Raising the Bar with
Academics in Athletics
In today’s society, many high
school students have the perception that they are student-athletes, just as
their college counterparts. This means academics come before sports. The “no
pass, no play” rule helps reinforce that idea.
How much does the “no pass, no play” rule truly help when it comes to
being successful in the collegiate academic world?
During student-athletes’ high
school careers, some have been passing at the bare minimum just to continue to
play their chosen sport. Brad
Wolverton in the Faculty Reps Botch Sports-Oversight Role discussed what happened at
Binghamton University. Sandra D.
Michael, a professor of biological sciences and the university's faculty
athletics representative, lobbied admissions officials to reverse their
decision to reject one prospective student who had a grade-point average below
2.0. You hear about who we call “academic leaders” breaking rules like this all
the time. We are adding to the system of hand-outs. Collegiate
level academics require more than minimal effort. This raises the question,
should the bar for passing academically be raised in high school athletics? If student-athletes
don’t make a 75 average or higher, should they be allowed to participate in the
sport? It is 2014, and student-athletes should be held to a higher academic standard.
Raising the bar will reduce the number of student-athletes looking for an
academic handout. Everyone involved needs to stop giving in when athletes beg
for a “C” just to play in the game, or ask to bend rules when it’s time to meet
college admission standards.
WOLVERTON, B. (2010). Faculty Reps Botch Sports-Oversight Role. (cover
story). Chronicle Of Higher Education, 57(11), A1
Snyder, E. E. (1985). A Theoretical Analysis of Academic and Athletic
Roles. Sociology Of Sport Journal, 2(3), 210-217
I completely agree with the idea that student athletes should be held to a higher standard. Things in life in general are never handed to you on a silver platter. If teachers hand out passing grades to begging athletes just so they can play, then in the end we are setting those individuals up for failure later in life. Success should never be handed to you since that is not realistic anyway. Student athletes should have to work for a passing grade just like they will have to work in order to pay bills later on in life. Success in life is not given to you and neither should a student athlete's success in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI think that there should be stronger consequences for teachers that hand out grades because someone begs them to. It is not fair for those who work hard to pass, or for those who worked hard, but failed and did not receive a grade change. I do not feel like the passing grade should be raised. Generally students who try in a class by paying attention, being involved, going for tutoring, and turning in all assignments will pass. The students who beg for the passing grade usually tend to be the ones who who did not put in the effort to succeed in the first place.
ReplyDeleteBeing that I am a former student-athlete I am kind of bias to the idea of holding athletes to a higher standard. I believe that an athlete should try just as hard in the classroom as they do on the field. But I feel as if sometimes student-athletes are asked to go above and beyond what a regular student would be asked to do. With practices, meetings, film, and several other time constraining requirements that a student-athlete has to do there is little time in which to actually experience college as other students do. Yes! I believe athletes should be held to a standard but I feel as if the standard to which these athletes are held might be becoming a little too high. Most of the time people who are preaching "no pass no play" are people who have never had to balance school along with athletics.
ReplyDelete