Sports In Elementary School

SorianoFanHFW · December 8, 2003

:hat http://www.xanga.com/craigramblings

Remember elementary school? The American education system is awesome, because it knows three things: discipline, standardize testing, and athleticism. Who cares if Junior cannot do long division, he's awesome at California Kickball.

I went to Fulmar Road Elementary School and if you were good at running, this would woo the gym teacher and make everyone happy. America puts a huge emphasis on athleticism, we spend a lot of money on it too. How does it help us, I see no reason. Most jocks do not become anything anyway.

However, is there a hidden curriculum in our elementary school sports? You be the judge.

Basketball- Haven't you noticed that whoever scores first says "winners" and pretty much they start with the ball again, and perpetuate their winning? You might as well end the game after the first point. What does this mean? Possibly, it is an endorsement of hegemony in a capitalistic system and it justifies how the rich perpetuate their wealth and get richer and the poor get poorer...Is the system brainwashing us at such a young age?

Snake in the grass- The game starts with one "snake" and when she or he touches someone, they become a snake, and eventually everyone is a snake. Is this a justification for America's corporations corrupting all of us into taylorized automatons?

Dodgeball- The game is when a couple of kids who are fast and with good arms nail fat kids with balls in the head. Does it justify that the strong should dominate the disadvantaged? Furthermore, how about Dr. Dodgeball, when the doctor leaves his protective zone to heal his army to keep fighting to save his own butt. Does this insinuate that rich guys should only keep us alive to fight their wars? How about high medical costs?

Kickball/Califronia Kickball- I was awesome at this, if I didn't kick a homer, I just stole every base and then stole home. Again however, when the starting lineup was made, the good kids ran up to kick first, and when they were finished, they would cut on line and do it again...this seems to perpetuate the dominance of one class of people over another.

It seems to exist everywhere. How about choosing teams, is there a more stigmatizing experience than school perpetuated rejection by peers? Certain people will never succeed because since a young age they are pretty much told they cannot succeed. Hopefully their self-esteem was not totally destroyed so they do well enough in school to go to a good college and make something of themselves. Then those same jocks (if they don't have rich parents or they are stupid) will be competing with teenagers and immigrant labor in the job market. However, "jocks" aren't inherently dumb, many are pretty smart and their sport for some reason qualifies them to go into a better college than other people. I guess hitting .380 against high school pitching helps you with your anthropology or math...

So what's the point? I love sports (playing and watching), but they have nothing to do with education- they're a huge waste of money. No one really denies this, but they have two lousy counter-arguments.

1. Kids are too fat and they need to excercise.

Kids are fat because they don't excericse outside of gym class. With no gym, the fit kids would still be playing football and running around. We just have a fat and lazy society.

2. We need people for profeesional sports and or black people and city kids needs sports to make something of themselves.

Most athletes are coming from overseas now and guess what, there's no gym class in the Dominican Republic. Professional sports will always find athletes and the government does not have to waste billions of dollars every year for gym teachers and what not so we can watch college football (which is another incredible waste of government money.) Furthermore, telling black people that the only way they can succeed is through sports pretty much tells them "You're a stupid n****r who has no brains, so use your body like the slave you were." What a load of crap.

Sports are fun, but there's a negative side to them.