Mandatory Physical Education

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IronicBeet

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Jun 27, 2009
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It's to keep undisciplined people from becoming out of shape (Or more so than they already are). I don't particularly like PE, but I think it's a good idea. It's not like I get much exercise playing video games.
 

Vault101

I'm in your mind fuzz
Sep 26, 2010
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eh it was annoying in the first few years of highschool

and then in year 11/12 it was just doing random shit that no one gave a crap about..I even (shock) actually TRIED at some of the games
 

bjj hero

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I wish work would order me to do an hours exercise a day, I have to do my exercise in the evenings in my own time.

PE is good for you, it is a change of pace, developes a healthy body, teaches team work, problem solving and builds charecter. I Just wish there had been more choice when I was a school.

I was not particularly gifted but I loved rugby, basket ball and badminton but hated football. I ended up playing a lot of football (but thats the UK for you) which I will admit I was terrible at. Either way I was still running around for the time so it wasn't wasted. If I'd had the choice I would have done boxing, juijitsu, kickboxing and wrestling but "liberal" society hates anything a little competative where you might get a bump.

A lot of these posts amount to skinny/fat kids whining "but I shouldn't have to break a sweat".

If I was in charge boxing and wrestling would be taught in schools from tomorrow. I would also introduce military service but that is for other reasons to be talked about else where.
 

GrimTuesday

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NightHawk21 said:
PE is mandatory, because that's the way the school and the government want it. Don't like it, well honestly tough shit your pretty much screwed than, because you need a PE credit to get a high school diploma in just about every school. That being said you could learn to enjoy it and not ***** about it for the half/ full year you have to take it, who knows might be fun (was for me and I don't typically play sports). Besides what the worst that could happen? You spend an hour playing dodgeball instead of sitting on your ass at a computer desk on msn or facebook.

GrimTuesday said:
PE is so that you're getting some semblance of exercise, otherwise you're just sitting all day, which isn't enjoyable.

I took weight training all throughout high school, although it wasn't required. I really like lifting weights, and having that hour everyday, did wonders for my lift maxes. I really like to lift until I can't use the muscle group that I was working (obviously you don't want to totally burn out your legs), losing the abilty to write due to exasution is a really weird but cool feeling.
Lol, ya definitely not a good idea to work your legs to exhausting. I'm a big guy so I can push a bit of weight, so when we went to the weight room for PE one class and a couple of guys decided to have a leg press weight contest I threw my hat in. Beat every one out going to quite high (well in excess of 800 lb) and decided to keep doing that for bout another 10-20 min. Lets just say that after that walking to the change room and getting to my next class was interesting.
You and your silly little leg press can go be silly else where, real men squat :p.

Seriously though, I loved squating, I'm a really big guy, I played offencive line in high school, and by the end of my senior year I was squating over 700 pounds, plus my body weight (which leg press takes out of the equation.)

The first time I did 700, I got all the way up racked it then promptly passed out and cracked the mirror in front of me.
 

Nulmas

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ChromaticWolfen said:
I think that PE should be a choice, but maybe involve the parents. I always hatted PE in my school. It was just soccer over and over again. I find that the time is better spent doing homework than running up and down a court kicking a ball of leather.
So, are you from Portugal too or does this stupidity also happen on countries other than mine?
 

bjj hero

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katsumoto03 said:
Hong Meiling said:
There should be a mandatory TWO credits in PE. Hell, you should do some PE at home even!

A strong body leads to a strong mind!
Are you religious? If you are you must support the idea of mandatory prayer too.

I honestly think that no classes should be mandatory, especially one as trivial as PE.
Why should prayer be madatory? I don't have a spirit. I do have a body though and exercising it is beneficial, there are plenty of other benefits to PE so it should be mandatory. There should be mandatory subjects. As a child/teen you don't have a huge idea about the world in general or employment so you are not making a truely informed decision. Otherwise you may as well make all of education optional.
 

Dalek Caan

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Feb 12, 2011
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Nulmas said:
ChromaticWolfen said:
I think that PE should be a choice, but maybe involve the parents. I always hatted PE in my school. It was just soccer over and over again. I find that the time is better spent doing homework than running up and down a court kicking a ball of leather.
So, are you from Portugal too or does this stupidity also happen on countries other than mine?
Other countries also I'm afraid, Ireland to be exact.
 

ReservoirAngel

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Saelune said:
PE is there to give people nightmare stories. And thats for regular people. Even worse for LGBT people.
Its just one of many flaws of the education system.
So, so true...

OT: It is my humble opinion that P.E is fucking stupid, and the fact that P.E teachers are all borderline psychotic doesn't help things. P.E, as a class and in terms of the teachers' attitudes, is just there so people who happen to be athletic can feel smug and superior and give people an excuse to rag on the people who are either out of shape, weak as hell, or just don't give a shit and think their time is better spent doing something constructive than kicking a ball around in the cold while some overgrown psychopath with unresolved childhood inferiority issues screams at you.

At least that's how I see it.
 

aei_haruko

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Jun 12, 2011
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neonsword13-ops said:
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.
@ my school we have to have 4 semesteres of PE,
a mandatory health class ( which can be done over the summer for a free period) and a gym class during the year, this gets one semseter out of the way. Then you have 2 semesters left, and you also have 2 semesters fine arts, and 1 semester computers. Next year I'm taking 2 gym courses, and a fine arts course ( I'm getting mandatory theology off my plate over the summer today, got an exam, wish me luck!) Then during junior year ya actually get choice, you can drop the forigen language and take some other curse, like psychology, and ya get another spot which is filled up with usually a gym/ fine arts course, however I aint dropping mandarin, so I get to do mandarin, and psychology.then senior year I get the fun stuff,
like:
chinese 4
AP chinese
AP chem
AP bio
AP psych
mandatory english ( will make it a joke english)
mandatory theology ( will make it a joke class)
 

Araksardet

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Jun 5, 2011
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In principle, I don't see a problem with it, if it's properly executed. It falls well enough within the scope of a school's job, which is contributing as much as possible to a pupil's future well-being. Plus, as someone has already said, they get to decide how you have to meet their standards. Getting kids to exercise who might otherwise not is an attempt to ensure that a sedentary lifestyle they adopt when they are young and lazy does not cause problems for them in the future, when they might otherwise wish their hearts still worked as well and not be able to lift their arms above their shoulders or climb several flights of stairs.

That said, a lot of PE isn't very well done, and it just becomes a stage for jocks to make geeks feel bad about themselves, either willfully or merely by being better. It's best when there are many different options to choose from; people will tend to congregate with similar people, and that can remove the psychological barriers to enjoying whatever it is your doing. Every pupil for whom PE is torture isn't getting what they might otherwise get out of it. Having ultra-competitive pricks in the same class as casual kids and people who are insecure about their bodies just isn't good for anyone.

I know that in my high school, we had exactly zero choice in what we were going to take part in (except one time, for only a couple of classes in a row). I was forced to do all sorts of unpleasant stuff that I wasn't nearly as good at as everyone else, and it was embarrassing to be so physically awkward in full sight of everyone else.

Luckily, I had some friends who, just by being nice people, helped make it more bearable, but I would really have liked more interest-based segregation. Although I admit, while I sucked at everything else and made a fool of myself constantly, I was always a good swimmer, and I did like showing that off.
 

aei_haruko

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Jun 12, 2011
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katsumoto03 said:
Hong Meiling said:
There should be a mandatory TWO credits in PE. Hell, you should do some PE at home even!

A strong body leads to a strong mind!
Are you religious? If you are you must support the idea of mandatory prayer too.

I honestly think that no classes should be mandatory, especially one as trivial as PE.
obeasity problem, I don't think he said anything about prayer, he simply said that a strong body ( hich has discipline) leads to a strong/ more focoused mind. I disagree on the mandatory, we have awful math and science scores, i demand mandatory science classes, because when half the kids don't know the scientific method at my grade school ( I'm a nerd at a private high school) or what atom makes something an " organic compound" then something is seriously wrong, I'm blessed to go to an amazing school, but I seriously think our country needs to shape up in math and science ( I had the WORST math teacher, I didnt get into that advanced chem class I wanted because of her, lously teacher)
so what are your thoguhts? I'd love to hear them. Unlike most others i don't begrudge other beliefs, I simply try to see them flushed out
 

ShindoL Shill

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Jul 11, 2011
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in my country, we do 2 PEs a week mandatory.
then we get the option of the Army.
be thankful you dont live in Israel.
but we get told we have a choice, but we dont. all we get the option of is bollocks, bullshit and crap. you know your school PE is terrible when the best option is powerwalking.
 

aba1

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Mar 18, 2010
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honestly doing phycical activitys is a huge part of life and learning to control your body is important sure you know how to walk and such but there is a big difference between you and a gymnist I think PE teaches you how to build your body and make you physically capable.
 

omega 616

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May 1, 2009
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Yeah, I think it's just a thing. Kids sit all day behind desks and eat sweets and junk so this is a way of burning it off and teaching them how to do it in the future.

In high school I was the typical nerd in American films and dramas, hated P.E with a passion (I would rather stay after school than do it) but did ok in my other classes.

I was super skinny in high school though, now I have packed on the pounds. I'm not obese just fat.
 

TheLoneBeet

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Feb 15, 2011
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It should be mandatory in my opinion. You might not like it but it's still good to get some exercise. For the people like me who already exercised on their free time it was a good warm-up.
 

Username Redacted

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Dec 29, 2010
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PE as I remember it being implemented in the United States is currently pointless (too little activity, too easy to get exempted). That said I'm still in favor of mandatory physical education for every single year that a kid is in school. I also think that you should have to be crippled or bleeding to death to be allowed to opt out. The world is getting too fat to leave children to their own devices regarding fitness. Get their asses moving.
 

Jedisolo75

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Aug 12, 2009
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neonsword13-ops said:
Edit: I work out at the gym. A Lot.


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.
According to this logic you might as well not have mandatory schooling at all. After all, it is your mind, what you learn with it is your choice.

School is supposed to give you the tools to be a well rounded adult, once you are out, you can decide what to do with them.

Maybe you will find out that you really like weightlifting and will enjoy yourself if you give it a chance, if not, as with almost everything else, you will be miserable, and it won't be anyone's fault but your own
 
May 29, 2011
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It's like that over there? We just have it once a week so they can teach us how to play different types of sports.

What you described sounds like it would suck.
 

Vidiot

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May 23, 2008
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One of the reasons our country (US) has such a problem with obesity is that our Physical Education system is so polarizing.

Those already in good shape are on the fast track to being jocks by grade 4, those who aren't are ostracized, encouraged to sit on the sidelines, and overall discouraged from participating, because "fatty over there would only slow the team down."

It gets worse later, as kids who do well in sports in High School often get preferential treatment from coaches, to the point of verbal abuse toward "eggheads and bookworms". This is all compounded by a severe atmosphere of homophobia.

There are a myriad of ways to improve this, one idea being martial arts. When martial arts are taught properly, with the correct emphasis on discipline and personal responsibility, there is no increase in (unsanctioned) school fights.

Where I'm from, there is a saying: "Those who can teach, teach. Those who can't, teach PE."

In my experience, that is true and needs to change.
 

Zeetchmen

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Aug 17, 2009
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The only PE I enjoyed was rock climbing when the school bought a rockwall, other than that I hated it.

Especially when we square danced: for a whole semester