By Dana Goldberg
Physical Education classes have been removed from the curricula of most schools, from pre–school to junior college. By 2001, only 29% of high school student had gym classes.
Why?
For one, many of the school boards were cutting costs and budgets in favor of other “more academically” enriching projects.
Another reason was that the time for school, six hours a day, was barely sufficient to accommodate the academic subjects like math, science, and history, and having a PE class was going to shorten that time even more.
A trend has also been observed regarding the preferences of school children. Many children have been very inclined to take up computer lessons, learn foreign languages and attend additional math classes.
These academic inclinations have further magnified the validity of the reason for lack of time for academics, and even lesser time for PE.
It has also been observed that students have taken a very strong liking to video games and a very strong dislike for gym class, or physical education classes. A very glaring reason was that gym class teachers were usually coaches of the school basketball, baseball, or football team.
During gym class, the teacher was conducting class in such a way that the gifted athletes were dominating and the rest were being humiliated in class. Such experiences makes the children look for other things they would be good at.
The lure of easily being masters at certain video games made these children dislike gym class.
A disturbing fact was also seen as the cause of the removal of physical education, or gym class, from school curricula. Many members of school boards all over the nation have had the notion that things cannot be effective through testing that they had no value whatsoever.
Since the performance of students in gym class could not be ascertained by national standardized paper and pencil tests, school boards decided to discard gym class from many school curricula.
Due to the loss of physical education from schools, many American children have been found to suffer from obesity. Such condition has been declared an epidemic in American school children. And such led to children being diagnosed with adult exclusive diseases like type–2 diabetes and hypertension when became adolescents.
Additional researches have also been conducted to determine whether gym class had a positive effect on the learning abilities of children. The results have confirmed that movement fosters brain development, and that physical activity prepares a person’s brain to learn.
Such was needed evidence to convince the Education Board to allow the reinstatement of gym classes into school curricula all over the United States.
“If kids aren't healthy and fit, we are going to have a diminished return on that academic investment,” said one affirming school board member.
Nowadays, many schools are doing their best to make a gym class very interesting and fruitful for students.
Schools have adopted individual activities for students so that they could determine the activities they could excel in.
Other financially capable schools have adopted the video game technology into PE classes. One school even uses video game software to let their students complete a biking course within a given time limit. That way, students can get fit while enjoying playing a video game.
Many schools have also promoted lifetime sports like swimming, tennis, badminton, and cycling so that the children who are undergoing these can continue them until they grow old. Other individual sports like downhill biking are also being taught to motivate students to be active and smart.
Some PE classes also give their students homework. For example, a PE class is teaching tennis. A teacher will let his students practice certain tennis strokes at home and have tests to see how well they have learned.
The recovery of gym class is a gradual one. Though many school board members still oppose gym class, many are starting to see the value of the lesson.
Now we all know how important gym class is to the children. It is good for their heath, their social life, their morale, and their learning ability.
The old saying, “ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY” obviously still applies to this very day.
About the Author: Dana Goldberg is the editor of A1 Gym Guide. Visit her daily updated blog with information on fitness, gyms, and health. http://www.a1gymguide.info
Source: www.isnare.com
