An examination of time use patterns influence on academic achievement among African American and Hispanic male high school student athletes

The purpose of this investigation is to contribute to the body of knowledge in the area of effective time management skills among African American and Hispanic male student athletes and their academic achievement utilizing the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS: 2002) Base year thru the First follow-up database. The researcher has assessed indicators (socioeconomic status, time use patterns, sports participation, and race) within the construct of academic achievement among African American and Hispanic male high school student athletes. Their contribution to the main effects revealed that statistically significant differences exist between the non-sports participant and sports participant groups. After controlling for time spent completing mathematics homework and socioeconomic status, the findings revealed that time spent completing math homework was significantly related to academic achievement for African American and Hispanic male student athletes. Time spent watching television was not significantly related to academic achievement for African American and Hispanic male student athletes. For the variable time spent playing on the computer game, the analysis indicated that the detrimental effect of time spent playing video/computer games was the same for African American and Hispanic male student athletes. Finally, it is noteworthy that effective use of time (i.e., playing video games less) and sports participation positively influences academic achievement of African American and Hispanic males high school student athletes. Strategies were uncovered for possible future research among African American and Hispanic male student athletes to increase academic achievement levels.