Sports In Schools

[Raum]

How do you feel about athletics programs and psychical education classes in schools...namely highschools?

Do you think they're good to have around for the fun and excitement, as well as helping people learn values such as teamwork and dedication?

Do you think all the gyms, stadiums, equipment, coaching staffs and so forth are a ridiculous drain on schools funds, especially when many schools are facing overcrowding, having to lay off teachers and have aging vocational programs (Graphic arts, programming, newspaper production etc).

I'm writing a column about this for the school paper and would like to here some input from people.

Personally, I feel sports have no place in schools. I think if you want to play basketball, you should go join the YMCA or some league along those lines. Schools are rabid for money because of the financial problems many are facing. Overcrowding has become a HUGE problem in many schools, because lack of $$ means no funds for expansion or additional teachers. Some teachers are underpaid, others are layed off. I know in my school that the newspaper production program is about 98% self-funded. There's no regular income from the school as far as I know for it...we have to sell our own ads etc. Many other schools are running ass old computers, have laughable libraries, run-down facilities built over 50 years ago etc.

Also, schools are supposed to be a learning institution. Aside from scholarships, which you could still get if sports were moved to private leagues or whatnot, sports have no place in schools on an academic level. When you go into the work-force, how many people are going to put on their resume that they hit 20 homeruns in a single season? Or scored 10 touchdowns their senior year playing football? Sports are completely irrelevent to the purpose of school and have no meaning in the job field.

[SVT]

I have news for you, kid, getting rid of sports isn't going to magically cure all your schools financial problems.

[Raum]

No ****, but it'd sure help. Regardless, what place do sports have in school anyways? What reason is there ot keep them in schools and have them sap their funds when the two could, and should, be seperated?

[spiegel]

i really dont care im in college :D

but if i cared.....why take them out its an extracurricular activity if banning sports is allowed whats next? no more caffeteria what would happen to the clubs? will high schools turn into prisons? :o just leave it alone you can cut other things to make money.

but then again i dont care....im in college :D

[DannyGlass]

I think they should have Gym lessons at school because it keeps the children fit but i think there should be a wider variety of different sports to chose from to do instead of Basketball, Soccer, American football because alot of kids dont like team sports just like i hated them at school so instead i think they should offer skateboarding, skating, downhill boarding etc but you will have to fund for your own equipment and if they did this when i was at school i would have been there every lesson because i love sports that are just an individual sport because i hate doing any team activities.

-DannyGlass

[Raum]

Eh, gym does give some kids some exercise, which is a positive thing, but I couldn't say it keeps people fit. Here, we walked a few laps and played badmitton half the time, and a lot of the girls would just stand and talk and no one cared. Also, you can get your gym requirements done in a year easily, so that's 3 years they have left to be obese. :p

I thinkt he purpose of gym class is good and all, it's just kind of a joke. I've never seen it motivate a single person to increase their physical activity and the things we did in gym class could hardly constitute a workout. Now, I'd be up for revamping the gym course and having more intense activity....:)

[nathanrosa]

THIS IS THE MOST LUDICROUS POST I HAVE EVER SEEN.

Look, you may spend your whole life on your computer - but if you havent realised 98% of the world Dosen't. PE (or the like) is essential in schools as some people (like you) decide to never go out, play footie, whatever. This is extremely unhealthy at the least

it's the law - live with it

[nathanrosa]

ok that dosent make much sense

add:

it'll be essential in your later life :)

[DannyGlass]

We know its the law and i do espically seeing as the teachers kept telling me you have to come to gym its the law and id be like yeh and?

-DannyGlass

[semifamous]

In a perfect world, sports teams would pay for themselves with fund raisers and ticket sales for the games, merchandising, stuff like that.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

Obesity is a major problem affecting America (and the West in general). I personally think that PE should be increased, not decreased.

I do think that the competitive teams with expensive programs should do a lot of their own fundraising.

[Raum]

<snip>

Edited January 19, 2005 by Keldyn

[Elmo]

should be a choice after a certain age

[SVT]

Been skateboarding for the past 5 or 6 years

That explains your ignorance.

[Raum]

That explains your ignorance.

585321121[/snapback]

Care to elaborate? If I'm being ignorant about the subject I'd like to know, as this poll is for an actual journalistic project, not just for ****s and giggles. I know one thing I missed was that sports and the like do bring in revenue from selling t shirts, tickets etc...but I'd need to go find statistics to see if those sales balance out how much $$ the sports cost or not.

[SVT]

should be a choice after a certain age

it is a choice after you turn 18.

[spiegel]

That explains your ignorance.

585321121[/snapback]

please explain why skateboarding is a factor in the mental ability of a human being (im gonna enjoy his response...or lack thereof)

[vincent]

P.E should not be eliminated. they should just make some PE events based on a poll of the student class in the beginning of the school years as to which event, sport, blah blah blah they should have in order for them to ave more fun. Because i know when i was in Highschool and running the mile in the rain was NOT fun, and playing badmitton 0_o wtf why would you play badmitton @ 9am in the frickin morning, in DECEMBER outside!!!!!!!!!

[/rant] :unsure:

[enriq760]

not! sports it's the class well in my case i used to chill out relax from my normal clases plus i worked out.. so is a win win situation, and well in the us is a different case you should really have that so some of you can maintain a good physical health.. and don't die of a heart attack or something...hehe

[cmove]

YEs

[John Veteran]

Let me get this straight... You argue we (America) should do away with high school sports because they cost money that could better be used elsewhere? You're as bad as company executives who don't want to put money into their IT departments because it eats up money and there's no direct revenue coming from it, or the OEM who moves their tech support overseas because they can hire 10 incompetants for every tech this side of the Pacific, and then put on a happy face for their customers.

IT departments consume funds with no direct revenue, true. But people like you seem to only be looking at the money; imagine what would happen to your network with a lack of IT support. Name me 5 execs in any Fortune-100 (non-tech) company that can diagnose a blue screen or connect a PC to a domain or even manage that domain. IT departments keep the business running at the pace that today's technology allows.

I think we all know how stupid it is for OEMs to move tech support overseas...

Hopefully you're still reading this post, and you can see the similarities between these things and what I'm about to tell you about sports. Student atheletes often perform better in the classroom, for various known and unknown reasons. Some argue that sports reinforce a student's mental confidence, improving their performance in the classroom. Some students push themselves to do well in the classroom because they know that if they don't, they'll be punished on the field/court/etc. Most schools require student atheletes to maintain a C average or similar. Raise this requirement to a B; students' grades will go up slightly.

And, sports do bring in money for the school. Not all of them, but the popular ones do. A significant portion of my high school's funds each year come from revenue generated by football and basketball games. At other schools, the money-making sport(s) may be different, but odds are that at least some of the sports offered by the school have a net revenue at the end of the year. Does that mean we should do away with any sport that doesn't bring in money overall? No.

Sports (and Physical Education classes) are an important aspect of our children's health, IMO. Without sports/PE, what exercise would the average teenager get every day? Most teens not involved in sports today go home after school and watch TV, play video games, get on the computer, work on homework, or go out with friends. Many of them also do the exact same thing every day, which means unless they walk a mile or two home after school, they'll get virtually no excercise. Should we allow our children's health to further deteriorate? No, I think not.

[calidude]

I say yes. They help keep our youth in shape and help keep them from turning into 270+ lb fat arses like me. :no:

[Hurmoth]

Should Schools Have Sports & Gym Classes?

I think a class that teaches ways to exercise and health would be great, however, sports should be completely out of schools. Schools spend more on sports then academics!

You argue we (America) should do away with high school sports because they cost money that could better be used elsewhere?

That's right, elsewhere, as in academics ;)

[acoustikrage]

obviously not very many of you have participated in high school sports or attended a high school sporting event.

[kingbob]

No. Where my father teaches, they just spent millions on a new stadium with astroturf for the MARCHING BAND. His biology lab was neglected financially and he doesn't have enough equipment for his oversized classes. I'm sure the taxpayers are happy their little girls and boys aren't getting muddy.