As a student athlete, I think I can speak for all my fellow teammates and peers that this new rule is bogus (student athletes must now be enrolled in a study hall). I work my butt off at practice every day and first you tell me I must test out of gym class. I’m a cheerleader and a sprinter, I cannot run 60 beeps on the pacer. Just because I don’t have the endurance of the pacer doesn’t mean I don’t excel in other exercises specific to my sport. This just seemed unfair, but it turns out all of this added stress to get a study hall turned out to be a lie. A lie ultimately used to coerce student athletes to get better test results. Then you put us into a separate area to study where we cannot talk, eat, get something from our locker, use technology, or go to the library. And you wonder why us athletes are upset.

First of all, This is the 21st century and all of our homework and classes are on the computer. Why can we not go to the library? The library has computers and resources that can help us excel in our classes. So now I lug my laptop around (probably adding extra stress to my already pre-arthritic back) so I can write a paper. A laptop I must show my study hall teacher beforehand. Ultimately taking time out of the class I’m using to study.

Why aren’t we allowed to eat? We are athletes who have practice every day after school and you are telling us we can’t have food? That really just makes no sense whatsoever. We burn so many extra calories a day, and need to refuel our bodies, and you are not letting us get food. Any Physical Education teacher should know that. It just doesn’t make any sense.

We can’t talk? I’m not cheating, there is no one teaching during study hall. I’m trying to understand my difficult classes. Some students are great teachers. Communicating and explaining concepts to others helps you learn and helps others learn. If I’m not allowed to go to the library to look up questions, why can’t I ask friends for help?

Maybe there have been students in the past who have abused the system, but why punish those that follow it? In this athletic study hall I find myself unable to fully complete all my assignments in that class period due to the limited use of technology, talking, and inability to get books from my locker. If the point of this study hall is to give us a proper learning environment to complete our assignments, then give us the proper resources. Overall, it seems that this new program is punishing student athletes for their hard work, rather than celebrating students participation in extra curricula’s.

Sincerely,

The girl overheating in the corner of the film room