Should P.E. be mandatory or an elective?

I think for elementary it should be mandatory at least three times a week. When I was middle school and high school, PE was only required one year in each.

Yes, but it should weight lifting, treadmills, cardio. That kind of stuff. Not "hey, look... we have ping pong."

When I was a kid, I would have said that it should be an elective. The older I get, the more and more I think that it should be manditory!

I really don't think that playing flag football once or twice a week did anything for me in the way of physical conditioning. Gym should be more of an exercise class and less about sports. Kids who want to play sports can try out for the school team.

I'm on the fence regarding P.E. being a requirement. My reasons are lengthy and eccentric, so I'll skip them.

FWIW, I have two teenagers who play a LOT of video games. Elder-Son is 5'8" and 135 lbs. Younger-Son is 5'6" and 110 lbs. The younger one has been into jiu jitsu and swing dancing lately...he's pretty active. The older one is a couch potato. I don't believe that being sedentary makes you fat. Consuming too many calories makes you fat. People tend to consume too many calories because they eat highly-processed diets, believe that "fat-free" means "eat-the-whole-bag", and don't eat enough fresh fruits and vegetables (which fill you up and make you want to eat less, overall). It's lousy nutrition that makes Americans fat.

I'm answering no. My opinion of P.E.? I HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED IT! And then I HATED it some more.

Looking back on it, I think P.E. did more damage to me psychologically than it did help me physically.

Was the purpose of it suppose to give people self confidence? REALLY? It did the exact opposite to me. And I can clearly see it doesn't bring out self confidence in a lot of people.

ThePayback wrote:I'm answering no. My opinion of P.E.? I HATED HATED HATED HATED HATED IT! And then I HATED it some more.

Looking back on it, I think P.E. did more damage to me psychologically than it did help me physically.

Was the purpose of it suppose to give people self confidence? REALLY? It did the exact opposite to me. And I can clearly see it doesn't bring out self confidence in a lot of people.

I think that has more to do with the fact that it's not "executed" properly. They preach one thing then actually do another. If PE was run in the proper way it wouldn't have that effect on the average kid.