indeed, this assertion is completely true and based upon plentiful evidence. High school sports undoubtedly come at the expense of student academic achievement since they divert the attention of students away from academics and they come with far too many financial costs, both of which incur negative impacts on the academics within a school. The bottomline is that sports are harming the education of students, so a school must make the decision between composing quality sports teams or providing high level academics; both of these choices simply cannot occur simultaneously.

When looking at the topic of academic success of African American student athletes you need to look at all the factors involved. The problems that African American student athletes face are much the same that all African American students at higher education institutions face but the student athletes have other stressors that the normal students do not have. Such as In addition to the daily student routine (attending classes, going to the cafeteria, and participating in social events), student athletes also have their sport-related activities (practicing every day, visiting the athletic trainer for injury treatment, traveling for away games, studying team plays) (Watt, Moore 2001).

Black student-athletes are taught to value sports over academics at a young age because it is seen as the “only way out”. Black student-athletes are heralded for their athletic prowess from middle school up, so they begin to focus less on their education and more on their sport. Unfortunately, so do the teachers. Black student-athletes are more often than not just given passes, as schools value what their athletic abilities could do for them over the academic success of the athlete. Even normal black students can be seen the same way just because of the perception that they might be an athlete. The sad truth is that the athletes that don’t make it to the professional level are left without the education needed to be successful.

Jolley, D. (2009). Academic Achievement Is Improving for College Athletes. In C. Watkins, Sports and Athletes (pp. 71-78). Detroit: Greenhaven Press.

For these students, their academic pursuit is warded off by negatives such as being underprepared for college and not ready for the rigor of college academics (Reynolds, Lacey, Dawlah Fisher, and Kenyatta Cavil). A large portion of young black children are not going to be prepared for college life because of the athletic environment that they are placed in at a young age. College is commercialized in every aspect of the experience. Thus, for millions of black youth who aspire to becoming a professional athlete as a major goal, education matters only to the extent that maintaining eligibility to participate in sports in elementary and secondary schools through college is necessary in order to fulfill externally imposed requirements (Marvin, Dawkins). Today’s generation of a good grade is a 70 or higher. A child can carry that type of mind-set throughout their entire school experience until college approaches. The school systems are settling for mediocre and colleges are expecting exceptional. School, media, and surroundings of the young generation create this visual of these hopeful children getting into a college through athletics and mediocre academics.

On the other hand African American and female students alleged that African American athletes are more competitive and have a different playing style (Sailes 1993). From relevant literature it has been found that the statement made on how athletes are not academically smart enough compared to the average student is proven incorrect due to a number of the following studies illustrating a positive correlation between the increased amount of physical activity being associated with higher academic performance, as well as positively influencing concentration, memory and classroom behaviour (Trudeau & Shepard 2008) (Eitle & Eitle 2002) (Bailey 2006) (Coe et al

Being able to see an African American athlete on T.V sounds unbelievable. A high percentage of the youth go through their entire childhood hoping and dreaming of becoming a legacy just like the people on T.V. Unfortunately, not everything they see on T.V is true and becoming like those people on T.V is nearly impossible. Therefore, the representation of African Americans in professional sports has had a positive impact in the trajectories of black adolescent’s academic readiness and pursuits. This is due to professional athletes serve as an example to young African American men. In addition, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requires players to maintain a certain grade point average (GPA). Furthermore, African American athletes

African American males have excelled in many collegiate sports today. The main sports they are funneled in to excel are football, basketball, and track. In the past, African American men could participate in the sports but were not given respect. Now young African American men are being recruited for their hard work and God-given talents to play on a collegiate team. The demographics of African American athletes in sports especially division I has increased over time. In a 2012 report, African American males compromised 22 percent of all of division I athletics, in football 43.2 percent, and in basketball 57.2 percent (Lapchick, Hoff, and Kaiser 2013). Also, when they progress to the next level demographics show that approximately

The journal cites the Center for the Study of Athletics that showed that, “95 percent of basketball and football players indicated that earning a college degree was important to them. Unfortunately, one third of these same student athletes earned a GPA of less than 2.0, which severely limits the chances of earning a college degree” (Gatson-Gayles). Not only is this one third of students at risk of not earning a college degree, but the entire group as a whole might not even be successful post college even if they do graduate with a college degree. The reason for this is because a majority of African American male student athletes choose majors and degrees that do not have much value for them personally and can do little to help them be financially secure. Lois Elfman of the article Are Minority Football Players Being Pushed into Pointless Majors? interviewed Professor Jeffrey Fountain and Peter Finley, authors of a research study and analysis on comparing the academic clustering of minority and white student athletes. In the interview Fountain describes something that is becoming an increasing issue in collegiate sports, “A couple of years ago, I just happened to be looking at the media guide for the University of Miami [football team] and noticed as I was going through it that every

The Adequate Yearly Progress qualifier is a guideline that labels what all students achieve when it comes to state academic standards in at least Reading/Language Arts and Math (U.S. Department of Inculcation Website, 2006). The exigency of addressing and rectifying academic/athletic imbalances at schools is underscored by the estimated 8 million students who participated in high school athletics during the 2008 school year (Associated Press, 2008). Yancey (2007) concluded the incrimination of students participating in interscholastic sports is positive as athletics amend the overall high school experience for

In the study, Harper et al argued that most college administrators contend that the primary reason for the academic inequities in their sports programs is the inability to enroll enough academically qualified African-American male students (Lederman 1 cited Harper 8). However, the hypocrisy in their claim is that the same college administrators have no problems enrolling countless academically unqualified, but athletically qualified African-American male students every year (Lederman 1 cited Harper 8). As a result, the mainstream media and critics continue to scrutinize and scandalize colleges across the country for their unethical recruiting practices of over-recruiting unqualified African-American male “athlete-students” or the “athleticated”, and the failure to recruit academically qualified African-American male “student-athletes” or the “educated” (Lederman 1-3). In this essay, I will debunk college administrators’ claim that they are unable to enroll enough academically qualified African-American male student-athletes in their institution of higher

Some argue that school sports have negative effects on students’ grades because they take time away from studying. This opposition seems logical, however, multiple studies have proven that sports positively affect grades. Angela Lumpkin (University of Kansas) and Judy Favor ( Baker University), conducted a study regarding the relation between GPAs and school sports. Of the 9,347 athletes, 80.1% of them reported having a GPA of 3.0 or higher, whereas 70.7% of the 9,221 non-athletes reported having a 3.0 GPA or higher. Additionally, the percentages of athletes and non-athletes who have GPAs of 3.5 or higher are 51.8% and 39.8% respectively. Sports can also teach self-discipline, and increase one’s concentration. Also, maintaining eligibility is a form of

Academic success can be credited towards many outside factors. The focus of this this article is the direct and indirect correlation that athletics have on academics. Many of the research show that there are immediate positive factors that promote academic success. Ward (2008) found that students that participate in athletics are quickly inherited boost in popularity, promoting self-confidence, enhances in sense of control, increasing their scores on a variety of standardized test, and raising educational aspirations.