This Week's Peer Panel Topic of Discussion

This week's question comes from Cate Toman at St. Joe: "Do you think that sports or the arts or any other extra curricular activities that requires dedication distracts students' attention from their academic studies, or do you think that these activities augment an academic experience? Is it hard to achieve balance with all these activities?

Curt Walls, Ladue High

I think it's a mixture of both. if they have too many activities then it will most defiantly distract students from their academics, but if they have enough that they can handle it can become a great academic experience.

Victoria Watson, Villa Duchesne

I think that playing sports and participating in the arts should be fun. The whole point of being involved with extra-curricular activities should be because they are interesting and you enjoyable. They teach us how to manage our time and make us well rounded individuals. With that being said, yes, sometimes they do distract us from studying and homework, but I think that it is up to the student to be give their full attention to their activities as well as their academics.

Students don’t necessarily have to be in so many clubs and on so many teams that they can’t stay balanced. I think they need to choose one or two things that work for them, and stick with them.

In regards to augmenting the academic experience, I say that it changes with the student. School isn’t always a student’s strongest suit; extra-curriculars help them work with what they excel at.

Cate Toman, St. Joseph's Academy

I think it is difficult to balance extracurricular activities along with the work I do in school. I think that if I were more involved in more extracurriculars, I would have to take less rigorous courses, and I think the converse of that would be true as well.

I know it is possible for some to manage being student body president and captain of the swim team and valedictorian, but I'm not perfect. I'd never be able to do that. Because of that, I wish that extracurriculars were more integrated in the school day.

For example, instead of attending physical education and going to swim practice after school, a student could choose to utilize their physical education time as a practice and still have it count as a gym credit to meet graduation standards.

It would be easier if clubs had time to meet during the school days, and I think the lack of pressure to keep going after the school day is over would allow the student to fully complete any homework he may have.

This is a pipe dream, in a way, because it would cause so many issues with school curricula and even state legislation. For now, I guess my fellow students and I will just have to keep working to find that elusive balance.

Molly Soto, St. Joseph's Academy

I think that although extracurricular activities to require a lot of time, they ultimately do not distract students from their academic studies. Speaking from a personal example, I play field hockey and the time commitment is two hours after school every day for three months tops.

It was not very hard for me to achieve a balance of school work and field hockey because field hockey did not totally consume all my time so therefore I had plenty of time to do homework.

I think that if the student has enough drive to balance extracurricular activities and school, they can achieve a perfect balance.   

Isabelle Stillman, John Burroughs

If kids focused on academics only, their lives would be too singular. Arts and athletics offer students an opportunity to learn skills beyond study skills, to exercise and to appreciate the world around them. I

t is important to balance these three things; without devoting time to more than academics, kids would not understand teamwork, human connections, and beauty.

Allison Hermann, St. Joseph's Academy

I think sports and activities are a good thing to participate in. To be a well rounded person, you have to do more than just academics. If they are taking too much time and you are putting all of your effort into the extra curricular then they may be a problem, but if you can find a balance between the two then they are very beneficial.

They can teach you discipline and morals that you may not learn from academics. Life is about trying and experiencing new things. Focusing on one thing your whole life will not make you a well rounded person. Participating in extra curricular activities is a good thing.

Spencer Desai, MICDS

I believe that while sports and other extra curricular activities can be time consuming and cause frustration at times, they are completely worth it for the lessons and good times they provide.

I had to quit the football team due to injuries and had the entire fall off from sports and had very few extra curricular. I have never been so bored in my life.

Getting home at three in the afternoon and being able to just hang out until five was nice but it was nothing compared to the fun I had with my teammates and the lessons and values I learned.

This happens with things other than football and other than sports often. So while they are time consuming, I believe that extra curricular, especially sports, can be extremely helpful to building one's character.

Rebecca Antony, MICDS

Sports and activities sometimes mess with my academics, but most of the time I find a way to construe a schedule around my other plans, so things don't coincide and get in the way.

Schedules are the key if you're planning on doing a lot of short activities, or a few time-consuming ones--but when even scheduling can't take care of everything, you've got to get your priorities taken care of first--and then attend to the rest.

Most everyone I know's priorities right now are somewhere around education, but again, you've got to play to your strengths...