The Case Against High School Sports

After reading " The Case Against High School Sports" by Amanda Ripley started to make me think. There were many strong points about how the priorities of the sports are beginning to be more important to students than their education. Another great point was that the financing and budgeting is unfairly distributed throughout school districts and is spent more on athletics and clubs and not enough on classes. And I Believe that schools should put certain restrictions on the spending and promoting or in school sports and clubs because of the major drop in national and world comparisons.

Almost all student athletes get butterflies before that Friday night football game, before the fans get to watch them compete, or even the to get the ability to practice. Many argue that high school sports are a distraction in the classroom or even cause career ending injuries. There are many different scenarios that prove that high school sports do the exact opposite of those. When it comes to high school sports, it keeps students fit, boosts a student’s academic performance, and enhances a student’s self-esteem. High school sports are very beneficial and for anyone who is looking to take on a new challenge to take on.

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.

America used to thrive on its education system and that is why it became one of the greatest nations in the world. Education is the backbone of our country, and we must give high priority to improve its current condition. Unfortunately, in the past couple of decades, the education system has been regressing. It has been on the decline and not as effective. The quality of education in a country has an influence on GDP growth, social cohesion and social well being in general. In order to improve the quality of education in the U.S., the following must be taken into consideration: the structure of our education system must be reanalyzed, we must compare and contrast our education system to systems of other countries with higher rankings, and finally, there must be a solution.

In “The Case Against High School Sports,” Amanda Ripley tries to argue her point that sports should not be a part of high school. She claims that sports take away from education, and that they are too expensive (Ripley 1-2). Throughout her article, she often switches her topic. She shifts her focus from all high schools to one specific high school, and then to one specific college. Ripley presents an abundance of points, but lacks evidence to support them. Although Ripley makes relevant claims, she tries to support them with logical fallacies and irrelevant evidence.

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.

Everyone knows academics are the main point of school, but athletics have begun to take over and draw away from that focus. Many individuals believe school sports are more important than ever; however, cost is excessive and players often think about upcoming games or matches, detracting attention from homework. Therefore, districts should eliminate after-school sports because they cost tremendous amounts of money, cause academic failure, and are a major distraction.

Amanda Ripley, in an article for The Atlantic, “The Case Against High-School Sports” (2013 by The Atlantic Monthly Group), claims that high-school athletics are encroaching upon students’ education, questions the effect that the sports have on academic progress in the United States, and “wonder[s] about the trade-offs we make.” Ripley supports her thesis with multiple points of argument, including international academic ranking statistics that reveal the United States’ inadequacies, relevant stories and history illustrating athletics’ effect on students, and a paragraph in which she implores the reader to “[i]magine, for a moment, if Americans transferred our obsessive intensity about high-school sports...to high school academics.” The author’s

The argument of sports in our high schools will not go away, as kids go to high school and experience the American obsession with high school sports. High schools are supposed to be a place of learning, so we must ask ourselves what are they really? As posed by Ripley, “If sports were not central to the mission of American high schools, then what would be?” (1). I feel that the focus of our high schools should be academics, not how good you are at a sport, because we come to high school for learning and

Imagine you’re a teenager in a high school who is involved in athletics, and sports are the one thing you love doing the most. Now imagine that one day out of nowhere your sports team was cut, and the one thing that you so deeply loved you are no longer able to do. A lot of people wonder if sports are too much of a priority in schools, and whether or not they should be cut. Students disagree that sports are too much of a priority, and claim athletics make them the person that they are, and that they wouldn’t be the same without sports. School districts should not cut sport programs because they benefit students, they bring in money and publicity to the school, and it gives the students a fit and healthy lifestyle.

My point about the national obsessions with sports backs up the belief held by many parents and teachers that athletics divert student-athletes from having a proper focus on education because of their their high dedication to playing the sport and intense

Although sports may be a distraction I think it’ll make kids work harder and strive for the necessary GPA to play. I’m all for sports in secondary schools it’ll give kids motive to do better in school.

Oh great. Another bad day at school. Good thing we have basketball practice, today, to ease my mind. This is how some people think about sports. However, some do not think the same. Therefore, middle schools are deciding on whether to keep sports the same way they have been or scale back some on sports. Principals and superintendents should not scale students back on sports because it helps them prosper in many ways.

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.