<p>I've noticed that many of the people on CC aren't into sports. How many of you guys think that people who play sports aren't on your level academically? Do you assume that they aren't very smart or "average" even if you don't personally know them because of your preconceived ideas of the "dumb jock" stereotype?</p>
<p>It seems like in college, especially top schools, athletes and non-athletes are segregated because people think that the athletes got a leg up in admissions and aren't qualified and probably wouldn't be admitted otherwise. Even in high school, I can feel resentment from my peers and even some teachers (I play basketball and soccer, and plan on playing soccer in college).</p>
<p>There may be some truth to it, as there is with many stereotypes, but I find it frustrating to deal with sometimes.</p>
<p>So, first, I'd like to know why some of you don't play sports. Did you want to focus on school? Did your parents discourage you? Did you just not have interest? If you feel comfortable with sharing, please do.</p>
<p>Second, how much truth do you think there is to the stereotype? Does it have an effect on the student body at school?</p>
<p>Third, what are any other of your thoughts on the subject as a whole?</p>
<p>I agree with you, all the athletes in my school must keep an average of a B in all classes. I don’t really even think they’re is a such thing a a dumb Jock. Maybe they pretend when with friends but these kids are usually bright.</p>
<p>There are a lot of dumb jocks at our school, but there are plenty of smart ones too. Our starting QB has like a 4.2/2250. I’m probably considered a jock too, and I do pretty well for myself academically.</p>
<p>I don’t play sports because I’m tiny, and I’m just better at school work than sports. My parents encourage me and my siblings to do sports. My sister does track, and my brother played basketball and tennis.</p>
<p>In my school, no one really cares about the “dumb Jock” stereotype. Most of the athletic students are really smart.</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t really care. If a student excels at sports than in academics, (or course they can’t be stupid, but maintain a B average) then I think he/she should be rewarded for it.</p>
<p>yeah those who choose to feed their brains instead of their limbs i appraise somewhat more favorably.</p>
<p>one thing is hs sports seems quite different from college sports. colleges admit students for their athletic ability since it’s so culturally vital to their institutions of learning. in most high schools it’s not like that. for one most of them are public, so there is no selection whatsoever, and second, even the private ones who are partial to athletic ability are not as partial to it as the colleges since it doesn’t have the same kind of importance to them (usually).</p>
<p>so that stereotype for college kids seems more reasonable to me than it does for hs kids.</p>
<p>My school has a mix of really smart athletes and super dumb jocks. I think it really depends on the type of person someone is, not whether he/she plays sports or not. The smart athletes are typically motivated in general, so they excel in both sports and academics. On the other hand, the dumb jocks just care about partying and drugs. Funny thing is, the smart athletes are actually better at sports than the dumb jocks. </p>
<p>This is coming from someone who sucks at pretty much every sport.</p>
<p>I play XC/Swimming/Track so I don’t think I really fit into the “jock” category, even though I play sports.</p>
<p>Realistically, if you get recruited for sports then you do get a leg up in admissions, so a lot of the time athletes aren’t as smart.</p>
<p>At my school there are one or two athletes who are really smart, but the majority fall in the bottom 25%.</p>
<p>The students I consider “jocks” when I think about this stereotype are usually Football/Hockey/Lacrosse. No offense but I don’t put Soccer and Basketball in the “Jock” category.</p>
<p>At my school, there are definitely people who fufill the dumb jock stereotype but a lot of IB kids are athletic and play sports too. It’s a mixture between the two. @runallday4 what you said abput football/hockey/lacrosse players is kind of funny because the lacrosse/football teams at my school have higher GPA’s then the soccer/basketball teams.</p>
<p>We’ve had a valedictorian that was on the football team–well freshman year. And State AP scholar and multiple science olympiad state gold medals etc.</p>
<p>Tennis/cross country (did the sport this year) has had the top 1 or 2 people for the class of 2012-2014 so far.</p>
<p>And of course a bunch of other smart people doing sports.</p>
<p>But “jocks” do prevail… To be honest I don’t know as many athletes as I know ASB/Class officers (which generally are “jock” type people–except for the recent years) if talking about popularity.</p>
<p>I’d like to play football, but I don’t think I’m bulky enough to play. Secondly, there are some what I like to call “meat heads” on our football team. One guy was in my French class & never knew the answers & probably had to look off of a classmate to get the answer. Another one failed & was a grade behind. The basketball players I had classes with weren’t the brightest either. Other than that, I’d say everyone else makes decent grades. I think that every school (unless it’s a brainy school that could care less for sports) that has sports will have your athletes that excel in the classroom & others who are a little behind. Not everyone is a dumb jock.</p>
<p>The “dumb jock” stereotype exists a little bit at my school, but is not overly prevalent. But ironically, three starting (and arguably the best three on the team) basketball players are very likely to be three of our valedictorians next year. Basketball is one of my school’s better sports. I’m sure they will all be going to Ivys or top LACs, as they come from some money. I go to a decent, somewhat large public school.</p>
<p>Well at my high school we do not have jocks because it’s such a school school I go to. However, there is baseball, and basketball but I don’t play either. I do not no if there are because I just do not know. I do play tennis on the other hand :).</p>
<p>In my class, the top five people all did at least one sport all four years. The girl’s varsity lacrosse team was 75%+ AP students. (Not that either of those examples proves anything about intelligence). But there were quite a few truly stupid people, particularly on certain sports that cost a lot of money to participate in, such as football and cheer-leading. </p>
<p>I think part of this stereotype comes from the coaches themselves. In 2010, a girl on the lacrosse team got a scholarship to some midwestern school to play lacrosse. The coach lavished praise on her, and used her as a model of what hard work could accomplish. Another girl on the team got into Harvard. She was the first student in many years to do so. As far as I know, the only congrats the coach gave her was during senior night when he announced the post high school plans of the graduating players. This attitude of athletics being most important thing, might translate to some of the athletes themselves who then go about perpetuating the dumb jock stereotype. From what I saw, the sports coached by AP teachers seemed to have the fewest “dumb jocks” although correlation does not imply causation.</p>
<p>The truly unmotivated students by and large don’t play sports. This is true at almost any school. Most schools require at least all Cs to continue to play. The bad students often have multiple Ds and Fs on their transcripts and are thus intelligible. The more important reason is that sports require a huge time commitment which most people who are unmotivated simply do not want to agree to.</p>
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<p>This is mostly true. Unmotivated students are often unmotivated people who are often unmotivated athletes. At my school you need a 1.75 to play, which is about a C- average.</p>
<p>The athletes here are either striving for their best in everything, including school and take advanced classes, or do not care about school and fit the stereotype. It’s one extreme or the other.</p>
<p>I play soccer and I do cross country, but I take as many AP classes and Honors as possible. I could challenge to becom valedictorian in my later years.</p>
<p>I think it also depends on the sport. Personally, I believe some sports take more brain power to play. Soccer, basketball, track/cross country, swimming, etc. seem to involve more thinking than American football or baseball. That’s my personal opinion. Some sports require more brainpower than others, and this could play a role, if that makes any sense. It depends on the person.</p>
<p>To be honest the “dumb jock” is sort of dying out, just like the “glasses nerd”.
Jocks at my are pretty smart (some of them). Some of them are even smarter then me. Though I still believe that jocks are typically around C average, so is most of my friend that do nothing like me (Though I make A and B lmao).</p>
<p>@Awflapkackz: You skill need brain power for football. How us to do pick a play and follow through with it. You can’t catch or intercept without thinking fast about where the ball might land.</p>
<p>^ The players don’t pick the play, the coach does. Furthermore, dissecting literature or solving calculus problems requires thinking, catching or intercepting a pass (which is really just catching again…) requires reacting. You’re comparing apples to oranges.</p>
<p>@Descuff I understand that the sport requires some skill, but some sports require creativity because you can’t run a play in them over and over. If something does not work out, the team tries it again. I dislike the sport, so I may be a bit more ignorant. </p>
<p>I think it just depends on an individual basis. Typically I find that some sports have very intelligent people participating, while some sports have a majority of the squad that could care less about school. These are just my experiences. It may be different in other areas. I’m not sure. </p>
<p>I think it also depends on the parents and how hard they push their child. The student’s upbringing could determine athletic participation, or how hard he or she works in general (whether it’s in school, sports, or both).</p>
<p>Having played football in High School, I can relate to what your saying and your frustrations. Most athletes, 80 percent of them are good upstanding kids, respectful to their elders and really good athletes. They wind up going to school for sports, wind up getting mired on the depth charts, and quit. Wind up getting married/doctors/successful and pleasant people. 10 percent of them are average guys, not really strong athletes or strong students, go off to school, dont play sports, get married and become teachers,businessmen, respectable kind people. Then there are the 10 percent that wind up peaking at 18 and get fat…that whole jazz. It does happen. Our starting RB my soph year went to UMD on a football scholly, got kicked off the team for drug offenses, got arrested. Next year got a girl preg, this year assaulted another girl, back in jail. Our LB(same year) dumb and dumber, punched a police officer in a bar at his college and got kicked off the team at a D2 school, played at a D3 school for a year, not in school anymore. But long and short, what wound up killing these kids where the adults that blew smoke and gave them EVERYTHING and never disciplined them when they were out of line, they thought that they could get away with anything in the real world, and it bit them in the a@@ big time…but i dont think your like that! Your fine!</p>