Should Physical Education Be an Electric at the High School Level?
Journal article; JOPERD--The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, Vol. 68, 1997
Journal Article Excerpt
Should Physical Education Be an Electric at the High School Level? Editor's Note: As many Issues responses are published as space permits. The following guidelines are used to determine which responses will be printed. * When many similar responses to an Issues question are received, JOPERD editors will select the responses that best express the main thought of all the responses. * When professors assign their students the project of submitting an Issues response to JOPERD, only the best stated responses, both pro and con, will be published. * Issues responses received without a respondent's name, institution name, title or position, or address will not be considered for publication. Yes, physical education should be a requirement for American students. As educational professionals steadily incorporate technology into school curricula, they need to remember some of the basic necessities that every human needs in order to live a healthy life. Maintaining a healthy body is not an option in life, but a requirement. Education professionals should keep in mind that they are not just preparing students to participate in a technology-based workforce, but are providing them with the tools to become aware, active, and healthy citizens. To be educated about one's own body is a key role in this process. It is easy and almost expected for parents and teachers to get so caught up in the realm of technology that they forget some of the basic necessities that every human needs in order to live a healthy life. Basic necessities include good body composition, flexibility, strength, and aerobic endurance. Instead of eliminating physical education, this is a time for expansion. To include mind and body exercises such as tai chi chu'an and yoga in the curriculum, while keeping traditional activities such as track and field is critical. If students are going to be healthy in the future, schools must teach them how to be healthy today. - Alston Simpson, graduate student, Health Physical Education & Recreation, the Ohio State University. Elective physical education is the backbone of our program. Our state requires personal fitness as a graduating requirement. We offer this to our tenth graders. If it was not for the excellent elective physical education we offer, there would be no students enrolled in physical education except for the required course. We offer 13 additional courses to provide alternatives to our students. There is room in their schedule of required courses (nine elective credits) to allow for them to take physical education classes if they wish. The wide variety of courses is what attracts the students to our program. Aerobics, tennis, weight training, softball, basketball, volleyball, recreational activities, individual/dual sports, team sports and track and field classes are a few of our offerings. We encourage our students to experience the wide range of courses. It will enhance their fitness levels and contribute to a lifetime of activity. - Judy Barrett, department chair, teacher, coach, EastLake High School, Pinellas County Schools, Tarpon Springs, FL. I strongly disagree with such a proposition. Students desperately need to have physical education, for a healthy body and healthy mind promote learning. As physical educators, we are struggling to provide sufficient amounts of physical activity time to our students in the restricted time frames we are now given to teach. If reducing the importance of physical education to an elective is a solution, I would like to know what the problem is. I predict that if this does occur, students will believe that physical education is of no pertinent value to them. What kind of message would that be sending if this was to happen? Have mathematics, biology, and U.S. history ever been suggested to be electives? I don't think so. Instead of making physical education an elective, high school should offer physical education electives, such as orienteering, outdoor adventure games, weight training, etc. This would provide the necessary exposure that the field is desperately seeking. - Danielle R. Chiesi, alumnus and former graduate teaching assistant, Department of Physical Education and Sport, State University of New York College of Brockport. As the twenty-first century approaches, physical education is bombarded on all sides. Strident voices call out for "accountability" and "credibility" and plead for more traditional emphases on the three R's, or the acceptance of new curricula with greater technological components. All too frequently physical education is marginalized, trivialized, and eventually eviscerated.If we believe that physical education is a core subject in high schools, then it should be a consistent and compulsory element in the day-today education ... |
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