Educational Amendments: Should we do away with Title IX - Research Paper Example

Should we do away with IX? Educational Amendments were issued in the year 1972 by the Congress. This law constituted of a section namely Title IX which does not allow to discriminate between the sexes when it comes to education that is afforded by the state, this also includes athletics. This law has become a subject of immense controversy today specially in athletics programs at high school or intercollegiate level. There is immense stress laid on imposing this twenty five year old law so that the ninety percent of the universities situated in Americas that are not following this law should come in accordance with it.

This law was published twenty years back when the federal governing bodies saw the terrible, inadequate and the inequalities that prevailed in the sports in college level. According to me Title IX is a good law; there should not any biases when it comes to sport on the basis of sex, race, cast or creed. The only problem when it comes to this law is that the opportunities tend to get pretty limited for men whilst providing the same chances for women. I don't believe that one should do away with Title IX.

I feel that colleges who are doing the wrong things to be title IX obedient" Title IX eliminated over discrimination and encouraged equitable treatment of men and women both inside and outside education."(Vetter, 101) In my paper I would give a description of title IX, in which I will mention few examples of how this law has been helpful, how much it has hurt and who it has aided. This Title IX is not merely targeting universities and colleges but also is an essential high school as well. In order to be in accordance with this law, the institutemust have equality and an equal number of both the sexes in athletics when a student body is formed.

This law is not required to be completely implemented the way it has been published and certain amendments according to the requirements are possible, it is not necessary that female athletes are equal but their rights under any circumstances should not be violated. Females are liable to file a law suit if they feel that there are chances of discrimination. Thus"Title IX--the 1972 law that has become synonymous with the rise of women's sports." ("Title IX, Title IX: Political Football Article) It is observed that a majority of schools in America are not in compliance with this law.

The shortcomings when it comes to this law if a school is in favor or somehow in compliance with the law then things are fine. On the contrary those school which are not in favor of this title then there are chances that if a female shows her reservations and requires the formation of a new team and she has massive support along her of other women then the school is liable to form a new team to accommodate these women. It is also observed that opportunities provided in high school are more, hence "Opportunities for participation are generally more equitable than in higher education.

" This law has proved to be very beneficial for females by providing them with great opportunities from which they were deprived earlier. Before this law had been implemented there were a huge number of schools with female participation in sport quite less or merely diminished. When this law was passed after a few years it was observed that the rate of women participating in sport had risen to new heights with a raise of 2.2 million. On the other hand it was observed that there was a drop in male participation.

This has helped to bring about gender equality and recognition to females in the area of sports and physically challenging activities. The reason why lawmakers are in favor of this law is that it has increased productivity in women. It is estimated that women who are involved in such activities, are less likely to get pregnant, or show affiliation with drugs or other addictions and there are chances that they are more likely to graduate as compared to other females it has been observed that many lawsuits have been filed by females against this law.

Colleges were far more in accordance with this law when it was passed earlier, now the ratio has decreased drastically and colleges are no more in compliance with this law anymore. This law has proved to be really helpful as females have got recognition, initially there were limited opportunities for women but today things have change in a tremendously. The rate of women participation has improved and this was only possible because of this law. The ratio has not just risen for females but also male participation has increased too.

Although the male participation is still more and female number needs further advancement but the ratio of active women has just tripled and even male participation has shown a good boost. An analysis show that before this law 36% women were involved in sporty activities but now the percentage has risen up to 55%. This is not just an end but a start to progress of women in sports as more and more schools now encourage this law and are trying their best to bring changes so that they are in compliance with such laws.

"Students, faculty, and staff for the first time had the means to amend or abolish sex discriminatory practices and policies." (Klein, 98) The problem here arises that despite efforts are being made to bring colleges in compliance with the law but these efforts are not just the precise ones to bring out a change. This Title IX was made to give optimum opportunities not to deprive the ones with opportunities. Although there has been a great increase in the amount of female athletes but a drop in the sport activities of men has been observed.

In order to bring about equality schools have started to eliminate games such as wrestling, gymnastics, acrobatics and swimming to cope up. (Brake, 218) This has bought immense disturbance in the popularity of the game and those people associated with the game face discouragement. Whereas some sports like football have gained popularity after this law, and there has been good progress in this area. It has been observed that because of Title IX there has been an addition of 60 football teams in total which is a fairly good amount.

Apart from that awareness has spread of this game and has encouraged participation which is a good sign. A reason of the popularity of this game can also be "Title IX forced administrators to admit that college football is not an extracurricular activity in the way that gymnastics or track is, but a marketing tool." (Odrian, 228) Thus football is also an attraction that directs students to universities. Hence it needs to be realized that the law was formulated in order to create justice and fair chances for all irrespective of the gender one belonged to.

(Porto, 138) This law gave ample chances for females to outshine and gain recognition in various areas of sports and athletics. This law has been adapted by many schools but the only problem that is associated with this law is that it could not serve to create balance and some rights of men were affected. What needs to be done here is that awareness on creating equal opportunities should be provided for all and actions to be taken in order to give attention to those sports whose popularity have been affected.

Thus personally I believe that this law should not be abolished but certain amendments are required for healthy propagation and equality. WORKS CITED Oriard, Michael. Bowled Over: Big-time College Football from the Sixties to the Bcs Era. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009. Print. Title IX: Title IX: Political Football Article."Title IX. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2013.  Davis, Michelle R. “Title IX Panel Contemplates Easing Proportionality Test.” EducationWeek N.p., n.d. Web.

19 May 2013.  Porto, Brian L. A New Season: Using Title Ix to Reform College Sports. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2003. Print. Brake, Deborah L. Getting in the Game: Title Ix and the Women's Sports Revolution. New York: New York University Press, 2010. Print Vetter, Betty M, Edward J. Hackett, Michael E. Gluck, Valerie E. Lee, Robert E. Fullilove, Arnold S. Levine, Betty D. Maxfield, Steven L. Goldman, Betty D. Maxfield, William K. Cummings, and Harley D. Balzer. Educating Scientists and Engineers: Grade School to Grad School.

Washington, DC: Congress of the U.S., Office of Technology Assessment, 1988. Print.. Klein, Susan S. Handbook for Achieving Gender Equity Through Education. Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007. Print.