Being active has always been a main component of my life and when it came to picking a field of study during my college search I chose to take the route of Exercise Physiology. Many people asked me when I was applying to schools what that meant and to be honest I was not really sure, but what I did know was it is the study of exercise on the mechanisms of the body. I also knew that exercise was pertinent to living a healthy life. Although Americans know that exercise is beneficial and necessary for sustaining a healthy lifestyle a staggering number actually participate in the Surgeon Generals recommendation for daily activity. This may not seem like a big deal at first but the Surgeon General recommends a mere thirty minutes of moderate activity a day. Not only this, but it can be broken up into ten minute bouts. A brisk ten minute walk between classes counts! Although this is the bare minimum recommended every little bit counts.
Even more astounding than the percentage of adult obesity in the United States is the occurrence of Childhood Obesity. Surgeon General recommends sixty minutes a day of activity for children. School attendance is the law to age sixteen in the United States; therefore it is easy to wonder how these children are not meeting their activity needs. Obesity is not the only problem; sedentary lifestyle is linked to heart disease high blood pressure, all forms of cancer, nervous system diseases and almost every other disease. Despite this widespread knowledge of the importance of exercise in preventing disease elementary, middle and high schools across the country are phasing out Physical Education classes or making them optional to make more room for academic classes. Many people may agree with this decision to make more room for academics but another question comes to mind. If the children do not learn to be active when they are young when will they make time for it? In their busy career which they are preparing for in elementary school? According to the Chattanooga Times, a study done at Johns Hopkins University found teens were more likely to maintain a normal body weight as young adults if they had physical education in school. Schools Reviving Physical Education Classes
Although some schools are riding their systems of P.E. others are enriching the programs because it is impossible to ignore the importance of Exercise. Many schools that have implemented a fitness based form of Physical Education rather than free for all sports have noticed a change in their students. Not merely physical health and weight management, but increased focus and confidence all around. One school found that traditional forms of P.E. was not catching the interest of the majority of the students and decided to go out on a limb and purchase Unicycles for the school. It has been a great success story for the school and according to the gym teacher, everyone eventually gets it and the students love to come to gym, they leave each day more confident focused and coordinated! Since there is no national curriculum gym teachers and schools are allowed to expand to grander things that may inspire students to be active. Mast Academy in Miami, FL a science magnet school offers a variety of activities for physical education including kayaking and windsurfing! Physical education does not necessarily mean that kids have to participate in kickball they may be able to do what they like and set a positive experience in motion.
In Minnesota physical education is mandatory, but again there are no specifications to how much and to what activities so one high school has implemented an “online P.E.” There have been some critiques on the system but the intentions are good. Students may pick their activity of choice for example mountain biking, hiking, swimming, running and depending on the activity wear a heart rate monitor and upload the information to the teacher. Students are also required to read articles on exercise and physical activity, take tests, and write papers. Some students have said the class is too hard for P.E. and to just take it in school instead while others are excited to be able to participate in their activity of choice. Other critiques have included heart rates having to be the same while everyone’s body is different. Every child is going to have a different heart rate so that does need to be tailored to fit. Other complaints are there is no team bonding or cooperative efforts in an online class. Either way the expansion of physical activity is a step in the right direction.Online Physical Education
So it is determined that many schools are steering away from the conventional P.E. classes and turning to a more health based idea. Seattle has standardized P.E. and schools are now required to teach kids how to exercise and the importance of core strength. Kids are also learning how to use exercise equipment properly such as therabands and heart rate monitors. Kids enjoy using exercise equipment so this seems like it might work. They will have the confidence to go to the gym when they are older and know how to use the equipment and how to give themselves a healthy work out. Stretching the curriculum: Seattle schools standardize PE Seattle is headed in the right direction but are still in the experimental phase as well.
It is interesting to see the differences the country is going through as far as P.E. goes, some are eliminating the programs entirely and some are implementing more vigorous activities and more educational aspects to it. Elimination is the wrong thing to do but old fashioned methods of P.E. seem to have met their match. Hopefully it will be a success story across the country because otherwise the nation will have to pay for it later with increasing obesity rates and morbidity rates.
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When reading this article, I started to think back about my own P.E. experience throughout middle and high school. It actually is humorous that these "classes" were required to graduate. In all my experiences with physical education, the class has consisted of showing up in a gymnasium and then having the choice of either playing basketball (which was not exactly an option for girls, the boys took up the entire courts and would never let a girl into their game), or walking around the gym in circles because sitting down exerts no physical energy. This horribly boring routine allowed for many girls to skip class or to just rebel and sit on the sidelines and text on their cellphones. And in all honesty, I was one of them.
ReplyDeleteI believe that physical fitness and education is definitely a very important part of schooling, but I agree that school's need to go about it in a different way. They should consider various ways of exercise that students are actually interested. For example, if a school were to implement a fitness lab, complete with cardio machines and weights, I am sure that students would actually leave gym class feeling like they actually did something good for their bodies. Or, like you mentioned, certain activities such as rock climbing or wind surfing, I'm sure would be super successful. It is understandable that to implement such programs would be much more of an effort and cost by the school, but at the rate that childhood obesity is climbing, don't we think that it is well worth it? Obviously these children aren't being taught to be healthy at home, so the school has an opportunity to help and make a difference in these students lives. School's should really just start considering the many benefits that a reform to their physical education programs could do for the health and safety of our communities students.