Critique Of The Case Against High School Sports By Amanda Ripley

High school is a mental and social environment of learning for students, enabling for them to expand as the years go by. In high school, sports are a social aspect that allows for students to not only gain experiences but look into possibilities that are future careers. But when do sports start overshadowing academics? The article, “The Case Against High School Sports” written by Amanda Ripley, elaborates on the flawed high school system in the United States which prioritizes sports teams more than they do academics. Competitive sports should not be a part of schools because they distract from academics and cut back school expenses. Ripley argues that the American sporting tradition needs to be reevaluated as children learn “higher order skills”.
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Students from outside of America are surprised by the ways in which sports are glorified in schools. “...nine out of 10 foreign students who had lived in the U.S. said that kids here cared more about sports than their peers back home did” (Ripley, 2). Jenny, a student noted in the article, mentions that things are different back in South Korea. Accomplishments in the paper usually celebrated are academic success, and soccer was played during free time. Compared to Korea, Americans spend twice the amount of time playing sports. “In countries with more-holistic, less hard-driving education systems than Korea’s, like Finland and Germany, many kids play club sports in their local towns—outside of school” (Ripley, 2). In other countries, sports are outside of schools, letting academics be the main priority during the school day. Most schools, outside of the United States, do not take the time to host, transport and manage sports teams due to them being outside of schools. If sports were cut down, students would gain a greater education, and it would also cut down cost for the
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These expenses go toward all the elements of sports and not enough towards academics. “...eliminating sports would save money and refocus everyone's attention on academics” (Ripley, 6). In 2012, Premont High Schools sport were suspended due to financial mismanagement and academic failure. The principal of the school, Enrique Ruiz Jr., agreed that the elimination of sports would allow for the school to focus on academics. “By suspending sports, Singleton realized, he could save $150,000 in one year” (Ripley, 6). With the suspension of sports, Premont High School was not only to save a ton of money, but students could focus and teachers took time planning and training curriculum making it applicable for state standards. Even teachers agreed with the suspension, saying they preferred the end of the sports team than the whole district shutting down. A student at Premont High, Nathan, found that he had more time on his hand for academics. “‘It did make you focus. There was just all this extra time. You never got behind on your work’” (Ripley, 8). Even though students were surprised about the suspension of sports, the school found that there was a high energy and improvement when it came to lesson plans and student work. The school soon found a “healthy operating balance and no debt” showing the suspension worked, but not everyone