Should High School Athletes Be Granted Homework Passes?

By Dylan Mather and Samantha Phillips

Agree: Samantha Phillips

Student-athletes deserve a homework pass.

Everyone can agree that student-athletes have a tough time balancing academics, practices, games, and having a healthy social life.

Homework passes wouldn’t prevent the student-athletes from learning, they would just give the student some extra time to do their work.

Also, they would still be learning the content just at a pace that is less strenuous for them. It wouldn’t be excessive either, maybe one per semester.

If the assignment is mandatory for the student, the teacher is allowed to decline the pass. If the pass is okay with the teacher then there will be no harm in their overall health and happiness.

A good example of this is soccer players. They get home late from away games on school nights and there’s no way someone could focus in a loud atmosphere.

In conclusion, student-athletes deserve a few homework passes.

Disagree: Dylan Mather

High school athletes should not have any homework passes at any time in the academic calendar.

An athlete should not just be someone who excels in sports but is able to manage their time to succeed in other areas.

In fact, it has been proven that time management is one of the most prominent byproducts of competitive athletics. 

In the “real world,” no one can get passes for their inability to do their work. Adults have families and two jobs and they can get by without passes.

As an alternative, per the student’s situation, they are able to ask the teacher for an extension. This way the student-athletes could maintain their overall health while not abusing the system.

High school athletes should be responsible enough to get their homework done and help their negotiation skills by asking for extensions.