Physical Education in Schools

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During elementary and middle school, PE class was something that my friends and I looked forward to each day. It was a chance for us run around and play with each other. For that short amount of time, we were not being made to use our "inside voices," and were free to run around and use up all the energy that had been storing inside us all day. Many times, our PE class was fairly unstructured and to some extent were allowed to do as we pleased. Very rarely did we have organized exercises that everyone must participate in. The children who chose to no run around and play games were free to sit and talk to friends if they wanted to. I feel as if this is the case in many school systems today. At the time, I was excited to have this type of freedom to do as we pleased rather than do organized exercises. I now realize just how big of a role physical education plays in children's lives. The American Heart Association states that "Nearly 10 million children and adolescents in the United States ages 6–19 are considered overweight" (American Heart Association, 2009). Many schools are choosing to cut resources for physical education classes, or to cut the class altogether due to budget issues. The schools doing this, see physical education classes as being a low priority, rather than seeing just negatively these decisions will affect the students. Due to advancements in technology, many children today choose to play with computers or gaming systems rather than being active. The exercise that students receive in PE classes while at school, is only activity that many kids will take part in throughout the day. I believe that is very important to not only keep PE classes part of the curriculum in school systems, but to also provide these classes with better resources so that a positive change in children's health may result from it.

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American Heart Association. (June 27, 2009). Physical Education in Schools. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3010854

-Picture from http://www.narragansett.k12.ri.us/Curriculum/PE/Curriculum%20PE%202007%20Overview.htm

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