Physical education should not be a high school requirement
Some students play basketball in PE, while others sit by and watch, showing both sides of the enthusiasm spectrum
Many students detest physical education (PE) class, as it breeds athletic and social supremacism. For others, it gives them a great opportunity to blow off some steam after a long day of remaining relatively stationary. Regardless, high school students should not be required to participate in PE as it does not benefit their health as its proponents intended.
The purpose of PE is to encourage children to move around and to apply their knowledge to develop a healthier lifestyle. PE is also designed to work against obesity, as over 340 million children and teenagers (ages 5-19) were deemed overweight or obese in 2016 by the World Health Organization’s standards. Although this national issue continues to worsen, PE may not be the best solution.
A 2015 study on Texas’ Fitness Now program found physical education to be ineffective and having no effect on children’s’ body mass index (BMI). In gym class, children are typically only active 3 days a week for forty-five minutes each day. This will not significantly lower BMI, especially if some students choose to participate minimally.
Instead of focusing on superficial numbers, like BMI and how long it takes to run a lap, PE should teach children ways to incorporate health into their own lives. This will prepare them for their future more than a game of dodgeball will.
PE also makes those who do not play sports feel self-conscious and uninterested. Students give up if they need to run a lap around the track in an amount of time that they know they cannot achieve. It creates a sense of hierarchy that creates the impression that athletic children are superior to the unathletic.
Children who play sports often dominate the scrimmages and activities, leaving the rest of the children feeling uneasy. They often rarely pass the ball to the “awkward” or “shy” kids, which deprives these students of productive activity and results in a negative environment.
It is because of this negative environment that PE programs across the nation have poor attendance. According to a 2016 study by the National Physical Activity Plan, around one half of all US high school students do not attend PE classes daily. In schools that require PE for all four years of high school, attendance decreases more and more every year from students ditching.
For children in kindergarten through middle school, on the other hand, physical education is necessary. Children must become familiar with movement at a young age so that they stay active throughout their lives. However, in high school, students are old enough to make their own decisions.
High school athletes that have participated in sports and have received physical education through middle school do not need to toss a frisbee for an hour. If they were able to just attend their sports or dance practice instead of taking PE, it would have a greater benefit on their athleticism. If students do not play a sport in high school, they clearly are not interested in sports and will likely not participate in PE class.
High school students deserve the freedom to choose whether or not they wish to participate in PE. Physical education creates an unhealthy environment for many students, and should not be required.
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Samantha is a senior in her third year in journalism. She loves little old bookstores, the smell of almond extract, and rewatching Stranger Things. When...
Addison • Nov 13, 2023 at 10:20 AM
PE should have a alot to do with school
Addison • Nov 13, 2023 at 10:13 AM
PE is good for people to get there energy out and get to play with there friends.
Kendall • Nov 10, 2023 at 5:51 AM
Math shouldn’t be required in high school. It makes students self-conscious. They give up when they can’t answer questions that require computation correctly.
English shouldn’t be required in high school. It makes students self-conscious. They give up when they can read passages and understand them.
See how dumb that sounds? The point is, life is full of things that make us self-conscious or take us out of our comfort zone. Meeting those things head-on and conquering them is how we grow.
Can PE be done differently? Yes. By all means. Any teacher education program for physical educators that is worth anything has been focusing on making positive changes for years. Not all students are competitive, activities should reflect that and provide alternatives for all. Overall fitness and healthy habits are a point of emphasis, each lesson should demonstrate some way to apply concepts to everyday life. Fitness testing should be a means of gathering data and looking for improvement rather than focusing so much on hard numbers that reflect success or failure. Although the goal should be finding a way to reach a healthy fitness level in the tested areas eventually. They are tied to risk factors for lifestyle diseases.
One can see those things happening in a well taught physical education class. The problem is schools often don’t give PE teachers the basic tools and resources they need to effectively teach their classes. Dumping kids into a class with double and triple the student to teacher ratio that classroom teachers have is much of the problem. It would be considered unacceptable in other subjects, so why isn’t it for PE?
I put forth the counter argument that we need to draw a line in the sand and keep requirements as they are or strengthen them. The main push-back against PE is ultimately coming from parents. We have an obesity rate approaching 40% in this country. It is obvious they don’t find basic physical activity, exercise, and healthy eating habits to be important. Students pick up on it and see it as an opportunity to leverage a way to get out of something they don’t like. Further, we can see that kind of sentiment brewing against science and literature with some of ignorant social and political pushes as of late. If we get rid of PE, what is to stop science form being next? What is to stop book banning from becoming commonplace rather than something we get upset about?
We are much better off making positive changes in physical education and giving our teacher what they need in our schools to teach it correctly.
bretton hearn varn • Nov 9, 2023 at 10:04 AM
This type of article is dangerous to the health of all humans. It suggests that exercise is not imperative to one’s overall health physically and mentally. Either kids build a foundation of health and fitness early or they will struggle trying to lay the foundation in their later years which I have personal experience.
Maybe we can call it something different and instead of asking for athletic feet via time trials, we can encourage movement of any form. Even walking is better than nothing.
Abigayle. • Sep 7, 2023 at 3:41 PM
I am reading this just to detest my P.E. Class, they make us do reps for over 25 minutes with no breaks in between, we don’t even have a water fountain. We also start by running laps. I just got to my school and already want the year to end. KHS quit this.
linda • Apr 4, 2023 at 12:31 PM
i’m doing a debate on wether or not p.e. should be required for all students and this was like pretty helpful so yassssss
Luther • Feb 14, 2023 at 7:26 AM
How are ther 340million children that are obese in america if theres only 330 million people in the usa
Drew • Mar 29, 2023 at 10:57 AM
Its all of the kids in the world, not just the US.
mark • Mar 30, 2023 at 10:24 AM
that is true
linda • Apr 4, 2023 at 12:41 PM
but like how are there so many obese people if they’re not all in america? i thought we were the obese ones with our mcd’s lmao