What I Learned in Gym

TEENS

The words "high school sports" may no longer be synonymous with letter-jacketed dumb jocks. According to new research, playing sports may help students stay out of trouble and perform better in school.

A study by Jacquelynne Eccles, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan and Bonnie Barber, Ph.D., of the University of Arizona shows that high school athletes are more likely than teens who don't participate in organized sports to remain enrolled in college and earn higher grades while they're there. The bad news: they are also more likely to drink and use drugs.

Kathleen Miller, Ph.D., of the State University of New York-Buffalo, has found that athletics offer particular benefits to girls. Young women who play sports seem to have sex later and less often than their non-athletic peers, and thus face a lower risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. "Sports give girls higher self-esteem and the power to say no," she says.

Male athletes, in contrast, tend to be more sexually experienced. "The culture of sports reinforces the mindset that boys 'score' both on and off the field," Miller observes. But the adults in their lives can help them resist that message. "Coaches are role models for male athletes," she adds. "They can encourage boys to be more responsible and to make better choices."

PHOTO (COLOR): The words "high school sports" may no longer be synonymous with letter-jacketed dumb jocks.