Exam 9: Interscholastic Sport Main Themes

High school athletes are less advantaged academically before they participate in high school sports than their nonathlete peers.

In studies of social status in high school, "to be an athlete" is favored over being a nonathlete, with the highest preference being "scholar-athlete."

There are three indicators that sport is already at the corporate level at some high schools. Which of the following is not an indicator?

A number of criticisms have been leveled at high school sports as they are presently organized, such as reinforcement of sex roles, cheating, autocratic coaches, excessive pressures to win, and corporatization of high school sport. Describe the basis for the criticisms that have been made for each of these.

Historically, high school sports have reinforced traditional gender roles.

A functionalist perspective of high school sports views it as a primary social practice for promoting social and political integration, providing a common moral code for social cohesion, maintaining social control, and sorting and selecting students for their adult roles in society.

Over the past thirty years, high school sports have increasingly become another commercialized industry of popular culture.

Among the reforms for high school sports that are recommended by the textbook authors are to

High school sports programs are essential because they uniformly fulfill educational goals.

Many educators, parents, and high school students have expressed concern about the current situation of high school sports; and they have made suggestions for reforming high school sports to maximize educational goals. Based on your own experiences and the suggestions in your textbook, describe and discuss two suggestions for reforming high school sports to maximize educational goals.

The evidence is overwhelmingly clear that high school athletics builds character.

High school sports are elitist.

Several important consequences of playing high school sports are identified in your textbook. Summarize the consequences that are described about academic benefits, character development, and adjustment to the future and life after sport.

The research evidence indicates that high school athletes as a group receive lower grades than nonathletes.

A consequence of the popularity of interscholastic sports is its generation of status for males and, recently, females. Several research studies reveal interesting patterns about social status in high schools. Summarize the findings of this research.

Because of budget shortfalls in high schools, pay-for-play plans were implemented in the sports programs, but they were unsuccessful and have been dropped.

Which of the following is a consequence(s) of interscholastic athletics?

Which social theory views high schools as organizations having a distinctive elite orientation in the educational opportunities available for students from different minority racial and ethnic groups and for female students?

Most of the countries of the world have adopted the American system of interscholastic sports.

The report funded by the LA84 Foundation validated that high school sports participation causes athletes to achieve higher grades than nonathletes.