Participants in school activities feel better about schools and about education. In a word, participants in school activities are motivated to stay in school, like school and do well in school. Data just made available recently by a Canadian researcher connects participation in school sports to continued participation in sports in adulthood and higher income. The arts explore the ways in which we are not just educated, but ways in which we are human. Paths to Maturity and Success.
Extracurricular participation is a school's best predictor of an adult's success.
Taken together, one must conclude that if we care about kids' performance in school and their happiness and performance after graduation, we will supplement our curriculum with a full program of extracurricular activities, including athletics. First, we condemn the students to less fulfilling and successful lives than more fortunate students in other places may have. Second, we condemn the community in which they are educated to becoming less prosperous in the future than it is today. We exacerbate school and community problems. If I were moving to a community and had the opportunity to select one school district with a full program of school sports and another with an incomplete program or no program at all, I would choose what most people would choose, and the other communities would suffer.