The world will never know how the lives of young women attending high school prior to the mid-1970s might have been changed if there had been organized sports programs for girls at their schools.
I’m not talking about the loss of great female athletes, albeit that is one of the casualties of our lopsided history.
No, I have to wonder how different I and the girls I grew up with would have been had sports been made available to us at the same level they were our male classmates. Would we be more confident? Would our long-term health have been better? Would we have received sports scholarships that would have opened the doors to the same type of colleges as the male students?
I graduated from high school in 1976. Four years earlier, Title IX, the equal-opportunity law that opened up sports to girls and women across America, was signed by President Richard Nixon. Federal regulations for Title IX were issued in the summer of 1975. High schools and colleges were given three years, and elementary schools one year, to comply. Of course, some schools were ahead of the curve, while others dragged their feet.
My personal brush with sports came via physical education classes and neighborhood softball games. Until my two sons came along, I had never considered the importance sports can play in building character, leadership and friendships that will last forever.
By 1978, an equal of amount of girls and boys were participating in track and field events and on basketball teams. To me, it meant that girls were more than ready to be competitors, whether the federal government and the school districts were or not.
But Title IX is certainly about more than sports. It reads: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
Sports is just one of 10 areas addressed by the law. Other areas include: access to higher education, career education, education for pregnant and parenting students, employment, learning environment, math and science, sexual harassment prevention, standardized testing and technology. Sports perhaps was the most visible difference the new law made to schools.
When I watch my young granddaughter run across the yard, I wonder sometimes if she might choose to sprint across the finish line on the local high school track. I hope I will be there to watch and cheer her on. Mostly, I’m thankful that she will have opportunities in school that I never realized. It’s hard to imagine that we once lived in a world where girls danced instead of played sports, studied home economics instead of trained for a higher-paying job, and studied to be teachers and nurses, but not doctors and school superintendents.
Reporter Emily Younker will be working on a story related to this topic this week. If you are a coach or athlete who helped your school district make the transition following passage of Title IX, we’d like to hear from you. Please email Emily at eyounker@joplinglobe.com or call her at 417-627-7253.
Carol Stark is editor of The Joplin Globe. Address correspondence to her, c/o The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, MO 64802 or email cstark@joplinglobe.com. Follow Carol Stark on Twitter @carolstark30.
Opinion
Carol Stark: Title IX a reminder of how far we’ve come
- Opinion
-
-
Other Views: Still inspiring
Cutbacks in the military budget and the still-recovering economy mean this Memorial Day weekend will go down as a relatively subdued affair — relative, that is, to our usual end-of-school, official-start-of-summer blowout.
-
Our View: Setting standard
The sight of hundreds of young student volunteers walking across Moore’s Fourth Street interstate overpass had to be uplifting to the city’s tornado victims.
-
Our View: Safer schools
Being able to see for ourselves what would have happened to our children had they been standing in the main hall of their schools during the May 22, 2011, tornado had a profound effect on our understanding of safe schools.
-
Marilyn Beasley, guest columnist: Claiming responsibility for abuse of power
Over the past few months we’ve witnessed the abuse of power by President Barack Obama and his administration.
-
Our View: ‘Why?’ has no answer
Just hours before, there was breakfast and laughter. There were pictures on the walls and memories in every room.
-
Our View: Absent from House
We can’t figure out why two Missouri legislators think they should be elected to the U.S. House when it appears they can’t seem to show up to take care of business in the Missouri House.
-
Your View: Terrible injustice
I see this Jasper County nuisance law as a terrible injustice on the rights of the residents of Jasper County.
-
Your View: Should we be outraged?
Were there effusive apologies following the lockdown of Boston as most of the continent indulged vicariously in the ongoing manhunt?
-
Your View: Terrorism is terrorism
In the May 13 issue of The Joplin Globe there was an Associated Press article concerning the New Orleans shooting.
-
Phill Brooks, columnist: Missouri Senate did what Founding Fathers had in mind
George Washington once described the Senate as being like a saucer in which you pour coffee or tea.
- More Opinion Headlines
-
Other Views: Still inspiring
Raw: Trucker Bumps I-5 Bridge Before Collapse
Raw: Texas Deputy Shot by Colo. Suspect Honored
Major Detours Following Wash. Bridge Collapse
American Held in Grisly Czech Murders
Raw: Jersey Shore Reopens for Summer
UK-bound Pakistan Plane Diverted, 2 Men Arrested
Officials: Tsarnaev Friend Linked to Slaying
Obama:Sexual Assault Threatens Trust in Military
Bridge Collapse Survivor: 'Rough Day'
Jersey Shore Open for Business
Raw: Memorial Day Flags Placed at Arlington
New Wheelchair Lift Promises More Access
First Person: Mom Discusses Famous Tornado Photo
Raw Video: Washington State Bridge Collapse
Boy Scouts Approve Plan to Accept Gay Boys
