Gym Class: Why Kids' Exercise Matters Less Than We Think

[Quinlan]

^ Best post so far in the thread!

No place can be worse than Texas for sports however...
.

I dunno, Aus is pretty intense when it comes to sport...

 

[Hirsch63]

Half the day should be PE, with the rest made up of woodwork, metalwork, art and outdoor ed.

/SPness

The 3-dimensional areas of Art Education (woodwork, metal work and ceramics) offer ample opportunity for physical developement and impovement of coordination. Moving and processing materials with machinery or (preferably) by hand while learning the math and concepts necessary for design offer an integrated approach to both the physical and mental aspects of education. Direct interaction with raw material also allows a student deeper awareness of resource management and environmental impact. The results of the work are tangible and useful (though early efforts may be something only a mother could love...)

 

[Fluffywolf]

I don't see the issue.

Kids are supposed to be prepared for the real world. Giving them PE so they don't get fat is just making it hard for them when they start to become fat after school. It's better to get fat in school and accustom to the new form before going out in the real world.

 

[heart]

Awww... I feel bad for you guys. When I had gym class it was really fun. We didn't play dodgeball or anything like that. We had soft balls and really fun games. Gym was a big hit in my elementary school.

The emphasis shows in that my teachers called it "bombardment" rather than dodgeball, more focus on bombarding than dodging I suppose...

Yeah sure there were plenty of PE fanatics at my school, but I loathed it. Dancing school outside of school was much more fun.

 

[SpottingTrains]

We had a month of dancing in my PE class.

 

[JocktheMotie]

Isn't child obesity and obesity in general more of an American problem? If so, then I don't see how studying kids in UK school systems gives a terribly accurate depiction of how important PE is to an American child's lifestyle.

 

[Fluffywolf]

I agree with you Jock, my first post in this thread was obvious a non-serious one. But I'll give seriousness a go now.

Although I wholeheartedly agree PE is good in education. I strongly disagree with the lack thereof being the problem of obesity. Dietry care and cultural standards should be addressed. PE should be part of the system, not to prevent obesity, but in order to help growing people to develop well overall.

 

[Halla74]

I call bullshit on the article posted in the OP.

I don't care what any group of researchers thinks they found, the following statements are undeniable truths:

(1) The mind and the body are one. A weak mind will weaken a strong body; a strong mind will strengthen a weak body. A strong body will strengthen a weak mind; a weak body will weaken a strong mind. Academic intelligence and physical intelligence are mutually beneficial to each other.

(2) Children need to develop hand/eye coordination, fine motor skills, and the ability to work in teams. PE activities accomplish these fundamental developmental objectives, especially for those kids whose parents are sorry enough to not make sure they are engaging in physical exercise of some variety.

(3) Children need to be able to function in a competitive environment. Getting an "A" in any academic subject is the student Vs. the textbook. Winning a game of soccer, volleyball, kickball, etc. is one team of students Vs. another. Our world is competitive; kids must be able to function in a competitive environment, which PE fosters albeit in a basic capacity.

So there.



-Alex

 

[juggernaut]

I call bullshit on the article posted in the OP.

I don't care what any group of researchers thinks they found, the following statements are undeniable truths:

(1) The mind and the body are one. A weak mind will weaken a strong body; a strong mind will strengthen a weak body. A strong body will strengthen a weak mind; a weak body will weaken a strong mind. Academic intelligence and physical intelligence are mutually beneficial to each other.

(2) Children need to develop hand/eye coordination, fine motor skills, and the ability to work in teams. PE activities accomplish these fundamental developmental objectives, especially for those kids whose parents are sorry enough to not make sure they are engaging in physical exercise of some variety.

(3) Children need to be able to function in a competitive environment. Getting an "A" in any academic subject is the student Vs. the textbook. Winning a game of soccer, volleyball, kickball, etc. is one team of students Vs. another. Our world is competitive; kids must be able to function in a competitive environment, which PE fosters albeit in a basic capacity.

So there.



-Alex

+1

 

[nightning]

I call bullshit on the article posted in the OP.

I don't care what any group of researchers thinks they found, the following statements are undeniable truths:

(1) The mind and the body are one. A weak mind will weaken a strong body; a strong mind will strengthen a weak body. A strong body will strengthen a weak mind; a weak body will weaken a strong mind. Academic intelligence and physical intelligence are mutually beneficial to each other.

(2) Children need to develop hand/eye coordination, fine motor skills, and the ability to work in teams. PE activities accomplish these fundamental developmental objectives, especially for those kids whose parents are sorry enough to not make sure they are engaging in physical exercise of some variety.

(3) Children need to be able to function in a competitive environment. Getting an "A" in any academic subject is the student Vs. the textbook. Winning a game of soccer, volleyball, kickball, etc. is one team of students Vs. another. Our world is competitive; kids must be able to function in a competitive environment, which PE fosters albeit in a basic capacity.

So there.



-Alex

Yes and no... kids can get all of the above outside of school. However it must be self-initiated. I guess the problem with obese kids is that they wouldn't want to play sports etc after school.

Age of the kids also matters. Based on my observations, if they're younger than 10, they'll run around the playground themselves... after they start getting older, they don't anymore. I wonder what age group the study is done on.

 

[Athenian200]

That's probably how a lot of SPs feel about school as it is! Too much pointless stuff like math, chemistry, english and physics and none of that really meaningful stuff I mentioned above.

Now you know how we feel.

I never minded when you guys skipped school... I always wished they wouldn't make you come back, because I could TELL how much you didn't want to be there. I never wanted you to be there, any more than you wanted to be there.

Well, I guess in your world, I'd end up skipping school to hang out at a library or something, probably end up flunking out due to stubbornness and frustration. Your world doesn't fix the problem, just makes everyone else as miserable as SPs were before. But I guess SPs don't have enough empathy to care about that, huh?

But seriously, what is it with you guys and that stuff? I mean, I can do physical stuff if I've got to, but it's boring and exhausting. And not only that, it's dangerous enough in some ways that I actually have to pay attention to it. The worst part is that if I screw up, everyone knows about it and I look bad. Not to mention that I don't like open competition and doing things at the expense of other people.

 

[ptgatsby]

(1) The mind and the body are one. A weak mind will weaken a strong body; a strong mind will strengthen a weak body. A strong body will strengthen a weak mind; a weak body will weaken a strong mind. Academic intelligence and physical intelligence are mutually beneficial to each other.

True... but the article is saying that PE is ineffective at doing this - they get the same amount of activity regardless of PE. Therefore PE is relatively useless at doing what you say. It also showed that even with relatively the same amount of exercise, their overall health varied widely. Bottom line is that it has very little influence on the children - they adapt and their own personal propensity is largely responsible.

(2) Children need to develop hand/eye coordination, fine motor skills, and the ability to work in teams. PE activities accomplish these fundamental developmental objectives, especially for those kids whose parents are sorry enough to not make sure they are engaging in physical exercise of some variety.

The article shows that they do this regardless of if there is PE.

(3) Children need to be able to function in a competitive environment. Getting an "A" in any academic subject is the student Vs. the textbook. Winning a game of soccer, volleyball, kickball, etc. is one team of students Vs. another. Our world is competitive; kids must be able to function in a competitive environment, which PE fosters albeit in a basic capacity.

I rather doubt that. Least, the kids playing on the street seem more competitive than my PE classes. Hell, the hallways at school were more competitive than my PE classes.

We had a month of dancing in my PE class.

I actually liked that. But hey, you know... teenager boy dancing with girls. Good stuff. Until they decided line dancing was better. I still remember learning the macarena when it rained one day.

 

[avolkiteshvara]

I don't have any data to back it up, but it would seem that even if they burn the same amount of calories per day, there is at least some mental health benefits to intensive periods of exercise.

Kids squirming all day in their chairs would seem to foster a less beneficial learning environment than kids calmly sitting in their chairs after intense exercise.

 

[Halla74]

...

That study is not the end all be all source of knowledge that defines the relative worth of physical education in public schools.

I wonder if any of the authors were competitive athletes, or were they obese? What is their bias?

No matter what you or anybody else says, I will never advocate eliminating PE or art or music from any public school's curriculum. The mind is developed best when stimulated by different experiences. What a child learns at school is supplemental to what they have already learned at home. Few children's households expose them to sports, music, AND art. Some kids are exposed to none by their parents, some to 1 or 2 of the 3. It does not hurt a child's development to provide them with a well rounded education.

That's my take on it, and I like anybody else have my own biases.

 

[Athenian200]

That study is not the end all be all source of knowledge that defines the relative worth of physical education in public schools.

I wonder if any of the authors were competitive athletes, or were they obese? What is their bias?

No matter what you or anybody else says, I will never advocate eliminating PE or art or music from any public school's curriculum. The mind is developed best when stimulated by different experiences. What a child learns at school is supplemental to what they have already learned at home. Few children's households expose them to sports, music, AND art. Some kids are exposed to none by their parents, some to 1 or 2 of the 3. It does not hurt a child's development to provide them with a well rounded education.

That's my take on it, and I like anybody else have my own biases.

You're a heartless, competitive person, and don't care how PE makes people feel. You just care about results.

 

[ptgatsby]

I wonder if any of the authors were competitive athletes, or were they obese? What is their bias?

I'm guessing they were scientists... given that they did the studies...

No matter what you or anybody else says, I will never advocate eliminating PE or art or music from any public school's curriculum.

Then there is no point talking about it, is there?

 

[Halla74]

You're a heartless, competitive person, and don't care how PE makes people feel. You just care about results.

You could not be more wrong. I am hardly heartless; I have a HUGE heart. I am results oriented about certain things, but not everything as that is not a humane way to think.

I'm guessing they were scientists... given that they did the studies...

So scientists should be the only ones that determine what is best for the development of young human beings? My point was only to establish that the authors speak from their own vantage point, and not for everyone.

Then there is no point talking about it, is there?

Nope! I've stated my opinion and my work here is now complete. Enjoy the rest of this discussion.

 

[ptgatsby]

So scientists should be the only ones that determine what is best for the development of young human beings? My point was only to establish that the authors speak from their own vantage point, and not for everyone.

*shrug*

 

[Haphazard]

Half the day should be PE, with the rest made up of woodwork, metalwork, art and outdoor ed.

/SPness

Perhaps if you changed "PE" to "Recess", I might agree with you.

See, the reason why PE is so soulcrushing to us scrawny/obese nerds is because there is no chance for a curve like there is in most other subjects. Once someone falls behind, they STAY behind, forever, constantly being forced to compete at the same level as someone else who is naturally athletic, all while being constantly humiliated by their peers and misguided attempts by the teachers to 'encourage.'

I remember in middle school, there were 3 levels for reading and 3 levels for maths, one accelerated, one normal, and one remedial. This seemed to work for normal subjects, but oh no, they couldn't do that with gym class, because that would make kids who would be in the 'remedial' gym class feel horrible.

I don't think they understand that by shoving everyone all together they're making those who need remedial feel worse, not better.

Of course childhood obesity is a problem in America, but in its current form, PE is a part of the problem, not the solution.

 

[Kyrielle]

Half the day should be PE, with the rest made up of woodwork, metalwork, art and outdoor ed.

/SPness

That, if adjusted a bit, would be lovely. I hated PE, mostly because the structure of it bothered me. Free-form play or any of the "free" days we had where the teachers set up a bunch of fields outside and let people play what they wanted were the best.

I even remember the week where we learned how to navigate by compass and get our bearings. That was great. I would have been even happier, or even now, if they included more into that week and made it into a month. Where we learned how to do basic survival things or how to get out of bad situations. (Like your car breaksdown on the highway miles from civilisation. What do you do and how do you survive for the next few days? Or, you are lost in a foreign country and you do not know the native language. What do you do?)

However, I would also never trade in my academic subjects for all of the above. Mix and match, I say (which is pretty much what I did with my schooling once I had control of what classes I got to take).

Anyway, in regards to the OP, while I hate PE, I would definitely advocate early afternoon outdoor activities of some kind all the way through high school. Like right before/after lunch so the kids burn off some of that excess energy and then spend the rest of the afternoon relaxed. They should have things that teach you useful knowledge about the world. Cool stuff, so you can be outside, have fun, learn, and exercise all the same time. I don't believe that kids are getting the right amount of exercise outside of school anymore. It's not the same as it was when I was a kid.