How does being involved in high school extra curriculars affect the

students overall high school experience?

While most students in high school feel isolated and outcasted, students who participate

in extracurricular activities have more of a sense of belonging by having a designated group to

call home and rely on. Extracurricular activities include more than just sport teams. Clubs and

honor societies are also classified as extracurricular activities such as chemistry club, National

Honor Society, Rotary organization, and many others. The effects of being involved in

extracurricular activities during a student’s high school career can increase their overall

experience by developing their interpersonal skills, having positive affects on mental health, and

having increased standardized testing scores. The benefits of participating in an extracurricular

activity outweighs the disadvantages which is why the county should account for the

participation of at least one extracurricular activity during the regular school day.

Many extracurricular activities help in the development of students’ interpersonal and

professional skills. The responsibility put on each of the students individually to maintain a

certain grade point average, contribute work, and the responsibility on the group to achieve a

common goal allows the students to form a foundation of understanding on how a hierarchical

environment works. A study was conducted on a group of boys of the ages thirteen to fifteen,

who were deemed as at-risk students. These students were accustomed to making interpersonal

remarks that were far from positive. After being involved in a “fair play” environment, which is

an environment that puts kids in extracurricular activities with a fair competitive atmosphere, the

subjects showed a significant increase in the amount of positive social interactions that were
being had (Hastie 2013, page 25). “As students become more skillful, they are given increasing

levels of responsibility and are placed in an environment that reinforces specific interpersonal

behaviors through formal accountability systems” says Peter Hastie (2013, page 24). As the

student becomes more involved in the activity, their gain in responsibility begin to shape their

work ethic, and professional ability, leading to a more well-rounded student who is ready to take

on more responsibilities with great achievement.

Those who are involved in extracurricular activities are statistically safer sexually, less

violent, and have an overall better mental health. Data was collected at the Center for Disease

Control and prevention through the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys that are distributed every two

years. Recently data was collected comparing non-athletes, and athletes, not showing preference

to what grade they are in, how old they are, their gender, race or ethnicity. The data reviled that

athletes had a higher chance of having healthier behaviors which lead to better physical and

mental health and had a lower chance of carrying a weapon (The case for high school activities,

paragraph 9). Many high schoolers report having symptoms of depression and high anxiety

levels. These start during the adolescent stage of life and can build up significantly as a person

goes through life. Researchers have found a correlation between physical activity and mental

health. Neurobiological influences, psychological characteristics and social factors help support

this claim. Exercise provides students “the opportunity to enhance self-concept, and increased

perceptions of self-concept help reduce depressive symptoms” (Jewett, 2014 paragraph 2), while

the social aspect offers a chance for students to have that interaction with others, creating

connection which would also help cultivate a positive mindset and mental state (Jewett, 2014

paragraph 2).
 Being in a better mental state allows for students to enjoy their time in high school more,

as well as giving them more of an opportunity to do better in school regarding academics. There

are studies that have proven that those who participate in extracurricular activities have a better

work ethic and leads to them doing better in school more than those who do not participate in

extracurricular activities. In a specific study of 492 students of a senior class at a relatively big

school in the western part of the United States of America collected data that supported the claim

that students who were a part of an extracurricular activity scored significantly higher on

standardized testing while also having a higher grade point average. “Corbett (2007) found

uniformly positive benefits associated with participation in school-sponsored extracurricular

activity participation (EAP) and encouraged educational leaders to get students engaged in

extracurricular activities, the results of this study, and the vast majority of the EAP research,

regarding standardized test scores clearly demonstrates the value added by extracurricular

participation’” (Lumpkin, 2012, paragraph 13). There are many case studies that provide a great

deal of evidence that supports the claim of elevated test scores due a student’s active

participation in extracurricular activities; this is because students who are in extracurricular

activities begin putting themselves in leadership roles causing them to mature taking on a slightly

authoritative role. This leads the student to take more things into their own hands, including their

education. Students who are more involved in school also have a lower rate of absences, and

higher academic achievement which are some factors that result in an elevated test score and

grade point average but, the lack of involvement in an extracurricular activity can have the

opposite effect on a student’s overall academic success. Those who are not put in these positions

with responsibility miss out on opportunities to gain these higher levels of maturity. Joining an
extracurricular activity has proven benefits however, there are negatives that could have an

inverse effect on a student’s schoolwork

There are a lot of elements to consider when thinking about joining a club, honor society

or sport in high school. Joining activities outside of the traditional school day can cause more

anxiety and pressure to be put on the student, as well as the student might not have the resources

to participate in an extra activity outside of the school.

Each high school student has specific requirements when it comes to getting their

diploma. That alone can be stressful enough but when a student decides to add an extracurricular

activity to their agenda it can add stress as well. Every student must deal with stress. Each one

dealing with it differently but not every student has the means of coping with their stress

correctly and effectively. If a student begins to feel overwhelmed and does not find an

appropriate way of alleviating the stress, it will continue to pile up. Some students are not as

academically gifted ass others, so adding extracurricular activities to their academic portfolio

could negatively affect their academic achievement. The accumulation of stress can lead to

emotional and mental break downs which can then lead to the student not fulfilling their duties to

their schoolwork and their after-school activity.

All the stress extracurricular activities could potentially cause is one of the negatives

components that comes to the minds of students when the words doing more in school is

mentioned in schools. One other aspect that would restrict student voluntary participation is the
lack of resources such as, not being able to afford the physical and financial cost of the activity,

or not having a reliable way to get home from school due to the busses leaving promptly after the

normal school day ends, since their parents are busy at work and cannot drive them,. These

limitations restrict students from participating in any extracurricular activities that they could

benefit from.

The extra activities that students participate in will cause stress and it will be more work

than just doing the bare minimum to get by in high school but, the benefits outweigh the

negatives. Improved mental health, increased interpersonal skills and test scores is more

beneficial then not having the stress of a few extra activities. Extracurricular activities may cause

stress but that is because something worth doing is going to take effort and cause a bit of stress.

A way to increase participation in extracurricular activities during high school- county

wide and potentially nationwide, is to build time into the daily school schedule and make it a

new requirement for students to be able to graduate. By making time in the school schedule for

students to actively participate in an extracurricular activity will eliminate the restriction for the

students who rely on the busses to take them home after school. Having that time set aside

specially for the activity the students would like to participate in but are not always able to would

allow for more students to join and reap the benefits. Also, with having that time during school

for the students would lessen the stress of joining due to the time during the day they would now

have to complete what is being asked of them by their specific organization or group.
 Reference list

Fredricks, J. A. (2012). Extracurricular participation and academic outcomes: Testing the over-
scheduling hypothesis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(3), 295-306.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/10.1007/s10964-011-9704-0

Hastie, Peter. Applied benefits of the sport education model. Journal of Physical Education,
Recreation & Dance, vol. 69, no. 4, 22 Feb. 2013, pp. 24–26.,
doi:10.1080/07303084.1998.10605530.

Jewett, R. and Sabiston, C. School sport participation during adolescence and mental health in
early adulthood. Journal of Adolescent Health Volume 55, Issue 5, November 2014, Pages
640-644,
doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.04.018

Lumpkin, A. and Favor, J. Comparing the academic performance of high school athletes and
non-athletes in kansas in 2008-2009. Comparing the Academic Performance of High
School Athletes and Non-Athletes in Kansas in 2008-2009, vol. 4, no. 1, Mar. 2012,
quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jsas/6776111.0004.108/--comparing-the-academic-performance-of-
high-school-athletes?rgn=main;view=fulltext.

Turner, S. The benefit of extracurricular activities in high school: involvement enhances

Wilson, N. Impact of extracurricular activities on students. 2009wilsonn.Pdf, May 2009,

The case for high school activities. (n.d.) NFHS. Retrieved from www.nfhs.org/articles/the-case-
for-high-school-activities/.
 REVISION LETTER

Date: 11/02/2019

Dear Mrs. Scoggin,

In the first revision, I used the SOAPSTone strategy to consider how to best approach this writing
assignment. Some of the revisions I made as a result of applying this strategy are adding more
details about what the advertisement accomplished and who it was trying to reach.
From my peer revision, Francesca Bitondo explained that adding a section in my paper after the
opposing views section to explain how someone is able to overcome those obstacles would help
make my paper even better.
As a result of my appointment with the Writing Center, I was able to create a clear outline for each
body paragraphs of my paper with organized thoughts for each section.
Due to my boyfriend reading and discussing my paper, I was able to fix the grammatical errors and
make punctuation better.
Towards the end of the essay due date, there was a new revision done called the Frankenstein
revision where the paragraphs of the essay get cut up and try and put them in a different order. I
learned that the opposing view should be more towards the end.
For this causal argument, the most effective revision strategy was the SOAPSTone because it was
set up to give a lot of information in an easy to comprehend format. It also helped identify the exact
audience.

Sincerely,

Jessica L. Sotolongo