PE and Athletics: More or Less? Even the Experts Can't Decide

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Education Policy and Improving K-12 Education

As you probably can guess, I read a lot of education blogs and websites. And there are always bandwagon discussions that every site seems to jump onto (longer school day, testing, etc.). But today, I found two different articles that made me laugh:

First a USA Today article that discusses the need for more PE to combat obesity.

and an Edweek.org blog article discussing the need for a change to extracurriculars to focus on art and music rather than sports.

Is it any wonder parents are confused if the experts can't make up their minds? Aside from my needing to find another hobby, what do you think?

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Parent Replies to "PE and Athletics: More or Less? Even the Experts Can't Decide"

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PE is not a one type fits all. My son, when in high school, was (and is) the athletic type. He could run, sprint, drop a basketball in a net, play baseball, and golf, anything he wanted to try he could do. During PE, he'd get so aggrivated at the PE teacher. Because they expected ALL the kids to be able to run all the laps together, and to be able to get some many baskets in basketball. And not ALL could do it, no matter how they tried. Then they'd get heck if they couldn't and their grade in PE wouldn't be good. My son said that it wasn't right to expect "Joe" to be able to do as well as him. Yes, PE is fine, but there needs to be guidelines. Your overweight kids cannot keep up or even compete with your slim athletic kids. My kids were all slim, it was just a family thing. They were lucky. My kids spent much time outside, climbing trees, riding bikes, skateboards, running, and whatever...I couldn't keep them inside. Some kids don't get to do this. My youngest 2 do this even less then their older 6 siblings. They are much busier with homework, extracirricular activities and such. But...they are neither in-acitive. They play baseball, do band, orchestra, choir, horses in 4-H (leased for $1 in the summer). Being home and in the house to watch tv, or do chores in pleasurable to me.

Healthy, I really tend to agree with you. While I am an avid art and music appreciator, I'm really leery of taking team sports out of the high schools. While I love the idea of opening up other spaces for additional more relevant electives, I know that for a great many kids, sports is what gets them out of bed in the morning (as can be art, music, etc.).

And unlike art appreciation that can be done at a museum alone or as a family, it's really tough to convince the whole family to play water polo or football.

There just has to be a way to keep a little bit of everything there, and let the kids sample all of them.

Kids used to go outside to run around and play after school, but times have changed...with many parents working, there often isn't adult supervision in the neighborhood, and some kids stay inside for safety. The proliferation of electronic media (TV, computers, etc.) has also contributed to society becoming more sedentary, therefore I believe physical exercise needs to be included in the educational setting. What I feel needs to be de-emphasized is the competitive nature of "team" sports, with favoritism of the kids who are biggest/fastest/most powerful, in favor of individual improvement and enjoyment of physical activity.

While I appreciate exposing kids to things like art and music, practicing an active lifestyle provides positive benefits to more people....individually, one's health is generally improved by exercise, and the burden of medical costs on society are also reduced when people stay healthy.

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PE and Athletics: More or Less? Even the Experts Can't Decide

Parent Replies to "PE and Athletics: More or Less? Even the Experts Can't Decide"

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