Amanda Ripley The Case Against High School Sports Analysis Essay

High school sports are highly valued in the United states, but should their budgets reflect this? American high school sports and districts pour large sums of money into their sports programs, but much money do they really require? I mean, school funding seems to be incredibly focused on sports, but from the inside, that seems to be a wonderful thing, as some schools appear to do and have great test scores and sports programs! Sports are second only to the amendments in terms of importance in America, so it should be discussed. Many people believe that high school sports are unnecessary, however, the money spent by schools must be spent wisely, and these claims could show you how beneficial sports really are.

For a long time, high school sports have been a staple of American culture. Many stories have been written about high school sports, but are they still worthwhile today? I’ve heard a few stories, but let’s look at people like Edmunson and Soto who have had positive experiences with sports. Edmunson was a former high school sports player who talks about how his high school life was going terribly, saying that he was a bad student and overall lonely person, but sports changed that. Sato, on the other hand, is a businessman who discusses how sports have given athletes wonderful personality traits which assist them in the business world, which may lead to a job in the future, this is all well and good because I’m sure there are many athletes who had nothing but the game to propel them to greatness, but there is the issue of spending habits. Amanda Ripley is a writer who wrote an article criticizing high school sports and discovered that one school spent over a thousand dollars on a cheerleader! With only about $320 on a math student, this is a difference of over a thousand dollars, with specifics, which is absolutely insane and may work in the favor of the other side but we have some schools, like the one in Tucson Arizona that Ripley mentioned, it demonstrates that a school can have good spending habits while still having good sports and test scores.

Most of the articles I read were against Ripley, but if you think about her argument, she has a point: American schools are, on average, worse than most schools around the world in terms of academic performance. If you look at America's test scores, you'll notice that they are, for the main three subjects. 24, 36, and 28 in the world, respectively. That is insanely low, like extremely low, as these test scores remain in the middle or lower ranges. I see this as a problem with spending habits and a fixation on the wrong thing, as is this really the fault of high school sports? I mean, I believe that schools should shift their focus away from these sports and toward academics. I've also heard stories about people who focused their lives on sports and ended up learning nothing and leading a bad life, such as the story of flick Webb, but this seems to be focusing on the wrong thing. When, how is the sport to blame for this person's choice? All of this is being blamed on something that, in my opinion, is not the issue for bad decisions made by others. We must concentrate on correcting these decisions rather than eliminating something that could be extremely beneficial.

Many people assume that high school athletics are pointless, although they may be incredibly beneficial to children. However, the money spent by schools must be used with caution. These pieces of evidence, I believe, demonstrate that, in the end, these sports are incredibly useful to children; having sports is always a good thing, and blaming it for what appears to be the school's problem is absurd to me. Even Ripley provided a nice example of a school that combines athletics and academics. So, in the end, that's what I think works; I agree that finances aren't being spent effectively, but blaming it on sports is simply unfair to the millions of children who enjoy sports; dont you agree?