One common argument against athletics in schools is that, athletics distracts students from academic activities and study time (Coakley 419). This is somewhat easy to agree with, without knowing the facts. Most people would think that anything that is time consuming would take away from a student studies and educational goals. Some other arguments against sports in schools are that athletics perpetuate dependence and conformity, turns most students into spectators, causes too many serious injuries to student-athletes,

The Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity states that, ‘Sports and physical activity are viable alternatives to smoking for young women. They (sports and physical activity) can give young women the very benefits they perceive in smoking: independence, status with their peers, a chance to make friends, relaxation, weight management, and a more positive sense of self” (iahsaa). The American Medical Association reports that student-athletes are forty percent less likely to smoke than that of non-athletes (iahsaa). There are many reasons why people shouldn’t smoke and many athletes seem to take these reasons into consideration. If they are trying to be a superior athlete then most likely they are trying to stay health as possible and smoking in defiantly unhealthy. Another reason why athletes may not smoke is because they know that they could not perform to the top of their capabilities if they did smoke. Peer pressure is another thing that drives most people to smoking. If most athletes don’t smoke then you are surrounding yourself with people that don’t put the pressure of smoking upon you. This also ties into drug usage amongst athletes and non-athletes. In an analysis of National Data by the Department of Health and Human Services found that, “Students who spend no time in extracurricular activities are fifty-seven percent more likely to have dropped out of school by the time they would have been senior; forty-nine percent more likely to have used drugs; thirty-five percent more likely to have smoked cigarettes; and twenty-seven percent more likely to have been arrested than those who spend one to four hours per week in extracurricular activities” (NFHS). Sports programs along with other positive extracurricular after school activities have shown a tremendous positive effect on students. The statistics show that athletes are less likely to use drugs and smoke cigarettes then that of non-athletes.

An interesting survey I ran upon gave the perspective of our US high school principals and a percentage of students in all fifty states. In 1985, the National Federation of State High School Associations sponsored the national survey of high school principal and nearly seven thousand high school students in all fifty states. This survey unveiled that ninety-five percent believed that participation in activities teaches valuable lessons to students that cannot be learned in a regular class routine; ninety-nine percent agreed that participation in activities promotes good citizenship; ninety-five percent agreed that activity programs contribute to development of “school spirit” among the student body; seven-six percent said they believed the demand on students’ time by activities is not excessive; seven-two percent said there is strong support for school activity programs from parents and the community at large (NFHS). This was very interest because this survey gave a perspective of the principals that are around student-athletes on a day-to-day basis. The survey also consisted of a percentage of student in which they gave there perspectives also. The results of this survey show clearly that sport programs i

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