Reply #38: You were, I wasn't [View All]

[happyslug]

But all you had to do was show up and get an "A". If you were out of shape you did nothing for there was nothing you could do. I remember Physical Education (PE, the name was becoming popular in the 1970s but the older term "Gym" was also still being used), the coach would bring out the Basketballs, most of the kids grab a ball and started to play, those of us out of shape just stood around for 45 minutes and then dressed for our next class. Swim class was even worse, since I could not swim when everyone did laps I had to wait for them to go by the shadow area where I just stood around (The Gym Teacher did not have time to deal with me at all since he was watching the other Students).

Physical Education was boring and I hated it. The problem was (and is) Gym and PE is tied in with your grade level not your physical ability. Thus if you are NOT in shape you are out of luck. The system is NOT set up for anyone who is not in the same general shape as the students in your same grade (Now if you are suffering from a serious physical or mental problem this can be addressed in a education assessment but those are NOT the students I am talking about here, I am talking about people who are out of shape but have no substantial physical or mental restrictions).

Now my experience with PE is over 30 years ago (the 1970s) and maybe things have changed (Which I doubt). The reason for my dis-belief is the simple fact I have not seen any thing to separate students of different physical capacity from each other not any attempts to help those people who are not in shape. Basically if you are not in shape the School (and by this I mean the PE Teachers) do not really care. I remember the old Presidential Physical Fitness awards Test, I failed every one of the test (When I mean every test I mean every part of the test, i.e. failed the run, failed the sit-ups, failed the pull-ups failed the push-ups etc, yet no offer was extra help was made, all I did was move up a year and failed again. No encouragement no discouragement nothing, you just get marked failed.

That is the basic problem, no one is held accountable for the physical condition of the Students and do not tell me that is the responsibility of the child's parents WHO ARE THE EXPERT HERE? The PE teachers are the Experts.

Sorry about the rant but when you look over the last 30 years I see nothing but more of what I saw in School, less and less geared to help people who need help and more and more to those who do NOT need the help. PE is just the worse example of this phenomenon.

Now the next question is how to fix it. First you have to address the issue of who is fit and unfit. People who are unfit must be given extra support (whether they ask for it or not). The Presidential Fitness test should be use as a guideline (If you pass it great, if you pass most of the sub-test good, but if you fail them all the Student MUST be put into some sort of extra training).

Second, you are going to have to separate PE from sports. Yes that may sound like an impossibility but when I was in school one of the problem with Gym was the Gym teachers and the Coaches of the Athletic teams were one and the same. This caused a problem for the coaches wanted to recruit for their team and thus concentrate on such recruitment (and helping students who would be good members of their team). This caused some problem in that the same coaches did not want to be unpopular so they did want the more fit students wanted them to do. Us unfit were left on the vine to die. You have to remove this dis-incentive to help all students.

Third, they are people who can not dribble or shoot a basket thus some sport other than Basketball has to be played. I know basketball is the most popular indoor game but do something that people who can not dribble or shoot basket or do not make it a required course.

FOURTH, OPEN THE SCHOOLS FOR STUDENTS AFTER HOURS. This was one of my biggest hangups, closing schools after school hours. This not only included inside the school but many of the outside physical areas. I have seen ball fields locked up (Because people may mess up the Grass), I have seen outdoor basketball area locked up (Why someone may steal the ring? I would say basket but most of the Basketball courts I have seen had the ring for the net underneath it, but rarely the net). The weight room in my Suburban school was restricted to the Foot ball team (I went to both a Suburban and inner-city School) while I did go to the weight room in my inner-city school it was a waste for the whole class was in there and you could not get to most of the weights.

On a side note I remember going to School and being told to do my research in the Library, but how could I do so when the Library was closed whenever I was NOT in school? Why have a library when the only time you could get to it was when you had to get permission from a teacher to cut her or his class to go to the library? Yes, Just plain dumb.

Fifth, encourage students to walk and bike to School. I went to a School where it was almost a crime to walk home. How dare you leave early and NOT take your bus (and this was in High School). Ride a bike to School and keep it where? No place to lock it up. My Suburban School had a place for kids to park their car but no place to park a bike (My Inner City School did not even have places for the teachers to park so I view it as fairer).

Sixth, encourage students who go outside the School PE system to exercise, including praising people who did so.

The above will be a start to solving the problem, but I do not see it being adopted for it means addressing the problem of the unfit through encouragement something I found lacking in PE teachers.