Mandatory Physical Education

[Loop Stricken]

So I question the Escapist members about mandatory Physical Ed.: What's the point?

So you don't grow up to be a fatass.

I've been out of school for quite a few years now, and now that I look back on it, not only is it NOT the best time of your life, but they could've done so much more to make everyone's later life far more pleasant. I actually wish they'd employed something akin to what you've described, for I DID grow up into a fatass and rue it.

But what physical education did we actually have? Football? Cricket? Yes, I don't like sport (well we did play rugby for about three lessons, that I enjoyed because I was tall and heavyset even then so no bugger could tackle me) and if we weren't playing sport we were running around the school. Oh wow.
I mean if it was a cross-country thing I'd've enjoyed it more, but just around the school? Four times? And if you didn't beat last month's time you did another lap? Fuck that shit, I just started refusing and me and a bunch of others just ended up watching old comedy tapes in one of the nearby classrooms.

...but I reminisce. I also think I could've made a go of the drama lessons they substituted for the IT lessons I originally chose but that's for another time.

So what was I saying? Oh yes. It's to make sure you're not a lethargic fatass, a drain on the healthcare system of wherever you happen to live.

=====

After typing all that I decided to actually READ the rest of your post and saw how you work out at a gym. Fair enough. But schools can't really take individuals into account when defining their wide-ranging curricula or whateverthehell they call them there.

So suck it up and blow everyone else out of the proverbial water is the best you can do.

 

[coolkirb]

Some courses will allways be mandatory, for example I had to take a PE credit, a history credit, 3 maths, 3 sciences, 4 english, and 4 religion credits, and if you think 1 is bad I pretty sure in the province of Alberta you have to take 4 1 every year, bassically you take what the government thinks important.

*just to clear things up I had to take 4 relgion because I was in the catholic system

 

[brunothepig]

I actually convinced my principal to let me skip any PhysEd (Physical Education) classes in year 10. My friends followed suit, it was awesome. In year 9 I had a cool sports teacher, he just laughed when me and my mate spent whole soccer matches sitting in the field talking. Good times. So yeah, I got lucky. I do think it's a stupid idea.

 

[Mr. Eff_v1legacy]

As much as I hated gym class in school, I do think it's important to stay in shape. I think the problem is they aren't fun. There needs to be emphasis on actually playing games rather than just running laps.

 

[Risingblade]

Easy A duh

though I skipped it a lot and ended up with a B...

 

[Loop Stricken]

Easy A duh

though I skipped it a lot and ended up with a B...

Not that easy then was it? AH HA!

 

[spartan231490]

Edit: I work out at the gym. A Lot.

So in my starting year of Highschool in about a month, every student needs to have one credit of physical education in order to pass to the new grade. There are only two classes to choose from, endurance building (Muscle building I guess) and Sports practice. I obviously picked the endurance training because I do not want to be with all the neanderthals and I have a very slender figure. (Does not help that i'm a nerd too.)

So I question the Escapist members about mandatory Physical Ed.: What's the point?

There is no point in having physical education. It's our life. Our build. I think we have enough power to decide what we want to do with our bodies, correct?

Can you help me understand this "Theory" of P.E.? I'm some what ignorant of these thing called rules in school.

It's a good thing for high school, it's an accepted practice of our culture to protect children in just about every way possible, so mandating some small amount of physical activity is a good thing for high school level. It has no place in college however.

 

[JWAN]

Easy A
You go in and lift heavy objects. Its builds character and muscle.
God knows we cant have any more of THAT in society.
man up, who knows you might enjoy it.

 

[Tempest Fennac]

I personally hated PE when I was at school due to not being very good at it and the fact that I never had any interest in sports. I remember when I was doing my last GCSEs (basic qualification which is gained at the age of 16), we had to have 1 50-minute PE lesson per week which revolved around playing football. Because I kept getting stomach cramps from running, I just decided to stand around doing nothing, and the teacher didn't mind it. If it has to be done, I'd say it should have some sort of practical application (eg: I'd say it would make sense for at least 50% of lessons to be concerned with self-defence in some way, and having some Yoga and cardio-boosting lessons would be better as well). If I had my way, all PE lessons would take place inside as well due to the fact that I hated getting my clothes messed up (I always wore a tracksuit for PE so I never needed to use the school showers thankfully).

In regards to whether it's really necessary, I tend to think that it's really up to individuals to eat healthily while trying to be as active as possible (the former can be difficult due to low incomes while the latter can be awkward due to homework and the fact that most people need to take a break by doing things they enjoy outside of school, and homework could eat into their free time as well).

 

[Flailing Escapist]

Am I the only person who liked P.E. and physical fitness classes?

I'll admit that I was a "nerd" in high school or as nerdy as a fellow can be. I helped start a chess club at my high school and my senior year I was the president of the Math and Spanish clubs so you decide. But I still enjoyed P.E. and I think P.E. is good (if not necessary) for several reasons.

1. Physical activity is like drinking milk. It's good for your body and you should do it every day. The only type of physical activity that isn't good for you would be professional or rough, unprotected activity (ha, that's what she said). Endurance building sounds like long distance running and weight lifting, which is ironically harder on you than most sports. In my high school 1 hour of basketball, dodgeball or soft ball was much less intense than 1 hour of lifting weights or running track.

2. P.E. is much more fun than many of the basic, required classes you will take in high school. A list of the class I was required to take in high school included Goverment, a foreign language, a musical class and keyboarding (not mentioning all the english, math and science classes you will have to take). I think most of the required classes were benefical but boring. P.E. on the other hand is usually different and new every day.

3. Besides P.E. not (usually) being boring it's also active. That sounds redundant but in high school every class you take you will be sitting down most of class and in P.E. you get to run, jump and occasionally dance your way to leg freedom.

Edit: 4. P.E. is so simplistic and easy that only someone that doesn't attend it can fail. Most of your grade in P.E. is made out of participation as long as you show up on time you should pass.

Honestly, P.E. will be one of the better classes you take in high school so enjoy it. If you are just starting high school you're what, 13 or 14 years old so you have much that you're going to learn in the next few years. And I also think that you should consider changing endurance building to sports practice. You should be able to change it, talk to your school counselor.

Edit: Working out a lot is great but that doesn't mean that P.E. isn't a good class to take along side that. I made it to varsity soccer my junior year and I still thought P.E. was a great class to be in.

 

[manic_depressive13]

As far as I'm concerned PE was a load of stupid crap. We used to have to lug our sports uniform and shoes from home, and while it may not seem like a big deal at first, it made my bag unnecessarily bulky and the extra weight would be really noticeable by the end of my 30 minute walk both to and from school. PE lasted an hour, but taking from that approximately 10 minutes either way to change, it was only 40 minutes at most that kids were actually exercising.

However, the biggest problem is that you can't force a fat kid to move. During sports or that stupid "cross country" crap where they just made you run around the school, the kids who didn't want to do it just hung back, maybe jogged a little when a teacher yelled at them, then immediately stopped. I was one of the kids who would never do it, mainly because I have authority issues and get very passive-aggressive when people self-righteously order me to exercise, when I do twice as much exercise in my own time in a far more convenient environment. I also hate competetive sport. This rant is getting too long now.

Upshot of this is, fat kids remained fat. PE remains pointless.

Edit: This is in Australia though. Maybe they have better ways of actually making you do things in America. Although PE was compulsory until year ten, they only really marked you on attendance, and it didn't really matter how hard you worked.

The theory side of it was teaching you about the food pyramid, STDs, drugs and other shit. It wasn't that bad, but it was widely regarded as a joke, and taken even less seriously than the other electives that would be dropped in senior highschool.

 

[Geo88]

I guess I'm one of the few people who liked PE... Armball, kickball, baseball, basketball. PE in high school was awesome, and I'm saying that as a guy who's been overweight since 4th grade. I had a good time, and it was an easy A. In college, I enjoyed it slightly less. I picked "Racquet Sports" (tennis, racquetball and badminton), and I wasn't particularly good at tennis. It didn't help that the courts were on the other side of the damn campus, but I still liked it.

 

[commodore96]

Just because they are bigger than you doesn't make them neanderthals. PE is there so you don't grow up through life being a scrawny little kid who complains about stuff, but build character and hopefully make you healthier.

 

[Loop Stricken]

As far as I'm concerned PE was a load of stupid crap. We used to have to lug our sports uniform and shoes from home, and while it may not seem like a big deal at first, it made my bag unnecessarily bulky and the extra weight would be really noticeable by the end of my 30 minute walk both to and from school. PE lasted an hour, but taking from that approximately 10 minutes either way to change, it was only 40 minutes at most that kids were actually exercising.

However, the biggest problem is that you can't force a fat kid to move. During sports or that stupid "cross country" crap where they just made you run around the school, the kids who didn't want to do it just hung back, maybe jogged a little when a teacher yelled at them, then immediately stopped. I was one of the kids who would never do it, mainly because I have authority issues and get very passive-aggressive when people self-righteously order me to exercise, when I do twice as much exercise in my own time in a far more convenient environment. I also hate competetive sport. This rant is getting too long now.

Upshot of this is, fat kids remained fat. PE remains pointless.

I was about to say that I agree wholeheartedly and I was going to befriend you. I already have! Madness.

I also remained fat. Q_Q

 

[imperialwar]

People, when given a choice will sit on their butts and do nothing.
Years later when they are 100lbs over weight they will then moan and complain to the medical system to take care of them.
I'm trying to get legislation into the courts where employers have to provide a daily excerise break into the working day, like they used to have years ago.

For those that don't know me I'm a qualified Personal Trainer and Sports Massage Therapist. So my opinions on the subject are pretty strong.

Sometimes you have to MAKE people do stuff that is good for them.
One of the simplist facts remains hardly anybody drinks enough water in a day, and as a result alot of people get sick without really knowing why. Simply becasue the body cant cope with all the toxins being introduced through the food they eat and the natural stresses the body goes through on top of that. Without enough water your body cant filter the crap and expel it properly.

30 minutes of vigorous excerise per day ( 60%-80% max heart rate- 220 minus your age ) can reduce your risk of cancer and heart attack

 

[Loop Stricken]

30 minutes of vigorous excerise per day ( 60%-80% max heart rate- 220 minus your age ) can reduce your risk of cancer and heart attack

Surely that differs with levels of fitness. If so would it differ wildly between a healthy person and an unfit one?

 

[Boris Goodenough]

Here's an idea, make the children bicycle to school, problem solved.

 

[Heartcafe]

It's mandatory so people don't become fat and obese and die at the age of 30 with a heart attack. (Not that it's helping the US much >.>)

what the hell man even if your joking and using it as a stereotype you still come off as a pompous asshole when you say it isnt helping in the US. I hardly even understand the stereotype to be honest in any country other than third world countries i could spot just as many obese unhealthy people as i can here. its like how england is stereotyped for bad teeth when in truth they have the same basic dental as any other country.

Well, the US is one of the fattest nations in the world and they are cutting down P.E requirements so students would study more. It maybe stereotyped that US is all fat, but even some stereotypes have truth. It's like stereotyping Asians being super smart, but there are super smart Europeans and Americans out there too, but people stereotype Asians because they are most prominent example.
Take a look at some stats/articles:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_obe-health-obesity
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/27/earlyshow/contributors/debbyeturner/main669760.shtml

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

It needs to be more intensive or just thrown out. From my experience, it was basically an hour of doing nothing. The class needs to be given direction and goals. Kids need to be weighted in and taped. Especially with a nation suffering from an epidemic of childhood obesity. Is getting called out embarrassing? Yes, but it should be. It's not even hard or expensive to create a workout program. Unless you want to become an athlete, there is no need for expensive equipment. You just need some space to run, stretch, and do push-ups.

 

[triggrhappy94]

Edit: I work out at the gym. A Lot.

So in my starting year of Highschool in about a month, every student needs to have one credit of physical education in order to pass to the new grade. There are only two classes to choose from, endurance building (Muscle building I guess) and Sports practice. I obviously picked the endurance training because I do not want to be with all the neanderthals and I have a very slender figure. (Does not help that i'm a nerd too.)

So I question the Escapist members about mandatory Physical Ed.: What's the point?

There is no point in having physical education. It's our life. Our build. I think we have enough power to decide what we want to do with our bodies, correct?

Can you help me understand this "Theory" of P.E.? I'm some what ignorant of these thing called rules in school.

One credit isn't a lot. (This may vary but) One semester is worth 5 credits as long as you show up most of the time and don't completely fail the class.

In California (this may also vary), at least at my High School, you need two years of PE or a PE equalivalent to graduate. You also need one year of an art and two of a foriegn language too. Along with 2 lab sciences (not counting Freshmen physical science), 4 years of English and History, and complete up to Algebra 3/4 (its that or just 3 years of math, I'm not sure).
As a Senior, I am SO happy to say I've completed most of that.

As for the "Theory", it was at least my expierence with PE that it tries to introduce people to different sports, so they'll try things they normally wouldn't, in an attempt to get people to actually pick up a sport and keep playing it. I think its kind of the same idea as having students learn a new language or take at least a year of art, its all to get people to try new things, to learn, and become better rounded.
Mandaotry PE may also be part of an attempt by schools to make students more fit.

EDIT: If it really bother you, I'm pretty sure most schools give students the option to have certain classes waved.
Or you could do what one of my friends did: he injured is back while playing football and was unable to do PE while he had a back brace, so he took ceramics instead. The best part is that ceramics is traditionally a Senior class, but he got in as a Sophomore.