Reply to Why do people allow kids to play sports at the expense of academics?

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Reply to "Why do people allow kids to play sports at the expense of academics?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][b][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]For some kids, Bs might be what they are getting for their best efforts and sports is an area where they can easily excel. We all have our strengths and challenges and we need to learn to make the best of our strengths and work hard at our challenges. It's good to have a balance in our days of things we are good at and things we have to work at. In addition, athletic participation teaches kids a lot about cooperation, leadership, how to win and lose in a graceful manner, persistence, and discipline, not to mention the physical fitness and health benefits.

Why do some people allow their kids to spend all their time on academics and make no effort to improve their athletic skills?
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Because kids with good grades have more options and opportunities than kids with bad grades. If two kids are competing for the same opportunity, the kid with the good grades is going to have an edge over the low B kid.[/quote]

You are oversimplifying and ignoring PP's point. Let's say you have a B student who, if they dropped all of their other sports and focused exclusively on academics, can only really bring their grades up to a B+ overall. An increase from B to B+, all else being equal, may result in some better opportunities, but the opportunities for a B+ student who does nothing else still may not be as good as for a child with Bs who is also a dedicated athlete who has developed (and can demonstrate) maturity, teamwork, leadership, etc.) would be. They also may be much happier and emotionally healthy getting Bs and playing sports than if they were getting B+s and not playing sports.

If we're talking about a kid who could be making straight As without sports but is barely making Cs with sports, I will grant that there's good reason to reassess the place of sports in the kid's life. But those students are very few and far between, and they're certainly not representative of all student athletes.[/quote]

Serious question, why is it so commonly assumed that playing sports, gives one all of these skills. I played sports growing up and yes it was exercise and fun, which in and of itself as s worthwhile, but I honestly don't think it did jack shit as far as improving my teamwork, leadership, etc. this argument always seemed like something parents want to believe to justify the vast amount of money and time they devote to their kids' sports. [/quote]

Sorry sports didn't work out for you, PP.  Your argument seems like something people use to justify why they weren't that good at sports. [/quote]

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