When the football team wins, the whole school celebrates. When kids wear their uniforms on game day, most likely every teacher asks. How about the Choir, Band, maybe the theater? You’d be lucky to get one question asked about the performance.
Now I’m not saying athletes don’t deserve to be recognized. The hard work they put in leads to results that deserve congratulations. But the other kids in music and acting put in a lot of effort for their respective performances.
A good percentage of funding in our school is given to athletics. There is an article Taylor DeRoller wrote breaking down the budget going towards athletics, check it out if you’re interested in a more in depth view of the spending of the school budget.
While athletics mostly has 1st dibs on what the funding goes towards, if you look at attention and praise, you could almost give 100% of that to the athletes.
When you take a deeper look at it: Do you see pep rallies for musicians? What about funding to upgrade art equipment? It leads to the question, why does athletics hold the significant majority of funding and attention over other programs at our school?
Athletes receive praise often from peers and staff. Staff will have a whole conversation with games. If a kid in our band shares that they had a concert, they most likely will receive a simple “cool” or “nice” response from the teachers.
Some athletes, just based on reputations, get passes to be late or get extensions on deadlines. I don’t see the same treatment for our musicians.
And with eligibility, some teachers could feel the pressure to pass student-athletes so they don’t miss games and practice. It feels like the students do what they need to do when the work is being handed in or the athletes grades are being heavily observed. For example, the green sheets that are provided when students are missing work that is causing a failing grade. These are usually provided once a season. I think these green sheets are a great way to improve student athletes’ performance in the classroom, but the problem teachers see is some of the athletes get a green sheet, get the work done to pass, and as soon as eligibility is granted, the grades start to slowly go down again. A possible solution could be a second round of green sheets, to make sure the classroom grades are good consistently.
To be fair, it’s easy to see why athletes get so much attention. Sports bring people together—students, parents, alumni, and the community. They give the school a sense of pride and spirit that’s hard to replicate. Football games, for example, can be major events that draw hundreds of people. That kind of visibility naturally attracts more funding and support. Plus, athletes are often putting their body on the line along with staying on track in the classroom, which is no small task. Their accomplishments deserve to be celebrated, just as much as anyone else’s.
This isn’t about tearing athletes down. It’s about asking why we don’t raise everyone else up, too. School should be a place where every student’s passion is valued, whether it’s on the field, the stage, or anywhere in between.
