I was wonder how middle school and high school teacher feels about school athletics. Student athletes often end up missing some of the last classes in each day. These students often miss valuable class time that cannot be easily made up. At what point do athletics over take the purpose of school.

In school I often saw student athletes copying homework to get it done before class. Games and practices take up a lot of there time and they don't make the time to do there homework. Do you think student athletes need to be held to a higher standard?

I know all student athletes are not like this, but there are some who take advantage of the system.

On the subject of athletics who do you think will win the NCAA Championship? Duke? UConn? Georgia Tech? Okla St?

Ashley- I do not know that athletes should be held to a higher standard, but I think they should be held to an equal standard to everyone else. I think those athletes that you are talking about are just not being held to that standard, they are only doing what they have to do to get by. I think that it is our responsibility as teachers to make sure they understand that they will not be "let of the hook" for things that we would not let other students get away with, such as copying homework, excessively missing class, etc...

I totally agree that there are many student athletes who take advantage of the situation they're in. I know I played 3 sports in high school and was given no special treatments-which was great. I guess the only advice i have for teachers of these athletes who take advantage of the situation they're in is to not tolerate it. If an athlete tries to give you an excuse for why he or she can't participate, unless it's a valid reason, tell them no. My mom told me that when she taught at UGA she was told by the Dean of Students to pass the 4 members of the basketball team she had in her psych. class, no matter if their grades were of passing level or not. She failed 3 of them because they never came to class or did work, and even though she got told off for it(because they got benched), she stood by her decision and didn't back down. As for the final four, DUKE is going to win it all! (Although I have to back UConn as well because they're such a great team)

In high school i played 3 sports every year for four years! i had some kind a practice every single day after school if not more, and i sometimes would have practice before school. At first it was ok but about the 3rd year, i got really tired. I was always a good student but it was hard staying up late at night to get my work done and then getting up early to go to class. I found myslef sleeping in class and not paying attention sometimes. I didnt let it affect my grades but i dont that some students do. It is so hard to balance your time esp when you are younger.

I also had to miss class alot becuase of away games and stuff. I made my schedule so that i would have an " easier" class last period so that if i did miss i wouldnt really be missing that much. I was lucky that i could do that but some students were not aloud to do that. Being an athlete is hard but like some of yall said i dont think that the expectations should be changed just because you are an athlete. I am an example that it can be done you just have to work at it and manage your time wisely.

i agree with you all when you say that athletes shouldn't get special treatment. i ran both cross country and track in high school and honestly i thought it made me more balanced focused and motivated when it came to my schoolwork. when i blew out my knee my jr. year and was told not to run my sr. year, i ended up working to kill that extra time. i love having free time, but i think high school sports (or extracurriculars in general) help the student learn very valuable time management skills.

I agree as well that student athletes should not get special treatment. I remember in high school most of our athletes were held to the same standards as the rest of us...except for our football team. They definitely got a lot more slack in regards to missing classes and get their work completed. I think it is great to be involved in extracurricular activities during school, but they should not get in the way of school work by any means.

My husband has been coaching boy's and girl's soccer for a few years. The students that have made up these teams not only excel on the soccer field but also are some of the brightest in the classroom. There have been players accepted to engineering at NCSU and others accepted to Wake Forest. This is not because they have coasted in the classroom. Since he has been helping with the soccer program at our local high school all the teams, both boys and girls, have been scholar athlete teams. This means that the entire team maintains at least a combined 3.25 GPA. Last years girls team had a combined 3.75 with 17 of the twenty players being individual scholar athletes, many having GPA's of 4.0 or better.