Athletics harming students’ academic success and athletes are just a bunch of ‘dumb jocks’ have become stigmas invading our modern culture.
Statistically, however, athletes are actually more likely to succeed academically and, consequently, later in life.
A United States Department of Health and Human Services study reported that students who do not participate in athletics are 57 percent more likely to drop out of high school by their senior year, 49 percent more likely to use drugs, 37 percent more likely to become teen parents, 35 percent more likely to smoke cigarettes, and 27 percent more likely to be arrested: things that would certainly damage a student’s academic success and future.
A Hardiness Research study also found: by a 2:1 ratio, boy athletes do better in school, do not drop out and are more likely to graduate from college; by a 3:1 ratio, girl athletes do better in school; high-school athletes are more confident; athletes pursue more advanced classes; high-school athletes have better grade averages, and their test scores are above average.
From the presented facts, one can conclude that athletics are helping students achieve academic success.
Additionally, athletics can be misconceived to be a distracting, time-consuming, damaging factor that adds additional stress to a student’s life.
While it is not possible to argue that athletics are not time consuming, it can be argued that they are not a harmful distraction damaging to student’s academic achievement.
Athletics help students prioritize and stay focused. The fact that athletics are time consuming also aids students to stay out of trouble after school hours, which, in turn, helps a students academic success and teaches students to avoid procrastination.
Some schools have realized and accepted the fact that athletics help academics requiring more athletic participation per year, but some haven’t.
Laguna Blanca requires one season of a sport for each student each year. Though this requirement is far better than requiring none, some students, who could benefit from athletic participation, both physically and academically, decide to play the minimum.
According to the statistics provided, students would benefit from an additional amount of athletic participation.
Along with academic improvements, school spirit would also rise if more students played sports and were more involved with the Laguna athletic community.
School spirit makes students want to learn and want go to school, which, in turn, aids academic success.
A student who is physically healthy and who is also eager to learn will do much better in his or her classes compared to an unwilling, unhealthy learner. Team sports also teach students life skills that will help them succeed.
Some skills include: how to work as a team, how to communicate with others while in high-pressure situations, how to fight through difficulties, and how to be a sportsman like competitor.
Furthermore, more participation in athletics could, potentially, better our teams and thus make Laguna a Condor League Champion contender in all sports, not just volleyball, and a CIF-SS Champion contender.
Also, because athletics help academics, with more athletic participation and increased academic success, Laguna could contend for the Academic Team Champions in CIF-SS, and even in the State of California.
Laguna needs to move forward and break away from the traditional ‘status quo’ of sports hurting a student’s academic success by requiring 2, if not 3, sports per year.
The improvement of this requirement will increase academic success, boost school spirit, and improve the overall satisfaction of the student body.
