Amanda Ripley The Case Against High School Sports Essay

Amanda Ripley, the author of “The Case Against High School Sports,” claims that school sports cause a decrease in pass rates and educational development due to the emphasis placed on the sports. She then concludes that because of these negative effects, sports should be excluded from the school setting and the money saved should be put towards academic purposes. Unfortunately, the amount of money spent on secondary education is not the problem, as only “four countries -- Austria, Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland -- spend more” on secondary education than the United States (Sherman). Meaning that a lack of money spent on academic endeavors is not the main or even a major contributor to America’s lacking pass rates and educational standards.

Privatisation of sports would “cause the greatest long-term losses for those whose families are not able to bear the costs of participation outside of the public school system (Kniffen).” A similar example would be making it so school lunches were not provided by the school, but an independent contractor who does not offer discounted rates for students in need. These are the students who have the greatest obstacles to overcome when they enter the workforce and having the opportunity to play sports can give them the leg up that they need. School sports can provide lasting benefits such as higher pay and better positions once the former athletes enter the workplace as Kiffen states “people who played for a varsity high school team tend to earn relatively higher salaries later in life.” By participating in school sports employers infer that the employee or applicant has leadership and other unquantifiable skills beyond that of a

A majority of school districts across the country have minimum GPA requirements for student athletes; this requires students to maintain their GPAs at above a C average level if they wish to participate in sports. Privatizing sports could eliminate the motivation that some students need in order to score well on tests and show up to class, because the main reason that they are going to school is to play on the sports team. Although this may not be the purest reason to go to school it is much better for the high school aged individuals to be at school than other options that they may have. One high school senior in California states that without school sports he would be “‘out selling drugs or shooting people,’” neither of which would leave that senior with a bright future (Lavigne). California is one of the states that has an imposed a minimum GPA requirement for its student athletes, and the positive effects show as “statewide statistics also show the graduation rate is up and the drop-out rate is down(Lavigne).” The emphasis placed on school sports in also not the problem in lower than desired test scores because “students who participated in vigorous sports did 10 percent better in Science, English, Math and Social Studies compared to other students (Gorman).” This disproves the myth that participation and emphasis on sports creates lower test scores, when in