Are Sports Destroying American Schools?

The one striking thing that really sticks out above everything else when comparing American schools with their counterparts abroad is how much money, time, energy, and emphasis are placed on sports.  Compare the typical campus experiences of a student in Asia versus America.  What happens during school hours?  Perhaps more important, what happens after school hours?

This month’s The Atlantic magazine features a devastating cover story on the current state of American education.

The article titled “The Case Against High-School Sports,” written by Amanda Ripley makes a convincing case that our education system is spiraling downward fast.  The reasons have little to do with the makeup of students or teachers.  The real culprit, Ripley insists, is the allocation of way too many resources toward sports rather than academics.

Indeed, many educators have been complaining about this for years.  Only now, do we begin seeing the troubling repercussions of a society that places far more emphasis on (and values more) what happens on the football field or basketball court, rather than inside the lab or classroom.

By any measuring stick, American students are lagging behind the rest of the modern world, and the problem is getting worse.  Statistics on this are irrefutable.  So what makes American schools different from, let’s say, schools in Denmark, India, or South Korea?  American education’s decline can’t be explained simply by the increasing impact of advancing technologies, since all developed nations (and their young people) pretty much have access to the same interactive instruments, including computers and smart devices.  It also can’t be explained by what conservatives often refer to as “the breakdown of the family,” since divorce rates in other nations (and by consequence single-parent households) are about the same per capita in other nations as in the United States.

No.

The one striking thing that really sticks out above everything else when comparing American schools with their counterparts abroad is how much money, time, energy, and emphasis are placed on sports.  Compare the typical campus experiences of a student in Asia versus America.  What happens during school hours?  Perhaps more important, what happens after school hours?  American students not only typically engage in far more sporting activities (about twice as much time spent, according to one study), they also become a captive audience to the national obsession.  Sure, they would prefer continuing to work on a science project, but every Friday at 10 am, the school funnels all the students into a giant pep rally for the football team.  The entire student body!  Add up all the stadiums, team equipment, rallies, practices, discussions and finally the games themselves and the lack of proper perspective about youth sports becomes self-evident.

This all comes at a cost.

The defenders of extracurricular sports in education — and they are as numerous as they are powerful — point to the obvious benefits created by a steady competitive diet.  No doubt, students learn about self-discipline, teamwork, goal-setting, and a host of other positives.  Defenders of the current system also point out that school choices are made by students themselves (and their parents).  If a kid wants to join the math club instead of the baseball team, he’s perfectly free to do so.  In other words, they claim that sports do not necessarily exclude one’s freedom to engage in other (scholastic) pursuits.

But the problem is one of values, more precisely what we value.  A local community that glamourizes a wide receiver catching a touchdown pass on Friday night against a rival school, by contrast, gives almost no comparative attention to academic achievement.  When’s the last time you read about the debate team in your local newspaper?

So, what’s the alternative?  Can American education return to a system that prioritizes academics first, and recreational activities second?  If so, what might be the consequences?

Imagine if you will, an inner-city community where learning becomes the focus of daily life.  Rather than dribbling basketballs, what would happen instead if students were given Ipads and were engaged in science projects with equal enthusiasm to swishing a jump shot?  What if students began to value each other — not based on how many points are scored — but rather by the ideas he or she has and academic achievement?  Just imagine.

A pipe dream?  Perhaps.  Probably.  But not positively.

There’s overwhelming evidence that shows students given proper stimulation, guidance, opportunities are every bit as capable of academic excellence as schoolchildren just about anywhere (however, Asia may be so far ahead already that catching up may not even be possible, and this is due largely to cultural differences).  This holds true for inner cities and suburbia, schools both public and private.  Then, there’s the practical benefit to adjusting our national priorities.  Shouldn’t the brainy kid get at least as much positive reinforcement as the star athlete?

This isn’t even worth debating anymore.  The time has come for us to decide which is more important — making advancements in science, medicine, and technology or winning gold medals in basketball at the Olympics every four years.

Which now forces us to ponder the case made by Amanda Ripley in The Atlantic.  

Question:  Are sports ruining American schools?

Answer:  Yes.