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Felipe Jannarone
Mrs. Valderrama
ELA 8H- Outline
August 29 2014
Argument Writing- Are High School Sports Beneficial to Students?
Goal! Touchdown! Swish! Foul! Red Card! Illegal Play!
Athletes and sports enthusiasts hear these phrases daily. Although sports
seem almost unavoidable at any school, are they safe? Are they helping
anyone? A study has shown that on average, grades rise during sports
seasons, and when the season ends, the grades drop again. (KRCA news)
Also, the loneliest children are ones that do not participate in sports. (CBS)
In addition, another study shows that children in sports have a stronger
yearning for education, more advanced ties to school, and show more signs
of interest in future jobs while they are young. (Gould) Although many
people say that sports are detrimental to students, sports are beneficial to
students attention and self-esteem, and help keep students active.
To start with, students in sports have increased attention and
educational yearning. According to a study conducted recently, students pay
more attention in class during sport seasons. (KRCA) However, as soon as the
sport season ends, attention levels drop, and so do grades. Another aspect
of sports that reflects grades is a grade limit. Many schools require students
to attain a certain GPA or higher. This helps the students work hard to play
in their sport, as without good grades, they would not be able to play. This

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reflects back on the aspect of grade levels dropping after sport seasons.
When the sport season is over, athletes sometimes find no need to continue
to raise their grades, and begin to ignore school. During the season,
however, the athletes are working hard to continue to keep their grades up
to standards. On another note, athletes have increased educational
aspirations in youth. (Hill, Hank) This means that athletes end up wanting
to continue learning. In addition, students that play sports tend to have
Increased occupational aspirations (Gould) This means that students in
sports have a clearer image of what their job might be as they learn more.
Each of these traits that sports attach to students reflects on students
grades, and their school lives.
Likewise, sports affect students confidence and happiness. Athletes
have an increased confidence level. When they score a point, or help a
teammate, they become confident that they can do great things. This, in
turn, makes them strive to do better. Sports also help athletes to make
friends. According to a news study, the loneliest kids are the ones that are
not in sports. (CBS News) When students play sports, they have more of a
reason to interact with the other students in their grade, causing them to be
less of an outcast. In addition, kids meet new kids their age from other
places and schools by being on a team that travels to games at other
schools. They also find a sense of teamwork and cooperation by working
with their teammates. Athletes experience an increased sense of happiness.
Most students love physical activity, and playing a sport. When they are

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playing their favorite sport, they have a great time. Students in sports show
increased happiness and have an easier social life.
Furthermore, students that play sports conduct good exercising habits
and fitness. Playing sports is a good workout, no matter what the sport.
Students do exercises before the practice begins to prevent injury. This helps
the athlete become more flexible. Also, by running before practices, it helps
students to work on their endurance. The actual sport, depending on what it
is, can help the student in many ways. It can help work on speed, agility,
quick thinking, aim, and various other sport skills. In addition to adding new
skills, sports help students in other ways. Athletes have reduced fat because
of the constant workout. This greatly lowers the chance of obesity. Also,
sports relieve stress. Athletes that have built up stress can release it through
the sport they are playing. This causes less anxiety. It also prevents the
child from having anger issues the next day. Playing sports causes athletes
to have healthier lifestyles, and relieves stress.
Although sports have many positive traits, some people view the
negatives most. Some people say that athletes have a higher chance of
sustaining an injury, or a concussion. This is true. However, if everyone is so
scared of being hurt, they will be inclined to remain in their houses and do
only small tasks in which there is no possible way of sustaining an injury.
Also, proper use of protection such as kneepads and a helmet can reduce the
chance of receiving an injury through sports. Another group of people says
that athletics take over after-school hours. This is not so because athletes

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can learn to balance their time between sports and school. This helps them
learn time management, an important life skill. A third party says that sports
that occur late at night can make athletes tired the next morning. Playing
sports can seem to be detrimental, when in reality it is not.
In conclusion, sports have many positive effects on students. Although
many people say that sports have negative effects on students, sports are
beneficial to students attention and self-esteem, and helps keep students
active. Any negative effects that sports are said to have on students are
false, easily fixed, or are overshadowed by the many positive effects they
have. This is why schools should embrace sports. Sports should be a major
part of every school. If schools do not do so, they will lose a great advantage
that they would have with sports.

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Works Cited
Perkel, Jeffrey. High School, College Football Comes With Risk. ABC News.
23 Mar 2014. Web. 25 Aug 2014.
Hill, Hank. What in the Name of High School Football? Teachers College
Nonfiction Assessment Student Booklet. 2009. Print.
Gould Ph.D., Daniel. Are High School Sports Good for Kids? Print.
Notebook: Kids And Sports. YouTube. CBS News, 7 Jan 2008. Web. 25
Aug 2014.
Sports: How much is too much? YouTube. KRCA News, 15 Feb 2011. Web.
25 Aug 2014
Report: Pressure on teen athletes soars. YouTube. WCPO, 30 Aug 2010.
Web. 25 Aug 2014