The effect of athletic participation on school discipline

Discipline and drug abuses were rated as the number one and two top problems facing schools in the last two decades and must be improved. There is serious doubt cognitive experiences alone will solve or decrease the rate at which these are causing the increased dropout rates. Interscholastic athletic programs perceived in many instances as costly frills could be, in fact, a large part of the solution to many of the problems that are invading schools today (Smith, 1994). Wes-Del High School is a rural, central Indiana school of 302 students in grades 9-12. The school was selected for the study of the effect of athletic participation on high school discipline for the 1998-99 school year. The goal of this study is to investigate if there is statistical data to support if athletic participation has an effect on high school discipline. Discipline referrals were coded and broken down according to non-athlete referrals compared to athlete referrals. The number of male athlete referrals and female athlete referrals was also evaluated. Records were kept of when most athletes' referrals occurred and by what sport or specific teams. Based on data collected from this study, athletes were less likely to have received discipline referrals by a two to one ratio compared to non-athletes. The study also concluded that female athletes received significantly less of the total discipline referrals than male athletes. Females received 25% of the total discipline referrals compared to 75% of the total discipline referrals received by male athletes. In this study, there was evidence that supported female athletes received less discipline referrals in-season than out-of-season but, male athletes received more discipline referrals in-season than out-of-season. The results of the study provide evidence that schools should be encouraged to evaluate the benefits of athletic participation on school discipline.School of Physical EducationThesis (M.A.