Just as the Summer Olympics are poised to begin in London, we receive disturbing news about the health of American youth.
A new Centers For Disease Control report reveals that nearly half of surveyed U.S. high school students reported their week included NO PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES. And according to the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, of the 41 states that require P.E. at the elementary school level, only six (!) meet the recommended guidelines from the National Association of Sport and Physical Education.
Whence cometh our next generation of Olympic athletes? From a generation that sees the Olympic rings and thinks "Mmm...doughnuts"? From a generation that, instead of competing to join the Olympic Torch relay whines, "Hey, bring me that Bic lighter from waaaaay down on the other end of the coffee table"?
Recession-spawned budget cuts are the main culprit in the downsizing of physical education (as well as art and music classes). That sounds penny wise and pound foolish. Or at least hauntingly similar to Vietnam War strategy. ("In order to TRIM THE FAT from the budget, we had to settle for out-of-shape kids.")
21st century schools (remember when that was a GOOD thing?) also devote inordinate amounts of time to prepping students for mandatory standardized testing (the old "teaching to the test" dilemma). I call the policy No Child Left Behind — Except The Little Couch Potatoes Who Can't Get Out Of Their Seats And Who'd Better Hope The Building Doesn't Catch Fire.
Furthermore, the states have notoriously ambiguous criteria for what constitutes "physical education." P.E. might include the cardiovascular benefits of "jumping to conclusions," the invigorating benefits of English 101 plagiarism ("the students were able to LIFT ENTIRE PARAGRAPHS") and the cholesterol-conquering effects of synchronized slacking.
Make no mistake: the issue goes far beyond obesity or the Olympics. Even the proverbial 98-pound weakling can be unhealthy, unchallenged and unaware of his potential. And students with little in-school exercise (and a life of texting and video games at home) may be poor candidates for the labor force. (There aren't many jobs — including parent — that don't call for a certain amount of stamina, rules adherence and teamwork.)
The P.E. crisis has a whole "Revenge of the Nerds" vibe to it (I'll admit to my own aching sides from running laps and neck spasms from staring hopelessly at the gym rope), but let's not be shortsighted. Even geeks need P.E. According to Dr. John J. Ratey's book "Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise And The Brain," a regular exercise regimen makes students perform better academically and on the aforementioned standardized tests.
All students need to learn about diet, nutrition and fair play. All students need exposure to a variety of sports and exercises so they can make an educated decision about future pursuits. Every student needs a sound mind in a sound body.
A few concerned citizens are looking into the matter, but we need a vigorous grassroots movement to persuade local and state officials to restore and amplify P.E. classes. We need more than handwringing.
("Hey, as an administrator, I've been doing an awful LOT of handwringing. I wonder if I could go back and get retroactive P.E. credit for that on my old high school Grade Point Average...?")
Copyright 2012 Danny Tyree. Danny welcomes reader e-mail responses at tyreetyrades@aol.com and visits to his Facebook fan page "Tyree's Tyrades". Danny's' weekly column is distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons Inc. newspaper syndicate. For info on using columns, please email Cari Dawson Bartley at cari@cagle.com or call 800 696 7561.
samkat posted at 6:38 pm on Thu, Jul 19, 2012.
Don't try to convince our flat earth religious zealots that PE is more important than religious courses that could be had in Sunday school. I believe studies have concluded that exercise tends to sharpen the brain. Like you, I was not fond of PE but then we were a lot more active in my school years. If I was "King for a Day" sex ed would come back into the class room as well as PE. The 3R's have also gone by the wayside. Our foreign competitors are walking all over us because we have idiots for legislators these days.
Arizona Willie posted at 1:47 pm on Fri, Jul 20, 2012.
I have no objection to PE. I think some exercise is a fine thing.
I get a lot of it jumping to conclusions. [smile]
What I do object to is the vast amount of money spent on baseball and football and soccer teams in public schools.
They hire coaches that are often paid more than the principal.
School is about the 3R's basically, or should be.
A kid has more chance of being hit by lightening twice than they do of becoming a professional athlete. Yet every taxpayer pays to have those sports activities in schools although less than 1% even go out for the teams.
Drive down the street and check out the area devoted to athletics compared to the area devoted to classrooms.
I drive by a junior high all the time and the sprinklers are spraying water on acres of green grass here in the middle of Aridzona, and the fields are fenced and have huge banks of lights for night time operation. Huge amounts of money are spent for sports there and that is just ONE junior high. On football night we hear fireworks going off when the team scores. Who is paying for those I wonder?
No money for teacher salaries but gobs of money for the football team.
In my NSHO, not one dime should be spent for athletics in schools.
If parents want to try to make a pro-athlete out of their kid they should send them to after school camps ran by has been pro-athletes whose careers are over.
Taxpayers should be be paying for that.
Engaged Voter posted at 1:49 pm on Fri, Jul 20, 2012.
samkat, you may be on to something there.
If physical activity sharpens the mind, well then of COURSE religious zealots will oppose it - just as they oppose anything that threatens their collection plate.
Arizona Willie posted at 1:50 pm on Fri, Jul 20, 2012.
Oops .. typo alert ... last sentence should have been:
Taxpayers should NOT be paying for that.