[Winona Online Democracy]
I"ll give you the benefit of the doubt and presume you did not call me a
"lazy bum."
As I've now said a few times, my assertion was never that sports in and of
themselves negatively affect education. Rather, the problem comes from the
too-high priority placed upon athletics, at least at WSHS and a few other
schools of which I have some knowledge. I'm not sure we disagree on this
fundamental point, but the problem is real and is often minimized by people
eager to extoll the virtues of athletic participation. I go to a school
with many student athletes who put more effort and enrgy into playing their
respective games than they do into developing their aptitudes in academic
subjects, and I have not noticed an effort by most teachers or
administrators to rectify this. This is the problem, not the sports
themselves; you may have misread my meaning, and I apologize if I was not
clear. I myself played hockey beginning at an early age and continued until
further participation would have required joining the schol team, and I
certainly don't think I am any the worse for it. Some of my fellows who
intended to continue on the school team, however, clearly had the impression
that the "athlete" would be the important part of "student athlete." When
students maintain this attitude about sports and no one tells them "No, you
are here to study, and that is where you will devote yourself first", this
will adversely affect their academic education.
The need for physical exercise: something I don't dispute. However, it
bears remembering that school-run atheltic teams are not the only means of
developing the body. Many private organizations and clubs operate sports
leagues, and even participation in an organized competitive atheltic league
is not the only way to exercise. I've found the canoeing, hiking, and
recreational skiing I do to work quite well in that regard. One place I
have done a bit of study of in the area of student life is Germany, where
the rate of athletic involvement by students is fairly high, comparable with
the U.S., but where the idea of a school sponsoring a sports team is
relatively unheard of--it is seen as the job of schools to teach young
people academic subjects, and the recreational realms of life as something
separate. Clubs are the mechanism by which students play sports, and the
German educational system appears to work fairly well.
"School spirit": I equate it with patriotism, which George Bernard Shaw
defines as "your conviction that this country is superior to all other
countries because you were born here." In moderation, school spirit is
alright, so long as it does not interfere with other areas of development
like critical thought and an awareness of why the student is in school, and
so long as the school does not try to artificially create it or enforce it.
One of my better teachers,(who might be reading this; there's a free
compliment if you are) who had assigned George Orwell's "1984" as part of
the course I was taking, remarked upon the class's return from the use of
class time to celebrate one or another of the school's athletic teams (it
was "homecoming week", perhaps) that we had just participated in something
out of Orwell's book. Teamwork is a valuable skill, but institutional
groupthink is something to be wary of.
I dislike nitpicking over minor points in any argument, as I'm sure you do,
but perhaps I should clarify one of th examples I used: the student to whom
you referred askd a question in a class clearly indicating a belief that
Thomas Jefferson was alive during the American Civil War and was a
particiant in the events surrounding it. I can certainly see the relevance
of his ideas to the Civil War, which would be an entirely new, though
interesting, discussion, but in the example I used it wasa case of not
knowing to which period of American history Jefferson belonged.
If I was "insensitive" to anyone, I apologize, but I believe that my
statements are the conclusions which stand to be drawn from what I see in my
school environment.
>From: "Anthony Dooley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: [Winona] Andrews anti-sports comments
>Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 02:43:04
>
>[Winona Online Democracy]
>
>OK, It has been a while since I've been able to read this string of mail.
>But, ANDREW, I've had it with your insensitivity to the athletic world! I
>personaly think that you have got it mixed up with something else. When
>you
>said this...(below)... I thought to myself how limited your views really
>are....
>
> "Interestingly enough, most of my classmates who confuse
> Cambodia with Colombia, associate Thomas Jefferson with
> the Civil War, or don't know how to read a periodic table
> are major participants in school-sponsored athletics.
> (All of these actually happened in classes I've been in.)
> It's because football (or track, or dance team) is more
> important to them, and no one tells them othwerwise."
>
>Now, I know I didn't grow up in winona, but that does give me a unique
>perspective. For instance, at the schools of my youth athletes in general
>had a very high aptitude. And they were taking tough courses as well.
>Sure, my graduating class in '95 from the northern suburbs of Chicago was
>some where around 500 AND it was a very affluent area so maybe in some way
>my view can't mesh with yours (yeah right).
>
>The most likely difference between my school and yours is the simple fact
>that it is your teachers, coaches, and maybe some parents that have failed
>you and your school in this way. My school had an incredible basketball,
>baseball, and Football teams. They were competitive on a state wide basis.
>Right now there is a guy from my school that is going to UW Madison on a
>full ride football scholarship and is using it to achieve a PH.D. There is
>nothing wrong with school/team spirit. It should be viewed as a reminder
>that you are never just 'ONE PERSON' (although that is all it takes to
>change somthing) and that there is usually a greatter tapestry of events
>that change the univers before you.
>
>
>And another thing you must remember is that the Mind and the Body are one
>unit. I mean, your brain does require oxygen pumbed in with blood by means
>of the heart. And last I checked, sport help the heart out. And with that
>in mind it does not take much to deduce that maybe some of the lazy bums of
>your school are worse off than ANY of your athletes!
>
>Tony Dooley
>
>(why don't you look up Thomas Jefferson, I thought that many of the things
>that the founding fathers did had a direct impact on our Civil War, and
>with
>that in mind, maybe it isn't such a far fetched thing to see/hear some one
>mention his name in association with the it)
>
>
>
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