School pays off right?

Kids of this generation might not think so. Athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo earning an astronomical 45£ a second (for us stubborn Americans, $54.97), will really get a kid thinking. The average American’s lifetime earnings with a bachelor’s degree is $1.8 million dollars, while Ronaldo will rake that in after only seven hours!

Even if you aren’t a sports star, you can make a crazy amount of dough as a competitive athlete. The average NBA player earns about $ 4 million dollars. To hit, pitch, or catch a baseball professionally you can earn an average of $ 4 million dollars.  To bash your brains out in football you can earn an average of  $1.9 million dollars.

Where does this mindset from? Elementary, middle school and especially high school students are pushed into a thought process of “Sports First.” School pride has never been about the Mathletes or the chess club, but about the soccer, baseball, football, and basketball teams. Many art and music programs are cut because much of restricted school budgets are spent on jerseys, new stadiums, and sports equipment. Perhaps these priorities reveal why America is only fourteenth in education. Moreover, it doesn’t help that collegiate student athletes aren’t staying to finish a degree. After only one year in college, (commonly known as one and done)  many collegiate basketball players decided to go pro. The NCAA does require football players to stay a second year.  America’s priorities are loud and clear when students are better off leaving a Duke, UCLA, or Michigan program to bounce or throw a leather ball.