High School Sports In Schools

In “The Case Against High School Sports,” Amanda Ripley, a journalist for The Atlantic, states that America is spending more money on high school sports rather than on academic purposes. “High School Sports Aren’t Killing Academics, “ written by Daniel Bowen, a postdoctoral scholar at Rice University, and Colin Hitt, an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas, discusses the benefits that come out of sports programs to improve the classroom and the school’s social capital. Co-founder of a sports recruiting social network, Kai Sato’s article “The Case For High School Sports,” focuses on how school does not just involve scoring well on a math test but to educate us to be productive in what lies ahead. Ripley’s article discusses how

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.

Recently American test scores have been down but the first thing people blame for this epidemic is sports. Instead of looking at the infrastructure of our school system. Sports are ingrade in American culture and how we life so to just take them away would be dractace. Sports should stay in schools because the keep kids out of trouble, help kids get better grades, and it helps them later on in their life.

Are high school sports good for kids? Many people believe that athletic sports are good, but they ignore the fatal flaws of these activities. Youth and high school sports are harmful because athletes often get too caught up in winning and get hurt frequently, physical sports also take away from other extracurricular activities.

Sports in high school are important because they involve students in school activities, build self-esteem, create social relationships, teach teamwork and cooperation and provide positive mentors. School activities can unite a school where students, faculty and staff, and parents

A 2016 study by the NCAA revealed that there are nearly eight million students who participate in high school athletics in the United States, yet only 480,000 of them will compete at NCAA schools ("Probability of Competing Beyond High School"). Of that approximate 16% who become a student-athlete, an even smaller percent will graduate and become professional athletes. For example, data from the 2015 NFL Draft demonstrates that there is less than a 2% chance of playing in the NFL. During the 2015 Draft, there were 72,788 NCAA football participants, only 16,175 of those were draft eligible for the 256 slots which equates to a 1.6% chance of being drafted to the NFL. According to the NCAA, of the 256 NCAA players selected in the 2015 NFL draft 236 were from Division I FBS institutions, 17 were from Division I FCS programs, two were from Division II programs, and only one was from a Division III program. Student-athletes from the power five conferences accounted for for 200 of the 256 draft picks (SEC=54, ACC=47, Pac-12=39, Big Ten=35, Big 12=25) ("Probability of Competing Beyond High School", 2016). With there being a small percentage of playing professional sports after college, the importance of a college degree has become a priority for many student-athletes.

High school sports have been like a tradition. Many people enjoy it due to the fact that people with interests in sports have a chance to get their hobby as a career. It also adds some miscellaneous benefits. For instance, the article “What in the Name of High School Football” states that, “For example, a multi-year study conducted in Michigan has shown that children who participate in sports have increased educational aspirations, closer ties to school and increased occupational aspirations in youth.” With all those benefits, high school sports appear with a cost. Expanding just this department ignores the further important academics, the majority of sports players boast a shortage on time, and the injury rate of sports can be extreme.

High school sports keep kids healthy so they stay in school and keep students from missing class. According to ''Are high school sports good for kids?'' ''Students that win seventy percent of their games sometimes stress the win but they never put the win between their personal and educational development."

In the article, The Case Against High-School Sports suggests that American schools are putting too much focus on sports than on education. After analyzing the gathered information, I have concluded that sports are being pushed over education in the United States. In this article, I found myself agreeing with many of the points the author was making. The United States is far behind many countries in our educational system; we don’t seem to take education as seriously as we do sports. We also spend an unbelievable amount of our average school funding on athletes, while sometimes spending less than half on each student. Lastly, we have plenty of evidence of schools improving with school sports cuts, but we haven’t been successful in creating a real balance.

Could you imagine a world of not that many kids going to college? Not a lot of healthy and happy kids? Well we can’t. Without high school sports, not a lot of kids would be happy or healthy. Parents who care about their child, support sports, or cares about our next generation then help save sports! Today’s generation of teens are getting more and more lazy as technology increases. High school sports will keep kids more busy and get them off their phone/tablet and on the field.

Finally, high school students that play sport are more involved in engagement to the community. “Notional Youth Survey of civil engagement show that sport participants, compared to those who do not participate in sport, are more likely to register to vote ( 66 percent versus 44 percent) (41 percent versus 27 percent)” (Ripley, 36). They also participate in more community service, and fundraise. For example, when something happen in the community they live they are the first to voluntary to help. When I was in high school the football team always sale tickets to raise money for help people in need. Young players are better able to gain emotional control, and all social skills that can contribute to a better community.

America has high school sports for many reasons. One sports allows young individuals to practice life lessons, sportsmanship,and allows kids to work on there social skills as well. Sports allow students to practice time management, character building and for many the high school athlete is also one of your higher academic students as well. Now this is not always the case , but for the most part kids who are involved in sports have to be responsible for academics in order to particpate . In the Article " The Case Against High School Sports" I can see why the principle shut down sports in the school. I think having good teachers and being able to fund good teachers has to be a priority. I am not sure what the principle did would work everywhere

Sports are embedded in many American schools in a way they are not anywhere else. One element of our educational system consistently surprises them, “Sports are a huge deal in American schools,” says Earl Smith of the New York Times. The positives have always outweighed the negatives in the case against high school sports. As Sato Kai state, “The benefits of sports as part of the education process are abundant and sometimes beyond quantifications,” According to many academic specialists, sports offer formative and life long lessons such as: discipline, responsibility, self confidence, and accountability. These skills can furthermore excel your later life and give you a greater chance of being employed in a high level job. Participation in high school sports helps your later development as an adult and teaches you life long skills that can't be taught elsewhere.

Playing sports may help children develop new friends. Some people against youth sports might say that if a child is not that great at a sport, he will have to sit out and not get a chance to play. Only in adult sports athletes don’t get to participate. In youth sports, every athlete is required playing time. Although I believe that sports help children develop friends. Participating in sports has helped children make friends by 87% (Doc 1). Playing sports provides pleasure for children and gives them an opportunity to meet new people and acquire new friendships. Children playing sports find it a lot easier to make friends rather than children not involved in sports.

Do sports have a role in the lives of students? In an article posted by the Atlantic authored by Amanda Ripley on October of 2013 titled "The Case Against High-school Sports", Ripley questions the added value of sports to high schools and its students, outlining that the focus on sports has resulted in poor international test results. The article further used schools in various cities and countries, such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Finland as exemplary examples, stating that at some institutions in these cities and countries have shifted or eliminated sports in the school system and are heavily focused on being purely academic institutions, which as stated in the article yielded higher rankings in international standardized test.