How To Play Sports By Amanda Ripley Essay

Those opposing school sports argue that sports take up valuable time needed for studying and academics.

“Buzz!!!” the game is over your team has won the state championship, your team is really excited they won. Do schools want to prevent this from happening? Does school need to become a place with no school spirit or pride in academics? In “Sports Are More Important Than Ever” by Tim O’Shei, the passage lists the needs of school sports for the students. In “Its Time To Scale Back” by Amanda Ripley the passage it lists reasons that schools shouldn’t have sports like money reasons and student failures. Students need school sports here's why.

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

Bowen and Greene discuss a variety of causes for and against sports and academics. One point they mention is the schools budget and where the finical resources are better needed. It also brings in statistics of studies and findings of other articles such as winning percentages and academic attainment, and sports participation and academic achievement. Both help my opinion on why students need should have good grades in order to play sports.

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.

Sports Are More Important Than Ever¨ by Tim O'Shei is about the effects of sports and how it is favorable to students. Cutting back on school sports could be helpful; however, there is more valuable evidence and logical reasoning to support that school sports should not be scaled back. The article ¨No! Sports Are More Important Than Ever¨ by Tim O'Shei states, ¨Today, studies show that schools with big athletics programs tend to have lower dropout rates.¨ This shows, that sports are not only physically helpful, but also mentally.

“Sports teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose-it teaches you about life.”(Billie Jean King) Most students from first grade to twelfth grade say that sports are a big part of their life and make them who they were meant to be in a positive way. Some people might argue that students in sports or extracurricular activities have lower grades than the other students, but it's the opposite way around. Sports improve your performance in school because they strengthen your concentration ability and leadership traits.

High school sports make student athletes strive for better success in their education. Sure some Schools have a minimum G.P.A requirement of 2.0, and to get that all your classes have to be “C” or better. Well that’s better than letting them have a 1.0 and letting them play. It makes them have something worth studying for, For example my friend Bryan Garcia does not like school or work but he is always looking for ways to make his grades better so that he may play with the John F. Kennedy soccer team. Also not all the states in the United States of America have a G.P.A requirement to play in a sport activity, twelve out of the fifty states in the USA require a G.P.A to play."A High School Athlete 's GPA Vs. Average High School Student 's GPA." Everyday Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2016.”Sports participation is associated with higher GPAs, lower dropout rates and stronger commitments to school compared to the average,non-athlete high school student”. Also they made a study for Kansas in 2008-2009 between athletes and non-athletes,Academic Performance Of Athletes And Non‐Athletes, and Page 41. COMPARING THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES AND NON-ATHLETES IN KANSAS IN 2008-2009 (n.d.): n. pag. Web.”high school athletes earned higher grades,graduated at a higher rate, dropped out of school less frequently, and scored higher on state assessments than did non-athletes”. Student athletes have a greater chance of graduating with a 3.0 or more. They are more

In “The Case Against High School Sports” Amanda Ripley makes the point that schools do better without sports. They benefit in many ways. The schools that do not have sports tend to have more money to spend and students focus more on their studies. She also mentions that sports can be beneficial to students, but in the end what is more important, sports or lifelong health? I can understand the point that Ripley is trying to make, but schools should have sports no matter the cost.

Imagine if you walked into to a school which doesn't have any school sports. What would the impact be? Sports can refine and comprise weight control, problem solving, self-esteem, social competence, and academic achievement. The school district should fund sports for schools because it gives kids confidence, scholarship, and doing multifarious sports seems to have an affirmative affect on grades. School sports give kids confidence, builds their character which is very helpful to young people, and rewarding friendships.

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.

As you can tell, without sports, crucial elements are missing within student's lives. Sports contribute to the ability of socialization among kids, encouragement on academic performance, and achieving goals. These pieces would be affected greatly if sports were eliminated from schools. Lasting friendships from team sports, otherwise misplaced academic encouragement, and goal skills would be lost. Keep school sports. Save kids the

As far as athletes on the field a great many lessons are often learned there and one of the biggest lessons is sportsmanship. For any sports played teamwork is often times essential for winning. It also allows for a person to become more confident in their own abilities allowing them to become more proud and not ashamed of what they can or cannot do. It allows players to build bonds among their teammates and while this maybe be one of the main creators of the “jocks hang out with jocks” stereotype it is only because athletes feel a connection to someone that is going through the same time of training and emotions that sports tend to create. Sportsmanship teaches a person the value of working together in groups and allows the player to learn how to adjust to situations that he or she may not agree with. The work ethic sportsmanship creates is also carried off the field as well into the school and more importantly the working environment, because we all know that in our lifetimes we are going to have to work with someone that we do not like or agree with. And having the ability to be able to work through a problem which sportsmanship can do allows for an easier job experience.

Educating children doesn’t include sports, which only distracts children on their school work. According to Ripley, the founder of the schools told her that the problem with sports is once it's combined with academics, it starts to take over. All that matters is sports, and winning the next game, not homework or schoolwork. How can kids focus on school work and doing better, if all they think about is if they're going to win their next game. According to Bowan and Hitt, Sports are far more ingrained in American high schools than in other countries, but our reading of international test scores finds no support for the argument against school athletics. Kids don’t care about their test scores or how they're going to be in the future. All they care about is sports, most of the kids in school don’t even attempt their homework, nor actually work. Sports are blocking kids from waking up to reality that not all life you can have fun and play around, you have to be focused on your