Introduction
Sports are part of the co-curriculum activities and as such, constitute part of the learning process. There is an established direct relationship between on the one hand, sports and on the other hand, student performance. Sports are believed to have positive and negative influences on the academic performance of students.
In many schools, sports are considered a part of the education content to ensure growth and physical well being of the students thus boosting their health. While participating in sports is associated with negative behavior such as irresponsible sex, alcohol use and smoking, they however play a very important role in enhancing students’ performance.
Sports make students recognizable amongst their peers and as such, boost their performance in class. Organized sports also present learning opportunities for students and teachers to develop organizational skills that are beneficial to their academic performance. This is applicable to socially and economically marginalized group of student in Los Angeles school such as the Latinos. However, a number of factors determine the extent to which the Latino students in Los Angeles high schools participate in sports. In spite of the varied factors sport influence has a number of shortcomings and benefits to Latino high school students in los angels with most of the benefits being felt in class as well as outside the classroom environment.
Literature review
Hartmann (2008) in a report about high school participation in sports and education attainment examines the relationship between sports and the performance of students. He explains that from a sociological point of view, students who participate in high school sports tend to perform better in their academics than those who do not, and that the factors for this occurrence are complicated.
He also found out that participating in sports is not the absolute contributor to good student performance. Darling, Caldwell and Smith (2005) in their journal article explains that sports can be both useful and detrimental. They further explain that the manner in which sports affect the participants depends on a number of reasons.
They also enumerate the type of sports engaged by Latino high school students such as soccer, football, baseball and basketball and also state that amongst the negative impact of sports is the increased chances of engaging in teenage sex and alcohol abuse. The article however appears to focus on the positive effects of sports on Hispanic students in Los Angeles high schools such as positive impacts on the academic performance levels.
Their findings are supported by Orfield, Siegel-Hawley and Kucsera (2011) who explain that sports are considered as one of the educational activities by Los Angeles schools. Consequently, all the students are required to take part in sports. Orfield, Siegel-Hawley and Kucsera (2011) in their article begin by highlighting the racial segregation of Latino students in Los Angeles high schools.
They continue to explain that unfortunately, because of racial profiling Latino and Hispanic students are likely to be discriminated against in some educational activities like sports. This may limit their participation in sports, subsequently leading to poor academic performance. The fact that these students are discriminated against does not mean that Latino high schoolers in Los Angeles do not take part in sports.
This argument can be drawn from to the fact that the number of Latino population in Los Angeles is increasing a very high rate. Khan (2007) conducted a study on the level of participation on Latino high schoolers in los angels and concludes that the number of Latinos in Los Angeles high school sports has improved. He explains that the most popular sports for Latino high schoolers in this state are soccer, American football, and athletics.
Because sports are an interracial discipline in this state, participation helps in alleviating interracial conflict especially amongst Hispanics and Africa Americans. More of these positive impacts of sports on this group of students are experienced as sports play the role of bringing Hispanic families together.
Parents of Hispanic students, who are not keen on visiting their children during school days, are more likely to visit their children during sports days. This helps to bond these families. Khan (2007) further opines that the participation by Latino high school students in sports can be categorized into two: physical activity in sports team as a member and non- physically active sports team members.
Those students’ who are active participant of any sports team are less prevalent to healthy risk behaviors as well as having a positive impact on the health of these students..
Assessing the relationship in and out of classroom
The relationship between sports and students performance cannot be taken at face value and that the factors determining how sports affect high school students are so intricate. As a result, it is difficult to accurately enumerate or even quantify the extent to which sports impacts students’ performance. These factors include the type of sport involved whether it is a team sports or an individual, the social economic environment that the students comes from.
Furthermore the level at which a student participates in sports as well as how closely the students able to associate sports and academics play a part (Hartmann, 2008). Darling, Caldwell and Smith (2005) explain that the impact of sports on the performance of high school students is double edged. For Latino high school students who participate in sports, there are likely to be two types of outcomes.
Negative outcomes may include poor academic performance due to time wasted in sports and drug and substance abuse. Sports heroes among Latino high schoolers are very popular with the opposite sex and this increases the chances of engaging in early and irresponsible sex.
In Los Angeles Latino students do indeed participate in sports either as active member of teams or inactive members of sports teams. Orfield, Siegel-Hawley and Kucsera (2011) explain that in most of the Los Angeles high schools, interscholastic sports are part of the curriculum. As such, high school students have to take part in sports if they are to be seen as having fully completed the education system.
However, Latino students in Los Angeles are discriminated against especially in the Los Angeles public schools. For examples, they are not afforded the same opportunities, resources and support like student from other races. Such racial isolation in all educational disciplines including sports has detrimental effects on Latino students.
Due to the stigma that comes with racial discrimination, Latino student tend to perform poorly in academics disciplines. Furthermore as Khan (2007) explains, the only sports popular with the Latino student is soccer, and as such this group of students feel isolated from participating in other sports such as basket ball, softball and American football, which are dominated by the African Americans as well as the White Americans.
Such isolation mentality is transferred into the classroom, leading to isolation in other academic activities. Ultimately, this leads to poor academic performance. This however does not mean that Latino students in Los Angeles do not take part in sports. There are quite a good number of Latino high school students who are active sportsmen and women.
The Most of the popular sports for this group of student is soccer especially for the boys. Athletics is more popular with the girls. This is due to the fact that there are the two most popular sports in their countries of origin. According to Khan (2007), the number of participating Latino in Los Angeles high school sports has been on the increase.
This is because the corresponding number of Latino immigrants to Los Angeles is also increasing. Sports give Latino students chance to evaluate their abilities and to compare one to peers. For those Latino students who excel in sports, they develop a sense of positive self concept which is beneficial to their academy excellence.
Excellent Latino sports men and women are also recognized by their peers as over achievers. This boots their morale and motivates to transfer their on the field achievement to class. Opportunities for sports scholarship produce higher academic aspiration in Latino students leading them put more effort to excel in academic performance.
Where Latino students and teacher take part organized team sports, this creates an opportunity to boost teacher-student relationships. Improved teacher student relationships leads to more corporation in class with the student benefit academically. Where Latinos student take parts in organized sports, this presents the opportunity to gain organizational skills, which when transferred to academics lead to improved performance.
Latino students who participate in sports have also been found to be more goal- oriented and also portray a more responsible attitude. This leads to improved self efficacy and later to improved academic performance. Most of the Los Angeles high schools are multi racial (Orfield, Siegel-Hawley & Kucsera, 2011) and as such sports are also a multi racial discipline in these schools.
In this regard, Khan (2007) sees sports as beneficial to Latinos. Taking part in sports does not only improve the chances of better academic performance but also enhances interracial understanding. This is attained through participating in team sports with members of other races. This promotes cooperation and as such helps in easing interracial tensions off the field thus promoting better racial relationship in school as well as in the community.
Furthermore, sports are seen as a tool for family bonding. Some Latino parents do not find time to visit their children in school, but on popular days as sports days, they do to go and encourage their children taking parts in various sports. This creates the necessary social bond within families.
Moreover, during this occasion, Latino parents interact with parents from other races and as such sports create the necessary social capital for a more harmonious community (Auerbach 2004). Kulig, Brener and McManus (2003) stipulate that Latino student in Los Angeles are seen as either active participants of team sports to non active team members of a team sports. Latino high schoolers taking part in high school activities are less likely to engage in high risky behaviors such as over indulgence in alcohol, drugs and irresponsible sexual behavior.
There are a number of factors that may contribute to these. While Hartmann (2008) stipulates that these factors cannot be numerated and clearly identified due to the complicated nature of the relationship between sports and students performance, Kulig, Brener and McManus (2003) says that sports coaches play a significant role in determining the behaviors of Latino student sports team members.
Coaches act as role models and mentor and may expel members who exhibit such risky behaviors that are detrimental to performance in sports. Therefore Latino students who participate in sports tend to less prevalent tin risky behaviors. In this regard sports keep Latino student from Los Angeles off reckless behaviors such as over indulgence in alcohol and it helps them to stay focused on their sports performance. Furthermore, when student keep off such behaviors they are able to avoid such health risk and diseases assisted with such negative behaviors
Exploiting and utilizing the power of sports
From the text above it is clearly evident that there exist a very strong relationship between sports and performance of student not only in Los Angeles schools but also in schools across the country. Furthermore, this type of relationship is very hard to quantify because of the complexity of its nature as well as the factors that do in come to into play.
The power of sports in Los Angeles schools especially over Latino high schooler cannot be over looked. In many schools, sports program have a tendency to overwhelm the academic program and implementation of the academic policy. Nevertheless sports programs when and if implemented meticulously presents a good opportunity to influence performance in academic as well as non academic performance.
Suffice to say that sport is not a cure all for encouraging better performance in Latino students. This means that sports are an abstract form and whose effects largely depend on the way it is implemented. Most of the Los Angeles high schools are multi racial with clear and evident racial acrimony (Orfield, Siegel-Hawley & Kucsera, 2011). These communities utilize the racial differences negatively.
As such, school administrator can formulate and develop sports programs to address these as a way to heal the interracial suffering that does exist within these multi racial schools. This program can be focused on the establishment of team- based sports that encourage cooperation and not competition. In this sense, Latino student will be able to forge social ties with student from other races (Auerbach, 2004).
The relationship between sports and educations presents another scholastic opportunity that is two pronged. There still the need to have continued research in this area. Furthermore, with regard to the positive effect that sports plays in the enhancement of academic performance, this is also an opportunity for conducting training to teachers on how to incorporate sports in their daily instructions methodology to boost academics performance.
This will lead to an interscholastic discipline called sports educations. Teacher should also be involved much more in not only the organization of sports but also in participating in competitions. This will help remove any barriers that do exist between students and teachers. To be more effective teachers and students with more strained relationship should be put in the same team or sports to enhance a chance to improve such relationships.
From my teaching profession, I have learned that sport is not just another academic discipline meant to fill the physical aspects of education. There is a deeper relationship between sports and student performance. In teaching Latino students who feel segregated in Los Angeles schools, sports can be one of the valuable tools for motivating improved performance in classroom.
In my daily instruction I can develop group tasks modeled along team sports to encourage cooperation. Such classroom experiences develop a sense of shared vision amongst and while properly utilized, they can help heal the racial rifts that do exist between Latino student and student from other races. In terms of modeling responsible behaviors, I can use sports to demonstrate how alcohol and drug use as well as irresponsible sexual behaviors affect not only sports outcomes but also education and life outcomes.
A simple plan would be to develop sports team with a teacher being the team patron. Such teams should that participate in weekly sports activities and retain the same team for academic group assignment. Such team will continue Latinos and non Latino students and are intended to create correlations between team work in sports, education and in the community.
Conclusion
The relationship between sports and student performance has elicited a heated debate that is becoming complex by the day. In the united states, sports is one of the education requirements for student to fulfill before they graduate. Sports are playing a big part in influencing the outcomes of Latino high school academic as well as non academic performance.
Those Latino high school students who participate in sports have been found to have an improved academic excellence. Sports do provide opportunities for improved self concept which improved the self worth in field as well as in class. Sports are also places where students enhance their relationship with their teachers which further lead to improved academic excellence.
Off the field sports have been found to have social benefit as they are the bridges the fill the interracial gaps that exists amongst Los Angeles communities. However there are a lot of adjustments in terms of policy, attitudes and infrastructure that needs to be done to ensure that the full potential of sports in influencing the academics as well as non academic outcomes of Latino students in Los Angeles high schools is attained. This will mean the cooperation of the entire student, administrators, policy makers as well as parent and the local communities
Reference List
Auerbach, S. (2004). Engaging Latino Parents in Supporting College Pathways: Lessons from a College Access Program. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 3(2), 125-145.
Darling, N., Caldwell, L., & Smith, R. (2005). Participation in school-based Extracurricular Activities and Adolescent Adjustment. Journal of Leisure Research, 37(1), 51-76.
Hartmann, D. (2008). High School Sports Participation and Educational Attainment: Recognizing, Assessing, and Utilizing the Relationship: Report to the LA84 Foundation. University of Minnesota, Department of Sociology. Web.
Khan, M. (2007). Shifting Racial and Ethnic Demographics at Los Angeles Public High Schools from 1980 to 2006: Implications for Sports Teams and the Median Consumer. American Journal of Sociology, 75, 680-702.
Kulig, K., Brener, K., & McManus, T. (2003). Sexual Activity and Substance Use among Adolescents by Category of Physical Activity Plus Team Sports Participation. Sociology of Sport Journal, 10(1), 44-56.
Orfield, G., Siegel-Hawley, G., & Kucsera, J. (2011). Divided We Fail: Segregation and Inequality in the Southland’s Schools. Web.