Should P.E. be mandatory or an elective?

What's your opinion on this: should gym class be a required subject in middle and high school, or should it be an elective?

Eh, I'm torn. I know kids need exercise but sometimes PE class seems to be a bit pointless and ignorant of the kids' personal exercising needs. It often strikes me as something that rewards physical fitness already had rather than creating it where it's lacked.

So yeah, I'm torn.

GYM class should be an elective. Yeah kids need exercise and all that stuff....but an hour of indoor volleyball isn't what I would consider physical education.

Besides, most P.E. classes yeah you HAVE to take them, but you just show up, don't even have to do anything and you pass the course.

Supernova wrote:Besides, most P.E. classes yeah you HAVE to take them, but you just show up, don't even have to do anything and you pass the course.

Very true. When I was in school, all you really had to do was actively participate and you'd get a decent grade.

My PE class was the same; it was basically a time to chill for the most part.

I think it should be mandatory, at least 3 times a week. These kids today do not get enough exercise as it is and an hour in the gym will do them good physically and mentally.

^^^^An hour of exercise and an hour of gym are not always synonymous. PE was a break from work at my school. That's it.

IMO it's somewhat important, but I think they should alter its focus from being mostly about sports to being more about the actual properties of physical fitness. Aerobics and weights over basketball and softball. When I was in HS if you weren't good at sports or if you didn't have any interest in them, PE wasn't gonna be fun for you.

Should be mandatory. Kids today are inactive and fat because after the school they're off to the Ps3 and computer. They gotta have that one class that makes them run.

If gym classes are still the same as when I had them then no to being mandatory. If the classes were geared only to strength and conditioning activities instead of "bombardment", archery, square dancing, etc., then maybe they should be mandatory.

Dark Oblivion wrote:Should be mandatory. Kids today are inactive and fat because after the school they're off to the Ps3 and computer. They gotta have that one class that makes them run.

I always see crowded ball fields in my neighborhood. Kids are fat from poor dieting, IMO. If we want them to walk, have them walk to school if they can. The PE class I had was barely exercise. The exercise was warming up and the "class" time consisted of silly ball games. Mandatory PE won't do anything but make the kids not good at sports feel embarrassed.

I can see why phys ed is important but it should be an elective anyway. School is for academic not physical, if parents don't want their kids to be fat they should push them to be active and not eat junk. I could play the hell out of dodge ball in gym when i was a kid but for the most part I didn't care about the class.

It should be mandatory, but standard gym class shouldn't be required. There should be alternatives to it. In high school I took weight lifting and liked it.

It should definitely be mandatory. Even if it does consist primarily of volleyball and basketball, there's still a lot of cardio movement required to participate in those games. Cardo gets the heartrate going. Fifty minutes of PE every other day won't kill anyone.

I don't know about PE, but I fully support quality daily physical education. I've seen teachers do many variations, including yoga, health living, dancing, and stretching, as well as the regular physical activities. I think there are a lot of benefits to keeping kids active. It helps them stay more focused and allows them to burn off excess energy. A little guy I work with sometimes used to go to the computer lap during lunches because it was easier to contain him. I have him go outside and he runs around almost the whole time. Sure it's busy and I have to keep up to him, but he really needs to be active. The whole class takes part in daily stretching and they love it. Physical activity is very easy to incorporate into the day. I'd say that I support daily physical activity, rather than daily PE classes.

alan smithee wrote:If gym classes are still the same as when I had them then no to being mandatory. If the classes were geared only to strength and conditioning activities instead of "bombardment", archery, square dancing, etc., then maybe they should be mandatory.

omg we had squaredancing too. eeeeeeee the flashback I just had.

Absolutely. Any exercise at all during the week is important, no matter how frequent (or not) it is. It's good to get kids in the habit of taking care of themselves and P.E. was put in place to get them accustomed to having some sort of physical activity. Plus it is another method of teaching kids the value competition and team work, or at least it should.

Nhaiyel wrote:Absolutely. Any exercise at all during the week is important, no matter how frequent (or not) it is. It's good to get kids in the habit of taking care of themselves and P.E. was put in place to get them accustomed to having some sort of physical activity. Plus it is another method of teaching kids the value competition and team work, or at least it should.

Agreed but I still stick to my position of it being made into a class that is a little more inclusive of all student body types and not as competitive.

I think it should be mandatory. Physical fitness is just as important as the stuff that they are learning about math and science. If you don't have your health, you can't go be a scientist after all.

I do think that it should be like it was at my Jr. High though. We did jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups, stretches, ran laps and THEN we split off to go do what we liked, most of the boys did weight training and most of the girls did aerobics or gymnastics. On Friday everybody had to run the mile, or for ten minutes around the gym if it was raining.

The kids certainly aren't learning to be active at home, at least if we can KEEP them active until they are old enough to realize that it's important maybe it could help them stay healthy so they can go be productive citizens.

Plus, I just think it makes the kids more receptive to learning, at least the kind of "sit down and listen or read" learning that they have to do all day, if they have something to get their energy out.

thepossiblepolice wrote:I think it should be mandatory. Physical fitness is just as important as the stuff that they are learning about math and science. If you don't have your health, you can't go be a scientist after all.

I do think that it should be like it was at my Jr. High though. We did jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups, stretches, ran laps and THEN we split off to go do what we liked, most of the boys did weight training and most of the girls did aerobics or gymnastics. On Friday everybody had to run the mile, or for ten minutes around the gym if it was raining.

The kids certainly aren't learning to be active at home, at least if we can KEEP them active until they are old enough to realize that it's important maybe it could help them stay healthy so they can go be productive citizens.

Plus, I just think it makes the kids more receptive to learning, at least the kind of "sit down and listen or read" learning that they have to do all day, if they have something to get their energy out.

I agree, six hours in school everyday, kids need some sort of physical activity that gets their heart rate up. At the same time, though, since PE class can be just as traumatic for some as it is exhilarating for others, I have to wonder if it ought to be waived if the kid makes a compelling enough case about why he/she would rather not take (or continue) it.

Chris wrote:

thepossiblepolice wrote:I think it should be mandatory. Physical fitness is just as important as the stuff that they are learning about math and science. If you don't have your health, you can't go be a scientist after all.

I do think that it should be like it was at my Jr. High though. We did jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups, stretches, ran laps and THEN we split off to go do what we liked, most of the boys did weight training and most of the girls did aerobics or gymnastics. On Friday everybody had to run the mile, or for ten minutes around the gym if it was raining.

The kids certainly aren't learning to be active at home, at least if we can KEEP them active until they are old enough to realize that it's important maybe it could help them stay healthy so they can go be productive citizens.

Plus, I just think it makes the kids more receptive to learning, at least the kind of "sit down and listen or read" learning that they have to do all day, if they have something to get their energy out.

I agree, six hours in school everyday, kids need some sort of physical activity that gets their heart rate up. At the same time, though, since PE class can be just as traumatic for some as it is exhilarating for others, I have to wonder if it ought to be waived if the kid makes a compelling enough case about why he/she would rather not take (or continue) it.

What sucks is that the kids that it's probably most traumatic for are probably the ones who need it the most.

thepossiblepolice wrote:What sucks is that the kids that it's probably most traumatic for are probably the ones who need it the most.

I don't think PE as a class is really necessary. Take the kids outside and let them run around for crying out loud. lol The PE class I had was a joke and I honestly think we equate PE with physical fitness way too much.

thepossiblepolice wrote:I think it should be mandatory. Physical fitness is just as important as the stuff that they are learning about math and science. If you don't have your health, you can't go be a scientist after all.

Uh, Stephen Hawking may disagree with that.

thepossiblepolice wrote:I do think that it should be like it was at my Jr. High though. We did jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups, stretches, ran laps and THEN we split off to go do what we liked, most of the boys did weight training and most of the girls did aerobics or gymnastics. On Friday everybody had to run the mile, or for ten minutes around the gym if it was raining.

The kids certainly aren't learning to be active at home, ...

I agree with those who suggested it be for the purpose of increasing physical fitness rather than participate in competitive sports. I used to love things we did in gym, like that rope climb and some of the workout routines - but dreaded being put on the B'ball court or out in softball. (I was like Bella)

I think it would best benefit the non-competitive students to do track and field stuff - basically aerobic and exercise. Of course my gen didn't have so much sedentary a life. I often walked the two miles home from school, then got on my bike and did stuff.

Shale wrote:

thepossiblepolice wrote:I think it should be mandatory. Physical fitness is just as important as the stuff that they are learning about math and science. If you don't have your health, you can't go be a scientist after all.

Uh, Stephen Hawking may disagree with that.

thepossiblepolice wrote:I do think that it should be like it was at my Jr. High though. We did jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups, stretches, ran laps and THEN we split off to go do what we liked, most of the boys did weight training and most of the girls did aerobics or gymnastics. On Friday everybody had to run the mile, or for ten minutes around the gym if it was raining.

The kids certainly aren't learning to be active at home, ...

I agree with those who suggested it be for the purpose of increasing physical fitness rather than participate in competitive sports. I used to love things we did in gym, like that rope climb and some of the workout routines - but dreaded being put on the B'ball court or out in softball. (I was like Bella)

I think it would best benefit the non-competitive students to do track and field stuff - basically aerobic and exercise. Of course my gen didn't have so much sedentary a life. I often walked the two miles home from school, then got on my bike and did stuff.

My 7 yo did football last year and it was awful. He is NOT a team sport person. I really want to get him in cross country, I think he'd be great at that, but there's no track/field at his school. There's a track and a field, lol, but no team. If I had more time I would offer to coach it myself, even though I am not a runner.