RSS Feed
May 18th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda FRIDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) — Schools that charge kids to
participate in sports may be benching some children, a new survey
finds.
One in five parents with an annual household income under $60,000 said
sports-related fees have forced their middle- and high school-aged
children to reduce their involvement in school sports, according to the
University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on
Children’s Health.
Budget cuts have led school districts across the United States to scale
back athletic funding and implement fees to cover the cost of school
sports, according to the investigators.
The survey found that 61 percent of children playing middle or high
school sports were charged a pay-to-play fee. The average cost was $93,
but the fee was $150 or more for 21 percent of the children.
The poll also found that when equipment, uniforms and additional team
fees were added, the average cost for a child’s participation in a school
sport was $381.
Twelve percent of parents said the cost of school sports led to a drop
in participation by at least one of their children, but that varied
substantially based on household income. About 19 percent of families
earning less than $60,000 a year said costs led to a decrease in their
children’s participation in school sports, compared with 5 percent of
parents in families earning more than $60,000 per year.
Only 6 percent of students received a waiver of pay-to-play fees, the
poll found.
The findings suggest that schools should re-examine their waiver
policies and consider options such as partial waivers, installment
payments, or other means to provide flexibility for families, said Sarah
Clark, associate director of the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit
at the University of Michigan and associate director of the National Poll
on Children’s Health.
“We know that participating in school sports offers many benefits to
children and teens: higher school achievement, lower dropout rates,
improved health, reduced obesity and the development of skills like
teamwork and problem-solving,” Clark said in a University of Michigan
Health System news release.
“There’s not an athletic director, school administrator or coach out
there who doesn’t want every kid to have a chance to participate. But
there are no easy answers, especially because budgets are expected to get
tighter and tighter,” she added.
More information
The Nemours Foundation has more about children and sports.
Posted in 
Tags: 
