Image by Shutterhack via FlickrSince the passage of Title IX in 1972, female participation in college sports has increased 400 percent; female participation at the high school level more than 800 percent.
Female athletes are more likely to develop positive school and lifestyle habits. High school girls who participate in sports are less likely to experience an unintended pregnancy or to smoke or use illicit drugs, while they are more likely to have a positive body image than girls who don't play sports.
What fostered that increase? Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities. It is one of the country's greatest success stories and AAUW was instrumental in in its passage.
Despite the significant gains girls and women have made since its enactment lack of data reporting presents a significant drawback to the law's enforcement at the high school level. The U.S. Department of Education does not require high schools to make athletic opportunity, participation, and funding statistics publicly available, even though they already collect this data. It's estimated that female high school students have 1.3 million fewer opportunities to play high school sports than do male students. But nationally there's no way to know for sure.
Colleges are required to report this data; it's time our high schools are, too. There are two things we can do:
- Find out if the high schools in Ulster County are in compliance with Title IX. See all the tools available on AAUW's new Know the Score web page. Let Rokki Carr know whether you're interested in working on this project.
- Take Action: urge our senators to co-sponsor the High School Sports Information Collection Act
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