District Administration - May 2006 - (Page 43)

CITIZENSHIP percent vs. 33 percent in 2000 , and Participation followed news closely 41 percent vs. 49% of males and 35% of females 26 percent . participate in extramural sports teams while in high school In addition to age, the researchers also considered gender, race/ethnicity, Sports & Voting income, other high school activities, region and educational attainment. High school students involved in sports Even with those controls in place, were more likely to be registered to vote sports participants were more engaged Registered to vote in civic activities. For instance, 24 Sports ................................................................................... 59% percent of sports participants reported No sports ............................................................................... 4 4% volunteering, compared to 18 percent News of non-participants. W hether or not there is a direct High school students involved in sports correlation between sports participa- were more likely to watch news programs tion and civic engagement, any good Sports No sports influence sports has will be growing. Follow the news closely ....................................41% ................. 27% According to data from the National Follow sports news closely .............................. 28% ................. 10% Federation of State High School Follow political news closely .............................. 4% ...................3% Associations, during the 2004-05 Sports & Civics school year approximately 7 million high school students participated in Generally, high school and college students who have participated in athletic programs, up from 5.3 million high school sports are also more civically engaged than young people in 1990. Of course, most of them who have not participated in sports. were boys. According to the 2002 Civic Indicators Sports No sports survey, 49 percent of the males and Volunteer ...................................................... 24% ................. 18% 35 percent of the females aged 18-25 Regular volunteer ........................................... 10% ...................7% responding said they participated in Worked to solve community problem .................. 5% ...................4% high school sports, with an overall 42 percent reporting sports participation. Political Indicators T he small sample size caused the Registered to vote .......................................... 60% .................44% researchers to look at the respon- Voted in 2000 ............................................... 4 3% ................. 33% dent s as a whole, rather than break- Voice Indicators i ng them down by gender, but a few Wrote letter ..................................................... 3% ...................4% points stood out. Female athletes Boycott ......................................................... 12% ................. 12% were more likely to volunteer than Participated in town meeting ............................. 3% ...................4% male athletes 36 percent vs. 28 Signed e-mail petition ...................................... 6% ................. 10% percent , but the males watched more Feel comfortable making public statement ........ 38% .................30% news, especially sports news 37 S ourc e : National Youth Survey of Civic Engagement, 2002 percent vs. 42 percent . The researchers were not able to lifetime of group membership. draw any direct conclusions as to why civ ic activities. He also wants to look Lopez plans to continue explor- student athletes were more engaged at the link between extra-curricular i ng the relationship between sports in their community, and considered activities in general and civic engage- and civic engagement. Aspects he the possibility that people who choose ment , and to see whether there is a hopes to investigate include compar- to do sports might naturally be more correlation between participation in i ng whether some sports, such as inclined to participate in civic affairs. certain types of activities, such as football, have more impact on civic However, I think that sports partici- school paper, student government, engagement than other sports, such pation helps to develop a set of civic band, cheerleading and sports, and as tennis, and whether there is a link skills that are transferable to other being more civically active. between a student's position on a areas, Lopez says. For example, w w w.civicyouth.or g team a leadership role as opposed to being part of a group, and learning to a general player role and his or her work with other people could lead to a Ann McClure is associate editor. May 2006 43 www.DistrictAdministration.com sports.w.indd 43 4/14/06 11:03:35 AM http://www.civicyouth.org http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - May 2006

Contents
Editor's Letter
Listening In
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Sports & Civics
Q&A: Lessons for Tomorrow
Cover Story: Special Ed's Greatest Challenges and Solutions
Dome Sweet Dome
Smart Design
Rotten Apples
The Online Edge
Speaking Out
Principal Opinion
Public Opinion
Problem/Solution
Leadership Books
Laptop Roundup
New Products
By the Numbers

District Administration - May 2006