At too many schools, yards-per-carry and points-per-game are more important than Grade Point Averages and ACT scores.
Extracurricular activities. Let me admit right away that the adjective is dated. I use it here because it’s the reference term used when I was a youth. ‘Extracurricular’ describes school-sponsored educational activities that didn’t fall within the traditional academic rubric–not clustered with subjects like math, biology, and the languages.
Courtesy WPIX
In those days, clubs and athletics were considered EXTRAcurricular. By definition, there resided outside of–and were less important to–the educational experience. They added value to education, for sure, and that’s why they were included in the high school experience…albeit as ‘an extra.”
Well, that’s the way it was “in the good old days.’ Today the bottom rail (extracurricular) is on top. And (sadly) the ‘curricular’ side isn’t always what it used to be, either. Athletics get a lot of attention at the very same time that some critics argue that the curriculum has been watered down to the point that students can graduate from a “good” high school or university without … well … ‘being educated.’
The purpose of education has been subverted. Take, for example, my home state of North Carolina. High school students will now be required to complete an economics and personal finance course before graduation. That’s good. Right? Well, it comes by way of a trade-off. To accommodate the new requirement, the State Board of Education voted to reduce students’ exposure to U.S. history, cutting in half (from two to one) the number of required courses.
Let’s face facts. The academic side of education isn’t what it used to be, and the Extracurricular side isn’t either. But as the former has been diminished, the latter has mushroomed. In too many schools, football and basketball are tails that wag the high school dog. Sports get headlines and draw community attention. Academics? They represent extra benefits.
It’s not hyperbolic to conclude that harm is being done to students. What else can you conclude when middle schoolers are encouraged to attend sports camps so that they can be seen (and eventually recruited) by college coaches? And what will get those players college scholarships? ACT scores or Grade Point Averages won’t measure their aptitude. Yards-per-carry and points-per-game will.
How often are those students evaluated based on being able to write a lucid paragraph versus the time they run a 40-yard dash? Consider an example that happened in the last few days. When university officials chastised TCU’s head football coach for using inappropriate language (calling one of his players “a f—king brat”), the player defended himself by saying, “For what, I ain’t did nothin?’
We’ve lost our way and, sadly, we aren’t smart enough to recognize it. We’ve allowed “extra” to become the main focus at too many schools. And the situation is especially egregious when it comes to revenue-producing sports. African American students, who represent the majority of players at many schools, experience a diminished education because their value is associated with activities that have very little (if anything) to do with the primary purpose of education.
Sports are supposed to be ‘extra.’
