It's time for a revolution in this country. For far too long we have labored under the crushing weight of state-endorsed sports-obsession. For too long we have suffered from the oppression of the elitest athletic groups in our schools. Our schools are supposed to be places of learning. They are supposed to be sanctuaries of education. But they have been dominated by the political sports faction until the ideals of education have been all but extinguished. Yes, there are instructors who emphasize learning over athletics but they are in a constant struggle with the athletic director and his cadre of brown-shirts for funds and support. What is the first thing that catches your attention as you approach a high school? A life-sized picture of the school's sports team mascot! What's the first thing you see when you enter a high school's front door? Trophies! Cabinet after cabinet of sports trophies! Why? What message does that send?

The goal of high school is to produce quality sports teams and teach us that athletes are more important than students and education. This fact is evident by the way student-athletes are given preferential treatment:

School is all about the jocks and the cheerleaders. And the rest of us can go to hell.

To keep the masses indoctrinated, the school holds mandatory monthly "Assemblies" where the student athletes are introduced one by one -by the principal -as if they were royalty. They have reserved seating in the front row. The masses are forced to listen as the female auxillary, a group of surreal female clowns, sing the praises of the privileged class. Because of the obvious privileged status bestowed on these "athletes" by the administration, everyone wants to be a member of the privileged class but that's not possible. The jocks and the female auxillary are the most popular members of the student body and most likely to be elected to any kind of office.

High schools have three major components:. Sports teams, a marching band, and cheerleaders. The purpose of the sports teams is obvious: to demonstrate the superiority of the ruling class. The band serves two purposes. Most importantly it heralds the arrival of the privileged class as they arrive at games. Secondly, it gives purpose to those students who weren't allowed to join the elite class. It allows them to be near the top and delude themselves into believing that they "belong". The cheerleaders perform a similar utility. They are the propaganda wing of the sports party. They sing the praises of the jocks at school "assemblies" and at games. These three units comprise the essense of what high school is. Together they form an interlocking arrangement of status and privilege designed to exclude the educated.

Another indication of how necessary sports are to high school is their use as a connection between the school and former students. After students graduate and move on to real life, they join booster clubs and athletic associations, political organizations focused on the continuance of the status quo. Through these legitimate organizations, members contribute money to expand the schools' sports programs. You don't see any Audio/Visual or French clubs after graduation, do you?

And what about the importance of televised high school football games? And the next day's commentary in the town newspaper? If sports weren't the most important part of high school, they wouldn't receive this kind of news coverage! You don't see the Chess Club or the Drama Club on TV, do you? Yes, sports are vital to society and the reason schools exist in the first place. And being a member of the football team (or a cheer clown) is clearly far more important than being educated or getting good grades!

I don't understand this culture of ignorance. Less than 10% of the school body ever belongs to the privileged class. Yet we all go along and accept what's shoveled out at assemblies. We all just accept that we're second class citizens and that's just the way it is. We're so accustomed to our position and stature that we don't even raise our heads to question this insanity!

WHY do we have to attend assemblies to praise the jocks?!

WHY are sports so important to the school?!

WHY is fully as much real estate devoted to the playing fields as to the school?

WHY is more money spent on athletic gear, field maintenance and lighting, and athletic programs than on books or lab equipment and computers?!

WHY is the school's sign board only used to announce school games?!

WHY is sports more important than learning when most of us aren't included?!

It's time to end this insanity and take back our schools NOW!

Restore Our Dignity! As non-jocks, the school administration has already identified us as the lowest-level student, our only value being the federal grant money our numbers require, and we have already settled to the bottom of the student stratification scale. But it's not enough that we've been relegated to the bottom rung of society. The administration wants to drive home the jock-superiority lesson and extinguish the last shred of our self-esteem by subjecting us to that mandatory daily humiliation:   gym class.

Gym class is where jocks are king and, for people like me, it means one thing: shame. First there is the daily indignity of being chosen last for some random game and then there is the hour of abuse by my team mates as I stumble and fail to meet their expectations. And finally, there is the sense of helplessness and impotence as I try to escape this hopeless situation but am firmly and indignantly denied.

Yes, I was always picked last. I don't know why. As far as I know, I was as graceful as any clumsy teenager. But I was probably much less enthusiastic. Although I didn't have strong feelings one way or the other, I had no real interest in playing. Our coach, a sullen, pot-bellied man, showed no interest in our class and just wanted us out of his hair as quickly as possible.

At the start of a typical gym class, as the crowd of us boys waited expectantly in the gym, he would drag himself out of the coach's office and announce which game we were going to play that day. He barked out the names of the two boys he always named as captains and ordered them to choose sides and then play until the bell rang. Then he dragged himself back into his office and closed the door. I don't know how these two boys came to be recognized as our default team captains but they somehow always were. They were the loudest and toughest.

I can say, without reservation, that I am an expert on the dynamics of high school team choosing. As the person always chosen last, waiting and hoping every day that maybe this day I might be chosen 23rd or 24th maybe instead of dead last, I've had plenty of time to examine the process. Boys waiting to be chosen for one team or another may be loosely classified into three broad groups. First there is the golden group, the boys who are always assured of being among the first five or six names called. You know who they are: the popular guys. The guys with mustaches and girlfriends.

Then there were the average guys who made up the bulk of the team. The choosing was more of a popularity contest than an ordering of skill level. The friends of the team captains were always chosen first whether they had talent or not. Then the most enthusiastic, pick me! pick me! boys were picked up one by one. And then the remainder was scrutinized for any overlooked proven performers and then it was just a matter of luck. And argument.

And then there was the small group of us four who neither team wanted: the friendly artist kid, the kid who always wore a coat, even in summer, the stoner guy, and me.

The choosing of sides always went on until the only kids left were us. Neither team captain wanted us and they argued bitterly over having to accept any of us but grudgingly picked us, one by one, until only I was left. And then there were the groans of disappointment from whichever team ended up with me. It's hard to express how depressing it was to be forced onto a team that didn't want me every single day. To be chosen last, and only chosen at all because the choosing had to go on until no one was left. To be utterly unwanted and despised.

I wish I could say that we four untouchables had some sort of comradery that helped us endure our shared shame but it wasn't like that. Each of us so desperately wanted to avoid being chosen last that we would have gladly sabotaged each other to avoid that fate ourselves. That's the way it is when you're in high school.

End mandatory humiliation now! Take back our schools and restore academic achievement as our goal!

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