PRIORITIZING SPORTS OVER ACADEMICS IN OUR COMMUNITIES By: SAAFIR STARLING

What do you want to be when you get older lil’ man?  “PRIORITIZING SPORTS OVER ACADEMICS IN OUR COMMUNITIES”

By:  SAAFIR STARLING

What do you want to be when you get older lil’ man? I asked my brother this question and his response wasn’t that unpredictable. He stated he wanted to be a famous football player. I then asked him what he liked to do in his spare time. His response to this was, “I like to play basketball and football”. My mother overheard our conversation and then asked my brother what he was good at in school and what’s your favorite subject? She proceeded to tell my brother he was good in math and that he could be a mathematician. With this newfound outlet, he then picks up a calculator and started spitting out math facts. My parents have always stressed to us that sports are an extracurricular activity and that we need to tap into our intellectual gifts.

If you were to go to an elementary or middle school and asked a few kids what they wanted to be or do when they got older, a lot of them would say something that pertained to sports and athletics as my brother had demonstrated in his previous responses. This way of thinking is very prevalent in the African American culture. The idea of sports being the only way out plagues the black culture heavily. It seems that in today’s society the only thing that young black kids aspire to be, are world renowned athletes and musicians. As a people, we must be well rounded and have an open mind to all the opportunities we neglect to see. We need our youth aspiring to be doctors, technicians, mathematicians and interior designers. We all excel at something in life, and I believe we need to connect with whatever that is and pursue it.

A big way we see ourselves is how we’re brought up. Our parents play a big part in our outlook on life. A lot of families residing in suburbia and inner cities get their children involved with sports at an early age. There’s nothing wrong with this at all. It gives kids a positive outlet and keeps them from the many temptations that lie in the city. There is a problem when parents push their kids to become the best not caring about what the kids want to do. They take the emphasis off of being the best in the classroom and push that on to sports. This changes the kid’s mindsets and they start to focus on becoming a perfect athlete. Consequently, this mindset tends to follow them as they get older.

I can identify with this. My parents put me into football when I was five years old. I was at every practice and game whether I wanted to be there or not, but there was a difference between my situation and others. School always came first. No matter how much homework I had, there was no coming back later to finish it. If it wasn’t done I wasn’t going to practice! I was always told that school was my main priority and that if my grades weren’t right I would be pulled from playing. Football for me is an easier path to get into college to further my education. If a scholarship opportunity does not arise, I will still be attending college. But most kids from less fortunate backgrounds cannot afford this luxury. This is why sports are heavily stressed in a lot of households. The logic is simple, chase the athletic scholarship because the most exposed children are the star athletes, not the 4.0 GPA student. This is the backwards way of thinking society places on the minds of parents and children to stray away from the education route.

The average family cannot afford to pay a four year college tuition up front. This causes kids to have to take out student loans in order for them to go to college. In many cases, the individual is in debt for years after their college days are over. The average college tuition according to the college board is $23,000-$31,000. This is the problem that many inner city students face. Kids who excel in sports can typically go on college visits, tour campuses, and gain exposure while the straight A student goes almost unnoticed.

Colleges and universities put pressure on student athletes to succeed in sports and to attain that sports scholarship, rather than attaining good grades in school. For example, college recruits and scouts will visit the homes of athletes, call parents begging for their approval, and flood a gym to see the most popular athletes but how many visit our high schools to speak to the valedictorian? Colleges endorsing sports and not education, seems a bit backwards to me and it’s about time we address this issue.

If your dream is to become a professional athlete by all means go for it. The issue is the way we force the idea on kids. Athletes get so much praise in our society. In the movies, the most popular kids tend to be the athletes. They are the ones who get all the perks, benefits, and the fame. In our communities, sports are thought of so highly and the kids who play them are idolized in a sense. What person wouldn’t want to pursue these things? It’s our fault that we think that way. We need to shift our attention away from the wrong things and figure out what will actually benefit the youth in the long run. After high school and a kids basketball career is over, the community forgets about you. The kids who asked you for autographs are on to the next star. While the 4.0 student aspiring to be a lawyer flies under the radar but his or her future is set. We need to find out what’s important to us as a people. The few years of glorified sports and fame we get in high school, or finding a balance between education and athletics. We need to push kids to further their education with their minds and intellect rather their muscles and brawn.

I’m so passionate about this because I’m still in high school and I see all the kids working hard on the football field and pushing off their school work to go work out. I see all the kids betting on the athletic scholarship to get them into school and to get a good job afterwards. Most students hoping for an athletic scholarship will not get one. By flirting with the ineligibility line all throughout their high school careers to play sports, where does that lead them now?  That’s a harsh reality to face as a kid, solely depending on sports as your way out.

America needs to start investing more time into the education realm. Schools need to start recognizing the real performers, the ones who reside in the classroom. We need to shift our focus from the athletes on to the students. Once this is achieved, more kids will gravitate towards the educational path. Awarding the ones who care about their education is the right way to get kids more involved in the classroom. By taking the necessary and appropriate steps to changing this state of mind, we will eventually produce more successful adults in the future. My goal is to stress the issue and bring awareness to a major issue that millions of kids face. I hope to shine the light on the real MVP’s who go unnoticed each and every day.