How Injuries Impact Academics

After her second hip surgery, junior Sophia Provenzano realized recovery wasn’t the hardest part, falling behind was. “Trying to fit in physical therapy and workouts in my day was already exhausting so balancing school, homework and recovery was even harder,” she said. 

The core of the problem is that, for many injured students, especially those who suffer concussions or serious orthopedic injuries, returning to class and keeping up academically can be as challenging as recovering physically. 

Forensics and chemistry teacher Jaime Fugitt said concussed students often struggle to keep up academically and that concussions frequently “impacted a student’s ability to focus in class and concentrate when doing homework.” She added, “It delays their learning.” 

A 2024 study in Saudi Arabia of 117 high school students found that 65% had experienced a sports injury during their high school years. Of those students, 65.8% reported that the injury significantly impacted their academic performance. Poor mental health was even more common, with 76.1% of injured participants reporting that the injury affected their emotional well-being. 

In the study, missing or delayed homework was the most common negative effect among the injured; 96% reported delayed assignments, and 88% missed exams.

For those recovering from a concussion or a serious injury, returning to the classroom can be as difficult as returning to the court. According to a 2020 study by the researchers at Indiana University, after a concussion, students often struggle with concentration, memory, sensitivity to light, and fatigue. Those symptoms make learning, taking notes, or doing homework difficult.

Students feel the impact immediately. Junior Isabella Nihem, who suffered two concussions, said, “I didn’t have the same focus I did.” She added, “Reading for more than a few minutes would make my head hurt, or I’d feel foggy or dizzy,” and she often found herself  “rereading the same paragraph many times” just to understand it. Even light classroom tasks felt overwhelming.

Orthopedic injuries can be just as disruptive. Provenzano, who underwent two hip surgeries, said she missed “too many days,” including the mandatory two weeks after her first surgery and four to five weeks of school after the second.

Physical pain often followed Provenzano to the classroom. She said that “sometimes the pain of my hip made it really difficult to focus on anything else,” making it harder to concentrate on assignments while recovering. 

Emotionally, the isolation hit her just as hard. “Being on the sidelines made me feel like I was missing out,” she added, “It made me feel disconnected from another second family.”

But beyond their impact, the sheer number of injuries among student athletes is hard to ignore. According to Stanford Medicine, nearly one-third of all childhood injuries are from sports. Sprains and strains are the most dominant injuries in organized youth sports.

Injuries don’t just happen during collisions, they happen in practice, warm-ups, and conditioning. Athletic trainer Erin Raymond said she sees “a lot of the common ones, ankle sprains, hamstring and quad strains,” and she emphasized how recovery varies from athlete to athlete because “you can never control the outside factors.”

Unlike broken bones and strains, concussions aren’t always obvious, and their effects can last far longer. Neurosurgery nurse practitioner Rebecca Doherty said recovery can take months, “approximately three to six months,” she said. “If the patient does not rest, oftentimes they have trouble reading and concentrating.” 

“Sometimes we have to remind them they are students first, athletes second,” said Raymond.