Using Your Power To Improve Your School Community
Student-athletes often have elevated statuses on their school campuses, and this excerpt from PCA Founder Jim Thompson’s Elevating Your Game explains how student-athletes can use their status to affect positive change. Too often, a “jock culture” brings athletes to use this power for self-serving purposes. But student-athletes’ can and should wield their influence over a community more positively.
Amongst their team, older athletes can mentor new team members and play an important role in shaping their experiences. Extending beyond the team, athletes should learn to recognize and help anyone in the school community who seems to feel alienated. Student-athletes who have a group of teammates bonded by an activity might reach out to those who lack such a built-in opportunity for friendship.
A key way in which student-athletes can positively influence their communities is by helping to establish and maintain an anti-bullying culture. Athletes who set an example by intervening in bullying situations send a strong message to the school community. Considering the statistic that half of all high-school students report being bullied at some point, athletes who use their status to prevent bullying can make a critical difference in the lives of many schoolmates.
The final section of the excerpt includes a self-assessment worksheet for young athletes to find areas in which they can improve behaviors for a greater impact on their community. Triple-Impact Competitors® strive to make their communities better, and this can help guide young athlete to success.
This PDF was excerpted from Jim Thompson’s book Elevating Your Game. To purchase the entire book, and to learn more about other PCA books, click here.
These books are used in PCA’s live workshops. To learn more about our interactive student-athlete workshops, click here.