An everyday story of Title IX
September 13, 2009
by Amy Siskind
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There’s a fair amount that has been written on this blog about Title IX, The Equal Opportunity in Education Act, which amongst other things, guarantees that girls will have an equal number of sports teams as boys. Title IX is currently under attack.
My daughter is for the first year eligible through our middle school to play on a school team. I went to the parent meeting to discuss the parameters of the Fall Sports this past week.
I want to share with you all how important it is that we fight for Title IX and how it, in the very real world, can help our daughters.
First off, I was surprised to find that the girls sports in the fall outnumbered the boys sports. The girls have a total of 5 team sports: cross country, soccer, field hockey, volleyball and swimming. The boys have 3: football, soccer and cross country. The athletic director (a woman) explained that his is thanks to Title IX and since the town did not carry as many recreational sports pre- middle school for the girls – this is the make up.
And here’s some of the things that the girls get playing sports, other than exercise (which is of course extremely important with the health issues of our time):
* fundamentals of team play (this is the best training for corporate America – take it from me. To say nothing of how important it is for girls to learn to work together!);
* commitment and dedication
* social and emotional growth
* healthy competition
* no drinking or drugs (grounds for expulsion from team).
What a tremendous list of life lessons for our young girls. We must continue to fight for and support Title IX!
Wow, so you support the schools being sexist? How shallow and ignorant are you??
Although I hope your daughter never faces the sting of discrimination because of her gender – neither of you will have any right to complain.
Oh good lord, our resident Title IX troll is back.
Good article, Amy. I’m glad TNA supports Title IX. Here’s a stunning statistic I read recently that really brings home the importance of Title IX: 80% of female managers at Fortune 500 companies have an athletic background in either high school or college. Title IX has literally prepped the first generation of women to understand and want to compete. I think that is absolutely wonderful. I recognize that it is a significant sign of our progress, one that is sure to grow as this generation, burgeoning with athletic opportunity, enters the workforce.
Aaron, Huh? Well if things now are temporarily tipped in favor of girls then I will think that my daughter is getting my share of athletics which was denied me. There were no girls sports when I went to grade school. By High school there was a gymnastic team and girls could work out with the boys golf, tennis and track teams but not compete. I sent my athletic daughter to a Catholic all girls school so money could not be drained from the tuition I paid for my daughter to funnel to male sports. But the public schools still owe me for the lack of opportunity.
Thanks Amy and Anna Belle for supporting title IX. I think it cannot be overvalued what sports and particularly team sports teaches our girls. what we need in addition is appropriate numbers of sports scholarships for girls.
a friend of mine who for years paid for ballet lessons for her twins finally recognized that they are more interested in team sports. the past weeks had been revelations for them enjoying cross country and volleyball teams. my daughter would not give up her swimming and basketball for anything.
Aaron,
If you are a man that views gender equality as “shallow and ignorant”, then you have come to the wrong place!
But thanks for stopping by – maybe you could learn a thing or two????
Aaron,
I’m not clear what the basis for your objection is. Is it that pre-middle school girls were discriminated against? Or that compensation was created for them in middle-school?
“The athletic director (a woman) explained that his is thanks to Title IX and since the town did not carry as many recreational sports pre- middle school for the girls – this is the make up.”
Are past wrongs never to be acknowledged or compensated for? That could potentially eliminate the criminal and civil justice systems.
I would be interested to know if there is a discrepancy in the number and types of athletic programs at the high school level.
Aaron,
May I make a suggestion? Instead of spending your resources on attacks on athletic programs for girls, could you invest your resources in an effort to increase the availability of activities for all children?
So Bes, if my son were as shallow as you and decided to exact punishment on your granddaughters for his not receiving equal treatment, would you be upset? Would you tell your granddaughters that it’s to make up for the benefits their mother received? It’s very sad what happened to you, and if punishing my son by denying him equal rights makes you feel better, then you are truly a petty person.
That also goes to your point Ellis. How is punishing someone completely unrelated to the deed justice? What your analogy says is since we can’t go back in time to correct the problem, we’re going to inflict that same problem on someone else just because of his gender. If Bes robs a bank should her daughter be sent to jail? Here’s a thought, have the schools offer free or reduced price athletic and/or fitness opportunities for the women against whom they discriminated. If discrimination is so bad, why do you keep calling for a new round of it.
Amy, if you took the time to read, I was pointing out that the discrimination at that school and the general sexism is shallow and ignorant. I’m the one arguing girls deserve equal rights to boys, but too many petty women (Bes) decide that they don’t want to give up the superior position. They are just like the sexist men of the 40′s. It was wrong then, and it’s wrong now. I wonder if you’d be ok if they started axing girl’s fine arts (dance, choir, etc) in the school because girls have more opportunities in the community? Heck, there are so many programs for girls in STEM subjects, by that logic they should start removing girls from advanced science and math classes.
Mr. Horning, I’ve actually helped start 2 field hockey programs at 2 middle schools over the last three years (even though they won’t allow the boys to play – at all, not even in practice, as per state guidelines.), developed a soccer program for underprivileged children at a third school. The thing is, those help around 80 kids. The more women like this decide that boys of today should be punished because of their gender, I’m fighting an uphill -and some say fools’ – battle. Either way though, it’s the right thing to be done. Every child deserves an equal right an opportunity to participate in sports and even more so attain his or her fullest potential in the classroom.
Aaron,
I am pleased that whatever school district you are in is following the intent of the law. I hope you are not trying, subconsciously, to make these girls feel guilty.
I was suggesting private money, like what the American Legion and the AAU have done for years to provide athletic opportunities for millions of boys.
Well, that depends on what you think the intent of the law is, or more specifically was. I thought it was intended to prevent discrimination based on gender. Unfortunately, as you can see by most of the women above and the school referenced, it’s being used to repeat the same mistakes of 50 years ago. They are very much in favor of the punitive – punish boys for girls’ choices motif that runs Title IX today. If you notice, my last project was for underprivileged children. I left the original district when the space camp was not awarded to the best science students, the at risk or the most well behaved students, but to girls. I was supposed to explain to a lower income black boy that the school was letting a rich white girl go because she didn’t have the educational opportunities he did. I tried telling him as he got on the bus for an hour long trip to his job to help out his single parent household pay the bills and she got in the car she got from her two professional parent household. In the end, I ended up explaining that too many women tie more to their sex than their sons. Thank you Title IX.
Oh, and I do make them feel guilty, but not for their choices, but rather if they allow this to happen in their name and do nothing about it then they are guilty. All of my students are told it is a moral imperative to fight injustice where they see it. The girls have just as much obligation to fight for equality in the face of Title IX as the boys have to fight the gender pay gap in the workforce. If they are unwilling to speak out for the boys now, they should have no expectations of being paid the same wages or for the boys to speak for them later in life.
But then I tell the boys the better people would still fight for the girls to be paid the same, two wrongs don’t make a right.
i’ve spent the last 22 years on soccer fields from pee-wee to D-1 schools–
my 3 daughters all played from the time they were 4 years old–
2 of my 3 earned athletic scholarships to CAL-Berkeley where they receive(d) fine educations. I am one of those moms whose kids got into great schools they probably wouldn’t have gotten into without their athletic talents…just like the boys…and i’ve had MANY women make snide ‘dumb jock’ comments–as a parent of athletes, you get used to it—God bless the women who pioneered Title 9—
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