Amanda Ripley The Case Against High School Sports Summary
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No More Sports! Amanda Ripley argues in her essay, “The Case Against High School Sports,” that allowing sports in schools is the reason high school students in America are scoring far lower on standardized test than students in other countries (Para. 4). In her analysis, Ripley covers both the causes and effects of this problem, arguing finally that America should take out sports in schools in order to score on the same level as the academically top-ranked countries (Para. 39). Ripley’s argument, while compelling, uses many logical fallacies and fails to provide enough real evidence. Ripley begins by saying that while she knows all the benefits that come with school sports, she believes they do more harm than good (Para. 7). The main harm stressed by Ripley is that to the test scores. She believes that because American schools have sports, they put forth all of their money toward sports, they drop teaching standards to acquire coaches, they have higher teacher student ratios in the class than on the field, the principals of some schools are trying to create more benefits for athletics over academics, and they are finally just having to close.…show more content… Most of the essay focuses on The Premont Independent School District in Texas. The district was facing shut down due to financial mismanagement and academic failure, but after cutting many teachers and closing buildings, the district finally suspended all sports. The school benefited in a drop in student fights, teacher raises, higher passing rates, and academics becoming the main priority in the school. After receiving 400,000 dollar from other communities throughout Texas, the district was not shut down and was able to bring back many sports, excluding football. Ripley also supports her claim with some examples of colleges similar to that of the Premont Independent School