Opportunity Cost is an economic term can be applied to everyday life. Opportunity cost is the loss of potential benefit if one choice is chosen above another. One way this can be used is in school, specifically school sports. Some benefits of doing school sports are that it helps create friendships, you get exercise, experiencing the thrill of competition, and depending on your view, skipping school on some days and not taking PE class for a year. Therefore, choosing not to do school sports has the opportunity cost of everything listed in the previous sentence.
However, choosing to do school sports also has opportunity costs. Skipping school can be considered as a cost too because of the tests and assignments you have to make up. You could also miss review days or lectures. Furthermore, choosing to do some school sports limits your competition to a few schools. For athletes who are nationally ranked in tennis, for example, electing to NOT participate on the school team could actually be more beneficial because of the opportunity costs. Instead of devoting time to play students from local schools and practicing with students from only the same school they attend, they could travel to other places and participate in tournaments and practice with whoever will optimize their improvement. This could be more valuable than the cost of taking an extra class.
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Interesting post! I think this is definitely relevant to most of us because many students at LAHS play sports, or at the very least, have to take PE. Recently, there have been many arguments about whether to make PE mandatory for all freshmen. One of the most heavily utilized arguments about why athletes shouldn't have to is the opportunity cost of doing so. Being forced to take PE means that exceptional athletes have less time to practice their sport, which is generally far more productive than dressing out in PE clothes and running a few laps. It is interesting that even before many of us knew what opportunity costs were, arguments about them were being used within our school community.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you compare the opportunity cost of highly competitive athletes to participate in school sports. It is really important for athletes in directly competitive sports, such as soccer and water polo, to compete against athletes of an equivalent if not higher caliber. However, I think for the "aesthetic" sports where one gives a presentation, school sports are incredibly beneficial because they allow one to practice more difficult routines in the hope of augmenting their execution. They can take such risks because there is next to no repercussion in making mistakes. This repetition ingrains a sense of confidence that they can subsequently utilize in their club season.
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