Suril Butala

DSP
Ultimately, the purpose of going to school is to receive an education.
While the argument may be made that an athletic program is pivotal to a
well-rounded education, athletics should not be prioritized over the
classroom education. In the end, everyone will need to apply their textbook
learning to the real world but very few will end up professional athletes. To
limit students learning in not only math and the sciences but also in arts and
music in the name of sustaining an athletic program is blasphemous. If we
truly want the next generation of students in our country to succeed, we need
to limit the funding of our athletic programs and urge students to work
harder for their classes.
The primary argument made in honor of high school sports is that
students need a way to exercise and an outlet from the stresses of daily life.
Physical education classes are mandatory around the nation and there are
clubs and programs that can provide students an outlet that remains
intellectually stimulating and complements their classroom learning without
harming it. In addition, there are numerous external organizations that allow
students to play sports that are funded by the individual families not the
district. Taking this into consideration, it is not justified to negatively affect
a students education for the sake of benefitting the athletic program of a
district.
In the age of technology, we have reached the point where every
continent has a connection to the others. Due to this, it is vital that as
countries, we do our best to secure the prosperity of our future generations.
A major component of this is providing the best education possible to
students from a young age. To send the message that sports can be
prioritized over academics is detrimental to these children. Yes, playing
sports can remain an integral part of the lives of students who choose to play
but harming a full school district of students for the few that play sports is
ridiculous. In order to keep up with the students across the globe, American
school districts need to urge students to succeed in the classrooms more than
they are doing at this time. Instead of spending time after school on sports,
these students could spend extra time studying for more advanced classes or
participating in clubs that create intellectuals such as trivia, Scrabble, or
even debate/Model UN clubs.
There are alternative solutions to this crisis such as asking students to
cover the total costs of the sports they participate in or endorsing an athletic
program that isnt funded by the school. The only real necessity, though, is
for schools to guarantee that they are doing the best they can to provide an
education to their students. For schools that have sufficiently funded their
classroom programs, there is no need to cut down on funding for athletics
but for those that have sacrificed academics for athletics, a reprioritization is
necessary.
The premise of the Basis schools in Arizona exemplifies how the
issue is not that American students are incapable of brilliance but that they
are not being pushed properly. These schools have the right mentality, which
is to offer casual sports but require them to join club teams if they want to
play at a more serious level. These schools have managed to get students to
not only score higher on standardized exams than the average American
student but to score better, on average, than students from regions which
have ranked #1 globally.
While it would be equally detrimental to students to force them to
study endlessly and live ascetic lives, it has been made evident by programs
such as Basis Charter Schools that there can be a balance made. There is no
dearth of potential out there and it needs to be maximized by high schools.
As stated in Amanda Ripleys article, only 2% of American high school
students receive athletic scholarships in college. Therefore, the 98% that
receive a lesser education for the 2% that continue playing Varsity level
sports in college are hurt by this mentality. It would be beneficial to 100% of
students, at least in the long run, to fund education more and urge them to
play competitive sports on their own dime.
In culmination, there is little legitimate reasoning to continue
spending large amounts of a districts budget on the athletic programs.
Sports are essential to creating healthy, well-rounded human beings but not
at the cost of their education. These Basis schools, along with Premont High
School, have set a great precedent for other schools to follow where they
channeled money away from sports and into education. There were tangible
benefits to this and it was determined that American students were capable
of leading the world. In order to truly make a difference, this needs to
become a more pervasive policy that in return will create a generation of
intellectual individuals who are capable of matching the smartest from
around the globe.