Physical Education in Schools

[Foam]

P.E. is an elective class for our school. I chose it over band, chorus, and orchestra and I thoroughly enjoy it.
I like to keep in shape, because I play many sports, plus it helps me for agility trials with the Oz-monster.
BUT, there is a downside. All of our instructors are old, and couldn't run a mile without dying, and they never work out. It shows because one day, one of the teachers had to jog across the soccer field to grab a kid doing something, and was totally out of breath.
This week we ran the 100 m, 200 m, 400 m (one lap) and 800 m (two laps) back to back to back...we ran the mile before that.
Some kids were injured, and many sick. They gave us no time to condition in between. It's horrible..this is one reason I get in so many fights with the P.E. instructors. They don't give a flying %^@$ about us, and I'm one of the very few kids in school who will stand up to them.
I would really love to see them do that in one week...

[wolf_Q]

Originally posted by zanzanfergie
I don't think I agree that having PE as a compulsory class encourages a healthier lifestyle. In fact, it's often such a negative, degrading, humiliating experience that all physical activity becomes something associated with embarrasment and pain. So people avoid it outside of school.

I completely agree with this. I took all of the required PE classes in high school, hated every minute of it. It didn't encourage me to do anything except hate PE.

I would absolutely die if there was a required swimming class. I'm extremely self-conscience, so you'll never see me in a swimming suit...but the main thing is, I'm terrified of deep water.

So, now, every student must pass that test in order to get their degree. 5 minutes in water over your head. No exceptions.

This statement honestly gives me nightmares. I would rather survive 5 minutes covered in cockroaches!

[Desert Arabian]

Originally posted by wolf_Q
I completely agree with this. I took all of the required PE classes in high school, hated every minute of it. It didn't encourage me to do anything except hate PE.

I would absolutely die if there was a required swimming class. I'm extremely self-conscience, so you'll never see me in a swimming suit...but the main thing is, I'm terrified of deep water.

See....if you were at my school and had a fear of deep water they most likely would not care and fail you. If you do not do the swimming unit they fail you for the whole class...no matter how good you did in the other units, and have to take gym class over again. If you have gym second semester and fail it, it means you are going to summer school for gym- what a crock of bull. That is the biggest bunch of bull on the planet! COME ON! Give me a break! Summer school for gym!?!?!?!?! Summer is when everyone is active because it is so nice out...so WHY is there summer school for gym!?!?!!?! Makes no sense to me at all!

I remember last year during the swimming unit, the teacher made us get in the deep end of the pool, which if I remember correctly is over 12 feet deep. An old friend of mine was in the class with me, and he told the teacher that he cannot swim, not even do the doggy paddle, and would surely drown if he got in the deep end. What did the teacher say? "Get in the pool and just stay close to the edge." So he gets in the pool...sure enough...about two seconds into treading water he starts to drown. If only the stupid teacher listened to him! He said he was going to drown, and drown he did! I feel so bad for him, he was so traumatized. Like he really wants to get back in the water after that!

We have to take gym every year of high school. I have had gym class since kindergarten- and that's the only time I enjoyed it, when I was a little kid.

I am 121 pounds, so it is not like I am over weight or obese. Like I said before, when it is not -25F outside, I am outside walking neighbors dogs, up at horse camp working there, cutting grass/doing yard work, jogging on the bike trail, playing with friends, fishing, hiking, bike riding, etc. I try to work out as much as possible outside of school, because then I can get in shape and not have to worry about fellow classmates watching me.

If you could pick what you wanted to do in my gym class, and you did not have to be with the opposite sex- I would most likely love it and participate 24/7. I can handle being around the girls, although you get the occasional snob, but it's working around the boys what bothers me.

(If you think I am lying about this, or stretching the true...trust me..I'm not!)

[Pam]

Well I am probably a lot old than many, if not all, of you who have replied. We had mandatory PE and mandatory swimming when I was in high school. I never did learn to be an accomplished swimmer but could save my life if necessary. For that I am thankful. The only time we were excused from swimming was "at that time of the month." I can tell you from experience that is the only time I ever really was thrilled about having my period. I can recall the swimming instructor saying to some of the girls....."wait a minute, you just had your period two weeks ago!" LOL!

I would have liked PE a lot more if it concentrated on exercising rather than sports. I was never one who could hit the ball when we played softball and many others weren't either. I think participating in sports is particularly difficult for some and as a result may even lower their self esteem. I think some plain old exercise or aerobics would have been more beneficial for me at least.

Edit: I just remembered one more reason that I disliked swimming at school. It seems that I always had it last period and there was never enough time to dry my hair or I would miss the bus. Going outside in the winter with wet hair is no fun.

[G.P.girl]

I wouldn't want to be in all girls P.E.. most of them are wimps and don't want to break a nail. i like playing on the boys teams, but usually i''m the only girl one the guys team when we get to pick teams and so they just leave me out of most of it.That really pisses me off then they tell me to go on the girls teams, then the girls tell me to go play with the guys because i'm too bossy and i play too hard and don't let them do anything . what i don't like is how the guys can wear the basket ball shorts, but all girls are suppoes to wear tight spandex . i don't, but some girls see it as a way to wiggle thier a**es in front of the guys faces while playing and they wear shorts so short they look like underwear.and they are so tight and low you can see thier thongs hanging out....

[cali]

here its mandatory until 11th grade, where it becomes an elective. and let me tell you I waited my whole life to be able to not have gym! I HATE it. at most schools here you are graded on partici[ation, not ability. but at one elementery school that I went to, it was very althletics oreintated so they dealt with it by grading you on ability. that is HORRABLE. basicly if you are not athletic you fail. and that's not fair. I always hated gym, and tryed to get out of it whenever possable, for example in elemtery school they consider gym a privialge and if you dont bring your gym clothes you lose that privlidge lol so guess what I did? gym is a privlage that I have never wanted, so on gym days I purposly left my gym cloths at home, my friend would do the same, and we would get to sit in the hall and chat, and have fun, instead of being miserable! now in grade 9 I absolutly hated my gum teacher, ok if anyone else in the class got injured or something, even slightly, or felt sick they got to sit out, but if anything happend to me, for example I was sick and felt like I was going to thro up and my mom wrote a note, asking the teacher to exuse me from gym that day, and this really happend, she said, "if you need to throw up, you can run to the bathroom" then she dragged us all to the soccer/football feild and forced me to run from end zone to endzone 6 times, there and back = 1, in under 3 minuts. HELLO, I feel like I am going to puke, I have a headache, and I am dizzy! what the heck is her problem? so of coarse I was NOT looking forward to gym in grade 10, mainly because it was tought by a teacher known to be tough. but acually she was not that bad. she took us golfing, and bowling and that kind of thing, and the interne I really liked, we did hip hop dancing, and being a dancer I enjoyed that. and t-ball is fun, and so is soccer, my teacher even made football fun! and tought it is a way I understood. but that was the fisrt gym class I have EVER had fun in. so when I filled out of classes for grade 11 is made my day to see gym on the electives list!

[neko1]

Originally posted by Pam

I would have liked PE a lot more if it concentrated on exercising rather than sports. I was never one who could hit the ball when we played softball and many others weren't either. I think participating in sports is particularly difficult for some and as a result may even lower their self esteem. I think some plain old exercise or aerobics would have been more beneficial for me at least.

I completely agree. Although I still wish I could have gotten out of it! I was in marching band for all 4 years and trust me, that's enough exercise in itself!!!

We had to take gym every year of high school. I hated it. Gym class was the only class that made me feel like a nothing and a loser.

[Crikit]

I had to take phys ed until the 11th grade and after that it was something that I only had to take if I wanted to. For the most part I didn't mind it, we always had different modules to go in to so we really only did the same thing for a week or so. The only thing in grade 10 gym that I didn't like was the compulsary swimming. I have a fear of deep water and I'm not all that confident when it comes to showing off my body...so I despised

Part of me likes to think that phys ed is a good thing, that it gives people a break during the day to get away from the desks and papers and get some exercise. Well part of me...the part that still remembers the freaking participaction things hated gym and thinks that it isn't something that kids over a certain age should be forced to take part in. Not everybody is going to be a super athlete, school boards should realize that and let the students do what they want.

[micki76]

Originally posted by Pam
I would have liked PE a lot more if it concentrated on exercising rather than sports. I was never one who could hit the ball when we played softball and many others weren't either. I think participating in sports is particularly difficult for some and as a result may even lower their self esteem. I think some plain old exercise or aerobics would have been more beneficial for me at least.

Same here, Pam! I was always AWFUL at sports, but exercise I can do!

Originally posted by neko1
Gym class was the only class that made me feel like a nothing and a loser.

Me too. It was very hard on my self esteem.

[kitten645]

I went to an all girls private school. Talk about sadistic! Those nuns were brutal. Our uniform was actually "bullet-proof poly" unitard shorts. How can ANYONE look good in that? Not to mention sweating like a pig no matter the temp. I HATED PE. I just wasn't good at it.
However, my parents found things that I enjoyed (largely to get us girls out of my mom's hair over summer break!) I took tennis lessons, went to summer camp and became a ribbon winning horsewoman (horsegirl I guess ) I was a ballet student for eight years. People still comment on my flexibilty for my age.
I loved swimming so I was on the neighborhood swim team, diving team and water ballet lessons. I also got to be a certified life guard. I think it's important for kids to learn to get over a fear of water (though I completely understand genetic phobias as heights are not my favorite).
My mom was always afraid of water and I admire her bravery for not passing that along. My brother-in-law is scared of water and has overcome his fear to show my neice not to be afraid. I'm happy in the knowledge that if my five year old neice got pushed into a pool or fell into a body of water, she'd survive. I think that is a life saving issue. Playing a "sport" isn't.
I agree that physical activity is important but in these days when arts programs are being slashed, it infuriates me that football is rarely a casualty of cutbacks. I think they are equally important because kids that thrive in art may not in sports and vice versa. And the ones that benefit from both? What's wrong with that?
Claudia

[zanzanfergie]

Originally posted by micki76
Same here, Pam! I was always AWFUL at sports, but exercise I can do!

Me too! I walk to and from school every day, run with Lucy at the park, swim a lot in summer. I don't hate PE because I'm obese, or unfit, or anything like that. I'm a normal weight and height, and really love gentle exercise, in my own time and place.

[RubyMutt]

Reading some of these posts makes me very grateful that my high school didn't have a swimming pool. I cannot believe that some students are forced to take part in a swimming class! That is unbelievable! If swimming was ever mandatory at my school I would have skipped that class every day. And that is NOT a joke!

[iceyshiver21]

I had PE everyday from kindergarden through 8th grade and accomplished nothing. I have it for a quarter in school and I love it because-
1. Its a class I dont have to think in.
2. I feel great about myself when I can get things done without tiring myself out.
3. I learned alot about different ways to excersize...which keeps me fit for other things like DOG AGILITY!!!!
4. After school I dont have enough motivation to run...but if i do it in school its no problem.
Plus out gym teacher excersizes with us, so its not like he just sits there and does nothing.

[Desert Arabian]

Originally posted by iceyshiver21
Plus out gym teacher excersizes with us, so its not like he just sits there and does nothing.

I would pay some big bucks to see one of the three gym teachers excersize with us. It just kills me when I look at Mr. Baker and see the nice "little" belly he has...um...I think HE needs to work at getting back in shape also, not just the students.

Gym class today was not as bad, except they split the class into boy/girl. We had to jog to the boys on the other side of the gym, then jog back to "start" about four times. Then the boys would run to us and run back to "start" four times. Um..so not cool. For the rest of the class period we played volleyball, which I actually enjoyed!

Kaite...it's good you see you really enjoy gym class. I wish I had the feelings about it that you do!

[Edwina's Secretary]

I come down hard on the side of mandatory PE. When I was in school it was....every year. We had to be able to swim to graduate from high school. We wore goofy red uniforms and tank suits to swim. We were not allowed to have competitive sports with other schools (just within our own) as that was only for boys.

And I am grateful that I had to take PE. As a result I can bowl, play tennis, watch a basketball, baseball or soccer game (among many others!) gymnastic meet or swim meet -- and understand not only what is going on but also what it takes to play.

I was a merely adequate athlete but I developed the exercise habit -- which I continue to this day.