Being a student athlete should be a privilege, a reward; it should always come second, after the students education. It seems that student athletes get special treatments, getting away with having low grades, having an extended time to do assignments, or even being excused from them. There needs to be a more strict policy in order to be on a high school sports team and to play in games. After all, high schools do not require students to participate in team or individual sports. Most high school students take an average of six classes per year. Having all B’s will result in an 3. GPA-and there is still many more grade arrangements to have a 3. 0 GPA or higher. In the Clark County School District in Nevada, the GPA requirement to be allow to play sports is a minimum of 2. 0, which is straight C’s (Athletics). It is the bare minimum that theses athletes have to do in school in order to play.
Knowing this, if an athlete can’t put effort into their school work, why should they be allowed to play? They should put the same effort or more towards their academics. If they can’t get a 3. 0, they should hit the books, not the field. Cassandra Palor who is senior with honor and AP course, has a GPA of 3. (unweighted), plays varsity sports year round(Cross Country, Basketball, and Track & Field), and is also the school yearbook photo-editor says, “It is honestly all about time management, and dedication. If [one] knows how to manage their time, they will be able to balance both their academics and extracurricular activities. Plus, we want to represent our school to the max, with great athletes, great grades, and great dedication. ” On the contrary, rising the GPA requirement might cause athletes to not put as much effort towards the sport, or the might not even join because there is too much pressure with academics.
It’s like getting an allowance, one has to do complete the chores first, and then get rewarded for their work. Similarly, high school athletes need to be drug tested more frequently, than just the every now and then random testing. They should be tested every other week or at least once a month. Some might argue that it is an invasion of privacy, but in reality they are just afraid of being caught for doing illegal activities. For one, the consumption of alcohol is illegal for minors, and all high school students are under age.
Secondly, athletes represent the school they play for, and they don’t want to be know as the guy or girl that got blacked out drunk the sunday before the game. And last but not least, taking drugs can have an immense negative impact on the student’s health. According to, the illustration-How Drugs Affect Sport Performance-on Richard L. Worsnop article it states that although Amphetamines can, “[h]eighten alertness and postpones onset of fatigue,” it can result in long term consequences like, “[f]eelings of anxiety and restlessness, accompanied by rapid heartbeat and breathing; [and] risk of addiction.
Many of drugs taken have similar effect on the body, it enhances the athletes performances, they recover faster, and even let them gain muscle mass, etc. On the other hand, they all have worse long term effects then the temporary effect they athletes do them for. For example, Betablockers can cause asthma, erythropoietin can result in a stroke or heart attack, while steroids can cause liver and heart disease, and even sterility (Worsnop). Four year varsity basketball player, Kristopher Nicolas states, “I personally have never taken drugs, but I know of teammates that have.
I believe that if one truly loves the sport than they don’t any enhancements to be better at it, it has to come from one’s inner motivation. A good pep talk before the game is more than enough to motivate me. ” Besides the fact, that alcohol and drug use can have a serious impact on one’s health, drugs are illegal, and any student caught should not be allowed to part of a team. In the same fashion, many students athletes receive special treatment in the classroom, and it needs to stop. This seen even more when the coach has an athlete in the class.
They get extended time periods to turn stuff in, grading easier on them, and even sometime excusing them from some assignments. Robert Quinn Lovelady who was a valedictorian, with a 4. 0 GPA, did 4 years of Cross Country and Track & Field mentions that, “The only time I recall getting special treatment was when we had just won meet beating both of our rival schools. I was allowed to turn my essay in one day late with no penalty. ” This wasn’t to bad, but I my senior year, a boy named lan Mack got a Top 5 national title for his time in 100 and 200 meter dash.
Macks english teacher excused him from his senior project. It is said that he spoke to teacher about it being late, and that the teacher said, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll deal with it. You had a great season,” to Mack. There has been case of teachers giving star players higher grades in order for them to play, and many others. As can be seen, athletes receive special treatment, whether it be small like Lovelady’s example of getting a little extra time, or has big as Mack’s pass or fail situation.
