Mandatory Physical Education

[Dalek Caan]

I think that PE should be a choice, but maybe involve the parents. I always hatted PE in my school. It was just soccer over and over again. I find that the time is better spent doing homework than running up and down a court kicking a ball of leather.

 

[MCrewdson001]

You should be able to have full choice over how much and what physical exersize you do

 

[DSK-]

I liked PE, up until the point where we'd play Rugby on a field covered in dog shit, and in the last years of secondary school we'd just play 5-a-side it just got boring.

Apart from that I enjoyed PE.

 

[freddi91]

its mandatory in high school simply because people with authority are looking at the supposed NEET (not in employment, education or training) problem more sternly, and because its good for your health. At elementary its mandatory to fight obesity.

That being said, while fitness/weightlifting is the better option, like you said none of it matters, at least on an evolutionairy scale. No matter how hard you train your babies will come into the world as scrawny and unmuscular as you and will have to repeat the training on their own to get similar results.

 

[PhiMed]

You live in America, where 35% of the population is obese, and 60% is overweight.

Yes, physical education is a good idea here. Yes, it should be mandatory. No, I don't care that you're slender.

 

[bluepilot]

I really hated P.E in school. I was quite fit because I did kickboxing outside of school but I hated the PE programs because the choice was so limited. There were competitive team sports, weights and running. None of these are my favourite so I grew up hating them. I only found out that I liked running when I was older.

PE can be quite humiliating when forced to do something that you are not good at or don't like. There are so many different types of athletes and I think that my PE curriculum offered a very poor excuse for sports

 

[Shirokurou]

It's awesome... WHEN DONE RIGHT!

But honestly, I bribed my way out of PE in the Uni (as did 70% of the other students)
Not cause I was too weak, I went to the gym in my own free time. But our Mandatory PE was horrendous. We'd be stuck wasting time with nothing to do and suddenly out of nowhere... A TEST APPEARS! Throw this dummy-grenade the demanded distance or you don't get a pass.

 

[Ren3004]

I hated PE, and really don't think it works to fight obesity, at least not the way it was here. I never learned anything and I ended up being teased because I sucked at sports. But I don't think it's too different from any other subject. Some people are going to follow a career in sports, and some people like PE and will end up taking up exercise or playing a sport as a hobby. It's just like having to learn, say, Physics when you want to be a lawyer.
It could work better if we had some choice. Like, the school has a deal with some gyms, sports clubs, etc., we get to sign up for an exercise plan or classes for free, and at the end of the year they certify the school that you actually went there. This way, at least you get to choose something you like and you just have to go there and do something to get your credit, you don't have it valued exactly the same as any other subject like I did.

 

[katsumoto03]

There should be a mandatory TWO credits in PE. Hell, you should do some PE at home even!

A strong body leads to a strong mind!

Are you religious? If you are you must support the idea of mandatory prayer too.

I honestly think that no classes should be mandatory, especially one as trivial as PE.

 

[Sgt. Dante]

I never cared for football, which was the only thing the class would pick, but quite enjoyed it when we did other things. (except cross country running, no deal)

So long as youth obesity is a problem I think that a little excercise can only be a good thing, but they should try and make it more fun/engaging to try and build an interest instead of putting people off the physical side of life.

Are you religious? If you are you must support the idea of mandatory prayer too.

I honestly think that no classes should be mandatory, especially one as trivial as PE.

Ermm... Yeah, things like English and Maths should be bloody mandatory, without trying sounding confrontational no child should get to pick what classes to opt out of, cause they don't know what's good for them.

 

[IronicBeet]

It's to keep undisciplined people from becoming out of shape (Or more so than they already are). I don't particularly like PE, but I think it's a good idea. It's not like I get much exercise playing video games.

 

[Vault101]

eh it was annoying in the first few years of highschool

and then in year 11/12 it was just doing random shit that no one gave a crap about..I even (shock) actually TRIED at some of the games

 

[bjj hero]

I wish work would order me to do an hours exercise a day, I have to do my exercise in the evenings in my own time.

PE is good for you, it is a change of pace, developes a healthy body, teaches team work, problem solving and builds charecter. I Just wish there had been more choice when I was a school.

I was not particularly gifted but I loved rugby, basket ball and badminton but hated football. I ended up playing a lot of football (but thats the UK for you) which I will admit I was terrible at. Either way I was still running around for the time so it wasn't wasted. If I'd had the choice I would have done boxing, juijitsu, kickboxing and wrestling but "liberal" society hates anything a little competative where you might get a bump.

A lot of these posts amount to skinny/fat kids whining "but I shouldn't have to break a sweat".

If I was in charge boxing and wrestling would be taught in schools from tomorrow. I would also introduce military service but that is for other reasons to be talked about else where.

 

[GrimTuesday]

PE is mandatory, because that's the way the school and the government want it. Don't like it, well honestly tough shit your pretty much screwed than, because you need a PE credit to get a high school diploma in just about every school. That being said you could learn to enjoy it and not ***** about it for the half/ full year you have to take it, who knows might be fun (was for me and I don't typically play sports). Besides what the worst that could happen? You spend an hour playing dodgeball instead of sitting on your ass at a computer desk on msn or facebook.

PE is so that you're getting some semblance of exercise, otherwise you're just sitting all day, which isn't enjoyable.

I took weight training all throughout high school, although it wasn't required. I really like lifting weights, and having that hour everyday, did wonders for my lift maxes. I really like to lift until I can't use the muscle group that I was working (obviously you don't want to totally burn out your legs), losing the abilty to write due to exasution is a really weird but cool feeling.

Lol, ya definitely not a good idea to work your legs to exhausting. I'm a big guy so I can push a bit of weight, so when we went to the weight room for PE one class and a couple of guys decided to have a leg press weight contest I threw my hat in. Beat every one out going to quite high (well in excess of 800 lb) and decided to keep doing that for bout another 10-20 min. Lets just say that after that walking to the change room and getting to my next class was interesting.

You and your silly little leg press can go be silly else where, real men squat .

Seriously though, I loved squating, I'm a really big guy, I played offencive line in high school, and by the end of my senior year I was squating over 700 pounds, plus my body weight (which leg press takes out of the equation.)

The first time I did 700, I got all the way up racked it then promptly passed out and cracked the mirror in front of me.

 

[Nulmas]

I think that PE should be a choice, but maybe involve the parents. I always hatted PE in my school. It was just soccer over and over again. I find that the time is better spent doing homework than running up and down a court kicking a ball of leather.

So, are you from Portugal too or does this stupidity also happen on countries other than mine?

 

[bjj hero]

There should be a mandatory TWO credits in PE. Hell, you should do some PE at home even!

A strong body leads to a strong mind!

Are you religious? If you are you must support the idea of mandatory prayer too.

I honestly think that no classes should be mandatory, especially one as trivial as PE.

Why should prayer be madatory? I don't have a spirit. I do have a body though and exercising it is beneficial, there are plenty of other benefits to PE so it should be mandatory. There should be mandatory subjects. As a child/teen you don't have a huge idea about the world in general or employment so you are not making a truely informed decision. Otherwise you may as well make all of education optional.

 

[Dalek Caan]

I think that PE should be a choice, but maybe involve the parents. I always hatted PE in my school. It was just soccer over and over again. I find that the time is better spent doing homework than running up and down a court kicking a ball of leather.

So, are you from Portugal too or does this stupidity also happen on countries other than mine?

Other countries also I'm afraid, Ireland to be exact.

 

[ReservoirAngel]

PE is there to give people nightmare stories. And thats for regular people. Even worse for LGBT people.
Its just one of many flaws of the education system.

So, so true...

OT: It is my humble opinion that P.E is fucking stupid, and the fact that P.E teachers are all borderline psychotic doesn't help things. P.E, as a class and in terms of the teachers' attitudes, is just there so people who happen to be athletic can feel smug and superior and give people an excuse to rag on the people who are either out of shape, weak as hell, or just don't give a shit and think their time is better spent doing something constructive than kicking a ball around in the cold while some overgrown psychopath with unresolved childhood inferiority issues screams at you.

At least that's how I see it.

 

[aei_haruko]

Edit: I work out at the gym. A Lot.

So in my starting year of Highschool in about a month, every student needs to have one credit of physical education in order to pass to the new grade. There are only two classes to choose from, endurance building (Muscle building I guess) and Sports practice. I obviously picked the endurance training because I do not want to be with all the neanderthals and I have a very slender figure. (Does not help that i'm a nerd too.)

So I question the Escapist members about mandatory Physical Ed.: What's the point?

There is no point in having physical education. It's our life. Our build. I think we have enough power to decide what we want to do with our bodies, correct?

Can you help me understand this "Theory" of P.E.? I'm some what ignorant of these thing called rules in school.

@ my school we have to have 4 semesteres of PE,
a mandatory health class ( which can be done over the summer for a free period) and a gym class during the year, this gets one semseter out of the way. Then you have 2 semesters left, and you also have 2 semesters fine arts, and 1 semester computers. Next year I'm taking 2 gym courses, and a fine arts course ( I'm getting mandatory theology off my plate over the summer today, got an exam, wish me luck!) Then during junior year ya actually get choice, you can drop the forigen language and take some other curse, like psychology, and ya get another spot which is filled up with usually a gym/ fine arts course, however I aint dropping mandarin, so I get to do mandarin, and psychology.then senior year I get the fun stuff,
like:
chinese 4
AP chinese
AP chem
AP bio
AP psych
mandatory english ( will make it a joke english)
mandatory theology ( will make it a joke class)

 

[Araksardet]

In principle, I don't see a problem with it, if it's properly executed. It falls well enough within the scope of a school's job, which is contributing as much as possible to a pupil's future well-being. Plus, as someone has already said, they get to decide how you have to meet their standards. Getting kids to exercise who might otherwise not is an attempt to ensure that a sedentary lifestyle they adopt when they are young and lazy does not cause problems for them in the future, when they might otherwise wish their hearts still worked as well and not be able to lift their arms above their shoulders or climb several flights of stairs.

That said, a lot of PE isn't very well done, and it just becomes a stage for jocks to make geeks feel bad about themselves, either willfully or merely by being better. It's best when there are many different options to choose from; people will tend to congregate with similar people, and that can remove the psychological barriers to enjoying whatever it is your doing. Every pupil for whom PE is torture isn't getting what they might otherwise get out of it. Having ultra-competitive pricks in the same class as casual kids and people who are insecure about their bodies just isn't good for anyone.

I know that in my high school, we had exactly zero choice in what we were going to take part in (except one time, for only a couple of classes in a row). I was forced to do all sorts of unpleasant stuff that I wasn't nearly as good at as everyone else, and it was embarrassing to be so physically awkward in full sight of everyone else.

Luckily, I had some friends who, just by being nice people, helped make it more bearable, but I would really have liked more interest-based segregation. Although I admit, while I sucked at everything else and made a fool of myself constantly, I was always a good swimmer, and I did like showing that off.