Lily Wiggle

English Period 6
Sports Versus Music Final Draft
12/14/15
In this day and age, going to high school does not just entail taking a Math,
Science, English and History class. Now, it is common for students to take a music class
or participate in an afterschool sport. Education budget cuts seem to be effecting high
schools all over the country and with every cut, there is less and less money to go around,
especially for the sports and music programs. Both activities are very expensive and the
tighter money gets, the more tension rises between the two programs. Is one program
more deserving than the other? Its hard to tell because both programs have many positive
effects on high school students. Although both activities are enjoyed by many, differences
in the benefits of participating and the funding of the programs shape the attitudes of
nonparticipants and leave room to take sides.
The differences in GPAs and SAT scores of a normal high school student, one
who participates in music and one who participates in sports are very apparent. A 2009
study found that the average GPA of a high school student was 3.0 (Americas High
School Graduates 13). The average GPA of music and sports participants is significantly
higher. Students who had taken a music class had an average GPA of 3.17 (The Arts and
Achievement 13) while the average GPA of a student athlete was 0.55 to 0.74 points
higher than the average high school student (Smith New Study Shows). When the average
SAT scores of students who took a music performance class were compared to the
average of students who did not, the musicians scored 40-70 points higher (College
Board 2012 College-Bound). According to a 2008 study, when the average SAT scores of
student athletes were compared to the rest of the student body, there was at least an 88point gap (Knobler College Athletes: Academic Performance).

There are many clear benefits of both programs. There are several areas
student engagement; development of positive character traits such as self-discipline,
teamwork, and personal responsibility; and capacity to bring people together to build
communityin which both football and music have similar positive impacts. John R.
Gerdy notes on the positive effects both programs have on students (Football or Music).
In contrast with this, while both teach teamwork, all sports, not just football, teaches the
importance of winning at all costs, which can create the need for acknowledgement
(George More Funding for School Arts). In music, there is no winning or losing.
Musicians get acknowledgment from the sound they make together.
On the other hand, sports programs give students opportunities they otherwise
would not have. The book, Muck City by Bryan Mealer, talks about the poverty the
students of Glades Central High School face and how many of them have the opportunity
to go to a good college on a scholarship just for playing football. And a story like this is
not unique. Students from all over the country, participating in all different sports, receive
scholarships every year and many of them could not have afforded to go on their own.
Last year alone, over $3 billion in scholarships were given out to athletes (Average
Athletic Scholarship). The better the sports programs in high school, the better the players
and a bigger chance they will be able to do something with their lives.
One of the big differences between sports programs and music programs in
schools is the level of safety. George Heymont says Sports programs often involve
rough physical contact that can lead to bodily injury. while Arts programs tend to be
more expressive than combative. (More Funding for School Arts). Many high school
athletes have died from complications such as cardiac failure, concussions and heat

stroke (Huber Can Endurance Sports). Arts programs have yet to report anyone dying
while playing a musical instrument or reading a poem says George Heymont (More
Funding for School Arts).
With the billions of dollars in education budget cuts across the country affecting
the way sports and music programs are run, tensions are rising between the participants
of both groups. With equipment, the cost of busses to transport students to games and
district fees, all sports are very expensive. High school sports teams are lucky though, if
they do not receive enough funding from the state, there are plenty of companies willing
to sponsor them to make it all possible. For example, two years ago New Balance gave
Gloucester High School in Gloucester, Massachusetts $500,000 to refurbish their existing
stadium and to have their name on the stadium (Koba High School Sports). Since the
school did not have to pay to refurbish the stadium, the money they would have had to
spend, can pay for other necessities such as new uniforms and other equipment. Although
slightly more rare, music programs receive donations from companies too. Casio America
recently donated digital pianos to Boys and Girls Clubs and schools around the country
(Casio Backs Music Education).
If you compare the two donations it becomes apparent that it is the sports
programs that receive the better funding, even if it does not come directly from the state.
Is that the way it should be? LAUSD commissioner of athletics Barbara Fiege thinks so.
She says, [The study statistics] prove what has generally been assumed, that
participation in high school athletics, on average, positively enhances the student's
academic progress in comparison with the rest of the student body, (New Study Shows
School Sports). On the other side of the argument is George Heymont. He says Exposure

to the arts helps to build a much stronger foundation for a young person's future than
merely being taught to conquer and destroy any opposition or blow up shit. (More
Funding for School Arts).
If you look at all the factors mentioned, you will see that both programs are very
deserving of time and funding but unfortunately, there is not much money to go around.
For this problem, there are many possible solutions. One option is that we make the
sports budget slightly smaller than the music budget, since they seem to get more money
from outside sources such as big companies. That way both programs get an equal
amount of funding even if it comes from different places. If this solution will not work,
one that does needs to be found, and quickly, before it is too late. It would be detrimental
to high school students across the country to cut funding in either of these programs,
since they both benefit students so immensely.

Works Cited
"11 Facts About Arts in Education." 11 Facts About Arts in Education. Dosomething.org.
Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-artseducation>. This website gives facts and statistics about arts in schools around the
world, arts funding in schools and the effect the arts has on students.
2012 College-Bound Seniors Total Group Profile Report. Rep. no. 003_0_NP_01.
College Board, 24 Sept. 2012. Web.
<http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/research/TotalGroup2012.pdf>. This report was put out by the College Board and it compares the SAT
scores of high school students depending on the programs they were in and the
classes they were taking. It includes information on what the SAT actually is and
how to use the statistics in the report. I used this website to compare the SAT
scores of an average high school student to one who took a music class.
America's High School Graduates. Rep. no. NCES 2011-462. U.S Department of
Education. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.
<http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/studies/2011462.pdf?
_ga=1.53407469.434493793.1449540235>.
"Average Athletic Scholarship per Varsity Athlete." Scholarship Stats. Web. 25 Nov.
2015. <http://www.scholarshipstats.com/average-per-athlete.html>.
"Casio Backs Music Education with Keyboard Donations to Notes for Notes."
Entertainment Close-up 20 Feb. 2015. General OneFile. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
<http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE|

A402291235&v=2.1&u=west63739&it=r&p=GPS&asid=1767ee37bfbb3c0b95bc
f3179d1c70a6>.
Catterall, James S., Susan A. Dumais, and Gillian Hampden-Thompson. The Arts and
Achievement in At-Risk Youth. Rep. National Endowment of the Arts. Web. 24
Nov. 2015. <https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/Arts-At-Risk-Youth.pdf>.
Gerdy, John. "Football or Music? What's the Best K-12 Investment?" Education Week.
Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/06/23/football-ormusic-whats-the-best-k-12.htm>. This article compares football funding to music
funding in schools, to answer the question of which is a better investment. It talks
about the feud between both activities and the effect they have on students.
Heymont, George. "More Funding for School Arts Programs, Less for Sports." The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-heymont/more-funding-for-schoola_b_757558.html>. This article is based on the opinion that there should be more
funding in schools for arts programs than sports. The author talks about how the
arts are safer, don't promote unhealthy activities and help students grow more as
individuals. In contrast, the author says sports programs are unsafe, teach students
bad character traits and promote unhealthy activities, among other things.
Huber, Gary. "Can Endurance Sports Really Cause Harm? The Lipopolysaccharides of
Endotoxemia and Their Effect on the Heart." Townsend Letter May 2015: 64.
General OneFile. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE|
A412799816&v=2.1&u=west63739&it=r&p=GPS&asid=be46b7afeb10f53043fd
4bbb8762c9ba>.

Knobler, Mike. "COLLEGE ATHLETES: ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: Behind the

Line on Grades." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Web.
<http://www.newhaven.edu/27084.pdf>.
Koba, Mark. "How High School Sports Have Turned Into Big Business." CNBC. 09 Dec.
2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2015. <http://www.cnbc.com/id/100001024>.
Mathews, Jay. "In Cutting Sports Funding, Everyone Loses." Washington Post. The
Washington Post, 02 Feb. 2009. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2009/02/01/AR2009020101781.html>. In this article, the
author talks about how cutting sports funding in schools would have a negative
effect. The author talks about the effect sports programs have on students.
Mealer, Bryan. Muck City: Winning and Losing in Football's Forgotten Town. New York:
Crown Archetype, 2012. Print.
Smith, Cameron. "New Study Shows School Sports Improve Grades, All While Districts
Wrangle with Cuts." Yahoo Sports. 9 June 2012. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
<http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/prep-rally/study-shows-school-sports-improvegrades-while-more-221934443.html>. This article talks about the positive effect
sports programs in schools have on students. The author includes statistics like
how an athletes GPA compares to one of a non-athlete.