Physical Education
Can Athletics enhance Academics?
The world of sports and the world of academics have seemed like water and oil for a long time. Athletes have always been considered the men and woman of the world who let sports get them into school. People think that if you can run fast or jump high you’ll get into a top school that wants you. As the world advances people are working harder and getting more done; being good at a sport isn’t a guarantee into college anymore. If a student is working on their craft and not their grades it only shows that they have a poor work ethic because they can’t balance two important situations. Researchers at the Brown Center on Education Policy say that a commitment to school sports does not have to translate into compromised academic performance. Their studies and surveys show that being in collegiate or high school sports will cause a schedule to be tightened. This tightening can cause students to feel stressed when they understand that they don’t have a lot of time to study or write a paper. With that fear of failure lurking over the student’s shoulder comes an ability to work quickly an efficiently. Limiting the student’s time frame allows them to work at a heightened academic level. The researchers at Brown Center also found that schools with top ranking sports teams also had higher achievement scores than those schools with less successful teams. In a study by a student from Liberty University it was found that leadership played a large role in sports and academics. It was found, through interviewing the students and alumni of Liberty, that students who participate in collegiate sports are more likely to be taking control of their academic situations and thriving. Other students in sports who aren’t doing so well academically are also more likely to seek extra help so that their grades don’t affect their ability to play. Finally, the American Psychological Association (APA) has also conducted studies questioning the relationship between academics and athletics in adolescents. 89 high school seniors were administered a questionnaire that gathered information on their exercise habits, relationships with parents and peers, depressive tendencies, sports involvement, drug use, and academic performance. Students with a high level of exercise had better relationships with their parents, were less depressed, spent more time