Did anyone see the article in today's paper about health being taught during PE? I knew about this at the beginning of the year. It is sad that kids only have 15 minutes a day of recess to run around. My daughter has PE only twice a week as it is, and now they have to cut into that time with the health curriculum? Our children are becoming obese and inactive. Thank No Child Left Behind for this. What good will it do our kids if are so well educated, but they die before they graduate from college because they are fat, lazy, diabetic, etc?

We had health during PE when I was in Middle and High School. It's been that way for a long time, but, during elementary school we had PE everyday! If your telling me that they are actually taking PE away from kindergarden- 5th grade school children, then I can say I am appauled! You're absolutely right when Mom when you say this will make our children obese. Who are these school board members who make decisions like this? I don't think its the no child left behind rigamaroo thats cutting PE classes, It's the school board members themselves.

Have you all looked around lately at the kids in school? I don't think we have to worry about them becoming obese; they already are.

PE in school was not only a way of getting kids to exercise and burn off a little of that energy, but the philosophy of PE was to instill habits that they would eventually take into adulthood with them.

We're becoming a nation of couch potatoes; and teaching our kids the fine art of couch potatoism!

We had health during PE as well but I don't remember taking it until high school. We got thrity minutes of reccess though.

Yes, when I was in school we thought it was wonderful that in High School you only had to take 3 years of PE...before that it was every year, and 3x/wk...for an hr--almost--I think it was 50 min & then 10 min for a shower & then the bell rang? something like that...
Let's face it--kids need time to run around--young boys need to let off steam and so do girls--it is good for them-even though they complain alot..
As far as obese--yes, have you looked at kids lately? And then try to take them on a field trip--they show up with snacks for a 1.5hr field trip....Like are they gonna starve???ha,HA...

Since I'm probably one of the youngest people out there, having graduated in 1999 (wow, almost 5 years now), and remember PE/Gym as a total waste of 45 minutes in Middle school, and an hour and a half in my freshman year of high school. What happens, at least in my high school, if you arent part of the "in" crowd, it will be a nightmare. Outcasted people are constantly harrased in gym, both in and out of a locker rooms. While exercise is ideal for people at all ages, I think that the time can be better spent with some sort of vocational or technical training. No one is going to ask you in the real world what your mile time is, or how many pull ups can you do.

And, not to mention how pointless the grading system is... I mean, how do you fail gym? Be fat? Not run? And for the circulumn (my spelling sucks as a result of spell check in programs.. Thats what we needed, spelling instead of gym! Wouldnt have a need for that No Child Left Behind play at paramount then!)

We had such entrenced units as soccer, football (flag of course), track, and basketball, and tennis, then had the off the wall ones such as badmitton (High School) and Bowling (Middle School).

And as for the whole shower thing in school, NO one does it. The whole naked boys or girls in school with the potential to be thrown out into a crowded hallway, not to mention the time in between classes is too much to even consider a shower.

Just my .02.

I don't think PE actually gives you that much exercise, but I think it is great for Elementary and Jr. High kids so that they can "channel" their energy.

I absolutely agree! High school should be focused on giving you real skills for the workplace, not necessarily running a mile, or playing sports.

whoa, Rysar! I'd forgotten all about the shower thing, and the ridicule, and the cliques, and the teacher's favorites.

I remember one time in band camp, uh, I mean Junior High school (they weren't called middle schools back then) the gym teacher actually physically checked us for jock straps.

But I haven't forgotten how much I hated gym class.

Glad I could refresh your memory! We didnt have the jock strap checking teacher, it would have revealed other things that I didnt necessarily want revealed at that early stage.

Teamwork? Working towards a common goal? Pushing yourself to work harder? Following the rules? Leadership? Discipline?
Funny, I always thought those were "Skills" you need for the work place. PE teaches kids about different sports and the rules and guidelines used to play them. If it wasn't for my PE class in 6th grade teaching wrestling, I would have never known I liked it and tried out for the team. Having a strong mind and healthy body go hand in hand.


You fail gym just like any other class. Don't pay attention and dont particapate or don't try you fail! Hey I did'nt like Physics, but you know what I sucked it up and did what was asked and passed. Heh, I can't remember my boss asking me to use the Earth's gravitational pull to caculate the speed at which rain hits my windshield.

Oh and yes showers take place in school (have been since I graduated in '96). Didn't shower thats another mark towards failing. Hygiene is important, unless you like athletes foot or ring worm.

I will have to counter you on that teamwork point. You obviously were in the "in" crowd at school, because teamwork, pushing ourselves harder, and discipline to me and my friends were trying to either:

• Dodge a speeding ball (pick your choice (base, basket, dodge, tennis))
• Watching everyone else "Team" up to not pick us on teams
• Watching the "Jocks Team"(ie those that were in varsity) crush everyone else in sports
• Trying to change fast enough so that someone didnt steal your gym clothes and try to flush them (though that classifies as pushing yourself harder i suppose)

As for failing gym, while I never did, I also protested that it was a pointless class, especially during the square dancing unit in my freshman year, it might have something to do with the fact that I wasnt in the "in" crowd.

You have somewhat of a point Romulus, but these kids can also learn teamwork on the Debate Team or leadership on Student Council. Not to say sports aren't important. Heck, I love football and probably be bored to tears if WVU wasn't playing in the fall. As for the grades in PE, they're not really important because when you apply to college the college throws out grades like PE or art.

You jump to conclusions to quick. I was just a normal kid with normal teenage probems. You don't have to be with the "in" crowd to be enjoy gym, just enjoy the fact your getting yourself in shape and having fun. If you were Tortured in gym class, I'm sorry you had such a tramatic time of it , but to make my kids pay for your PE nightmare, NO WAY !!

Have to agree with WVU there. You can learn those skills other places than gym.

As for jumping to conclusions, while I realize that there are maybe 20% of students in the "in" crowd, and 20% in the "out" crowd, there are that 60% that are neither. Its not your fault that gym, and high school in general was tramatic, thats the fault of administrators and teachers, and the system in general.

I respect that you want your kids to go to gym and run and learn about square dancing, badmittion, bowling, and other sports. They will have a well-rounded education that way, and probably be healthy. But also like WVU said, colleges dont look at those grades. I would have had a better time say learning a programming language, or another operating system, or something more geared to the outside world.

See I wouldn't Rysar because I loved playing football and all the other sports (although square dancing was a little dumb), but I would hate to learn a programming language instead of taking gym. Since I was a good athlete though I guess gym wasn't really hard on me.

AH,gym........loved it! And ya know what else,..I loved making all the other female squirm when I stripped down and took a shower!!!! Guess I wasn't inhibited. *hit it was the 70's!!!!!!!!
I also wouldn't put up with anybody pickin on the other ones either. I'm still the same way to this day.I've done called the cops on guys hittin their girls and I've also stopped them myself from hittin them.
I know it's too late now for this Rysar, but you all should've teamed up and watched each other's backs,dude!
But I totally understand the "in" crowd crap!!! We had a North High.All the rich, spoiled ones from Fountain Head(when it was some place fawncy to live) . I just told em to *uck off!! Guess ya could say I wasn't too popular in school.

me again! Also let me say this ..exercising is a great way to help ya clear you mind and to help ya concentrate.It really does work!

Personally, I HATED PE class. (In fact, I only had 2 c's my entire life and one of 'em was in PE!!) I have 2 left feet and suck at pretty much every sport known to exist. I was also very self conscious and always the last to be picked. However, my topic had more to deal with elementary school, rather than high school. These kids really need this time to blow off steam, especially since they have such short recess, and it seems to be optional, not scheduled. I think most of the kids diagnosed with ADHD are really just kids looking for an outlet, not psych cases. As for the program, I don't really see the kids being as ridiculed in class (at this age) as I remember. I think the teachers have ceased the picking of teams in most cases, so it seems a bit more fair.

Say guys! I was horrid at gym too! I got 'C's...I hated it. But I think it was necessary.
But the crazy logic of some of the posts, they should abolish all teaching--because it is not 'fun' for everyone. Well, heads up! School is kids' job! And getting through stuff you do not like prepares you for life. Because Life is full of 'have-to's which are not 'fun' or a thrill.
Sign me, been there, done that, not part of the in-crowd either.

Lots of interesting points here...

I ALWAYS took PE, even when it was an elective....

I was not part of ANY crowd...I moved from CA to VA
when I was 14 and entered a totally new (to me) high
school as a sophomore....I enjoyed any kind of sport,
because it tested ME and my skills...being introduced
to new sports was also challenging, because I'm of the
'competitive sort' that thrives on overcoming obstacles
and achieving goals. I didn't participate in extramural
sports because I was new to the area and didn't know
anyone; I also lived about 25 miles from high school,
and I was quite small and didn't believe that I had the
skills necessary to play at that level...but that didn't
stop me from showing what I could do both in gym
class and in the after-school intramural program...in
fact, my basketball team won the intramural championship
when I was a senior...

As far as grades go, I always managed an 'A'. At the time,
I hoped it was because of my effort, and not the fact that
I took a shower each day...I would also add that most
colleges may in fact ignore or throw out any grades you
get in art and PE when compiling your GPA, but I doubt
that they ignore the fact that you've expressed an interest
in activities outside of pure academia, because isn't that
what a 'university' is all about ??

Today, kids probably feel that PE is a waste of time because
it takes them away from their Gameboys, Playstations, X-Boxes,
MP3 players, cell phones, pagers, or whatever the 'diversion
of the day' is...Heaven forbid if they break a sweat or anything...
their worst fears are being out of AA batteries....

good point, 5car, but don't they use chargers and power paks or something like that these days? i think they've bipassed simple AA batteries.

So if colleges throw out the grades for gym, they why do they make you take gym in college? I had to.

Beats me! That's just what my guidance counselor told when I was a senior. I asked if electives are weighted and she said that electives such as art, music, and PE are thrown out since they aren't academic courses not to say that they're not important.

That is totally false! When you apply to a college such as the University of Michigan or VA Tech, they check to see if you did anything else besides make A's in all your classes. I remember this from watching a video I had received from Eastern Michigan University, about the application process. Any Guidance counselor who tells school kids that PE and art don't count for anything in college, should be fired on the spot.

They may look to see what you've taken, but they aren't figuered into your GPA. So if you got C's in music and PE they aren't included into your GPA that colleges look at.

Exercize in gym class? Get in shape? Much of the class work is learning the rules of competitive sports, and the names of the lines on the courts, and the scoring system. Yes, the 'in crowd' always seemed to really enjoy gym class. They were a team on the social circuit and it thus followed into the aggressive team sports in gym class. And, students still do the alternate choice team picking! So, everyone knows who the best are and who the undesirables are! Some of us are not wired to be competitive in order to get exercize. We prefer to keep our body in shape by individual means...swimming, hiking, running, cycling, calastetics, etc. Junior and senior high gym classes were the worse experiences in my school years. Back then we were checked off by the teacher as we entered the group shower. It was a part of one's grade to shower. One was excused from showering if one yelled "M" after roll call to indicate it was that time of the month and a shower was not required. I'm sure glad that showering rules changed in time for my kids' gym classes.

Have any of you noticed that many administrators/principals in the BOE were phys-ed teachers before being promoted?

Kacee

Well, I think it should be required to shower after Jr. High/High school, unless PE is their last period. I personally don't want to sit next to smelly people in class.

Oh those showers with everyone else. How embarrassing for me this was. I just never believed that it was right to throw everyone in the same shower together in all of our nakedness. But, if you didn't you would get bad grades in sports. I'm still traumatized and it's been a long time ago. Ooooooooo