To some it's an easy way out of the high school workload. To some it's watching others get a slap on the wrist while they take the rap for a similar offense.

Desiree Zerquera, of Ft. Lauderdale, said athletes shouldn't get special treatment because "we're all the same." (Mark Hartogsohn photo)

   No matter what the perspective, it happens in high schools across the nation. Every school plays its favorites when it comes to athletes, whether it's about behavior or sports funding.
   North East High School in Fort Lauderdale plays favorites when it comes to athletes versus students.
   Desiree Zerquera witnessed athletic favoritism one morning in her chemistry class. Two students were sleeping, one a baseball player and the other a regular academic student. The teacher was asking random questions class and called on the non-athlete, academic student. He scolded her for sleeping.
   The teacher proceeded to call on the baseball player. However, after he discovered that the young man was wearing his baseball jersey, he immediately struck up conversation, asking if the young man had had a baseball game the prior night. The athlete replied yes and was told to go back to sleep.
   There had not been a baseball game the prior night. He had just merely used his athleticism as an excuse to take the easy way out.
   Zerquera also told about her boyfriend, who is allowed to leave campus for lunch because he is the kicker for North East's football team. For others, the school is a closed campus.
   "We're all the same," Zerquera said. "They shouldn't get treated specially just because they're athletes."
   Not only are athletes allowed to leave campus during lunch, they are granted permission to skip class. Max Wolson, who attends Michael Krop High School in Miami, witnesses this type of behavior on a regular basis.
   "The football players are allowed to skip an academic class to go visit a coach, but regular kids aren't allowed," said Wolson.
   Becky Sprague and Alicia Nelson have witnessed athletic favoritism in their small school of Astronaut High School in Titusville. A large number of their junior varsity and varsity cheerleaders were consuming alcohol at a party while wearing their cheer jackets.
   A parent found a videotape of the party and consulted administration at the high school. The cheerleaders were suspended from participating in further cheerleading activities such as practices, games and competitions. If it had been a normal student partying, the school would not have been contacted and the issue would have been handled at home.
   A similar instance occurred with their boys' soccer team. The boys were away at a soccer tournament in Leesburg and got caught under the influence of alcohol, marijuana and ecstasy, along with other drugs. Since the school funded their stay in the hotel, those who were caught participating in these acts were suspended from school for nine weeks and forced to take adult education classes so they wouldn't fall behind with their credits. This enabled the seniors to graduate on time.
   "Athletes are expected to be leaders so usually if something happens we don't get in trouble for it and it's kept more undercover," said Nelson, a varsity volleyball and soccer player.
   These athletes were given a special punishment whereas a regular student would have been expelled under the zero tolerance rule for possession of illegal substances at a school function and further actions such as jail time.
   Astronaut High School was the All-State Sports School two years ago and since then the athletes have been highly recruited by colleges. This year three football players received full-ride scholarships to the University of Central Florida with less than 3.0 GPAs while 76 to100 percent of first-year students at UCF have a high school GPA of 3.0 or higher.
   "I don't think it's fair that football players get full-ride scholarships when they don't get good grades. I work my butt off, make decent grade and probably won't get a full ride," Astronaut High's Sprague said.
   Zekia Wright from Auburndale Senior High School reported that whenever there are leftovers during lunch, the cafeteria workers give them to the football team.
   "It's not right that some students are put on a pedestal for being talented in an area that just isn't that special," Wright said.
   Wright and her best friend were walking to class once in the rain in an attempt to cool down from the sweltering Florida sun. They returned to class from lunch a few minutes late and experienced the wrath of their teacher, which resulted in a pair of detentions. About a half hour later two football players walked into the class with McDonald's bags but escaped chastisement from the teacher. The teacher merely cracked a joke and asked why she wasn't brought any.
   "Athletics are supposed to enhance the learning process, not take away from it and that is what athletic favoritism does," said Colleen Flynn, another Astronaut High School student.