Physical Education Should Be Mandatory

I. We all value our health over many other things because that is what keep us alive, but with

First of all, students do not have much knowledge about the different fitness components; they do not understand the relation between the fitness components and health. If students acquire the background knowledge about fitness, it could improve the class engagement and motivation, and increase the independent drive to exercise. Second barrier to students’ achievement is the lack of motivation to be active, and even more difficult, to specific fitness activities, such as sit-ups and push-ups. In today’s society, students spend more time sitting in front a screen and less time moving. Parent and school today have more responsibility making sure the children get enough physical activity. According to the New York Times (2016), “early school physical education (PE) programs can make a significant difference, and the earlier these routines are learned the more likely they will be carried forth into a healthy adulthood”. Another barrier that prevents students’ success is the loss of instructional time due to discipline problems. The classes are too big, with many diverse students with individual problems, which are difficult to address when these issues are from very different backgrounds. Finally, there is not enough support from home affecting not only physical education, but

Physical education classes are not enjoyed by all, in fact, some students do their best to get out of the class each day, but without this class, students would sit in school for seven hours a day with the only exercise being walking from class to class. While changing clothes and possibly getting sweaty may not seem productive for students who have spent an hour doing their hair, or feel awkward changing in front of others, this class provides positive ways of fighting obesity, releasing energy, retaining more academically, and learning discipline. Thus, students should be required to take physical education courses in high school.

Physical education is good for students physically, mentally and socially. Taking proper care of their body can and will result in an unhealthy life and life style that could follow them for the rest of their lives. Schools all across the nation are full of obesity children. One of the problems is obesity, which is a growing epidemic in the United States, and it is said that seventy eight percent of Americans are not reaching basic activity level approvals. By motivating children to take a physical education class, we are forcing children to learn healthy life skills, which is something beneficial to everyone. Students should understand that not taking proper care of their body can bring health problems and by installing that in the school, system at a young age can prevent that. When kids back home, you don’t know their type of activities that they do like playing video games or just on social media. Physical education should be mandatory throughout 2- 12 grades so they could get use to it by the time they get out in the real world. Not only the physical aspect but also the health part in eating right and maintaining the body system. Besides ensuring healthy and fit society, Physical Education also allows students to develop their interactive skills, social skills, team dynamics and psychomotor skills. For example, when children play sports and games during Physical Education, students are encouraged to develop the spirit of

S. Surgeon General has declared childhood obesity to be an “epidemic” with significant adverse health consequences, including vascular disease and Type 2 diabetes that significantly raise health care costs for youth.” (The Impact of Physical Education 3) “The U.S. Surgeon General attributes the rise in childhood obesity, in part to, school cutbacks in Physical Education (PE), and urges all school systems to mandate daily PE that last at least one hundred and fifty minutes per week for elementary schoolchildren.” (The Impact of Physical Education 3) Research shows exercise aids children in maintaining a healthy body weight, strong and healthy muscles, strong bones and joints, improves sleep, school attendance is improved, self-esteem is better, and they are less likely to develop anxiety and depression. Those are just a few benefits of physical activity. Schools require subjects such as Math, Science, English, and Social Studies in order for children to graduate. Therefore, physical education should be a required course. Not only will adding physical education requirements help children physically but also, studies show that exercise helps with brain stimulation, which will help with test score and understanding in the classroom. Physical education will not only help with obesity but also improve some other problems schools deal with because of obese

Over the last 30-40 years, the amount and intensity of exercise has gradually declined. Few children in the United States have actually met the recommended “sixty minutes of vigorous exercise” per day (Institute of Medicine, 2013). Although most states and districts have policies pertaining to physical education, these programs lack reinforcement and are often considered weak. Physical education has slowly declined throughout the years, and the the purpose of encouraging students to make physical activity part of their daily lifestyle has been lost. Recent research from Cornell University has found that the average high school gym class consists of students being active for an average of only sixteen minutes! This is nowhere near the recommended sixty minutes of physical exercise. Physical education has been pushed to the side while academics have been prioritised. P.E. classes have become overlooked by society as a whole. Students simply see it as a courses used only for socializing, or to avoid academic courses such as Algebra, Biology, and History. While teachers no longer encourage students to be active, this should not be the path in which we take physical education. The importance of exercise and physical activity goes beyond the classroom with is proven benefits in memory, cognition and attention which are skills that can be used for daily life activities. In recent times, many programs are popping up across the country to emphasize the importance of being active!

Physical education should be a fun class, but fun does not have to mean chaos. I believe in a structure that will allow the students to have fun in a safe way. My lesson plans will be structured so that students are constantly engaged in physical activity. I feel that if I can keep students moving and learning, then the chances of misbehavior will decrease. In elementary school I feel that Instant Activities should be used to get students moving when they get into my class. High school is a little different. I feel that students at the secondary school level should be introduced physical fitness activities that will help keep them in shape later on in life.

First, physical activity in school would help students to improve their rate of academic learning. Children who are physically active would perform, retain, absorb and pay attention better at school and home, than students who are out of shape. ‘A study, conducted by Bryan Mc Cullick, a kinesiology professor at the University of Georgia, examined all 50 of the United States and found six states where elementary schools followed recommended physical education at the middle school level, and no states had strong enough regulations at the high school level.” This

Obesity is a deadly and horrible disease; however, it can be prevented. Physical activity is the “cure” to the obesity epidemic. Obesity is the result of “‘caloric imbalance’ -- too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed” according to Childhood Obesity Facts. Physical activity burns off a majority of the excess calories one may have. PE classes do an efficient job of getting students physically active without overworking them, or taking away from freetime after school. Therefore HCSD should keep the current physical education requirements and not replace it with sports.

To do so, the Federal Government needs to make it mandatory for all high school students to participate in physical education. Physical Education restricts any harmful illnesses from forming since the activity promotes muscle strength and cardiovascular endurance (Grace). Young adults need to be physically active in order to avoid dangerous cardiovascular diseases from forming and the Federal Government can ensure this by enforcing physical education within high schools. In fact since the last decade, physical education has been argued and decreased in importance; as a result of this, more and more young adults are developing heart diseases in an early age. In fact, according to the CDC, physical inactivity increases one’s risk for dying prematurely, dying of heart disease, and developing diabetes, colon cancer, and high blood pressure (Physical). It's only a matter of time before the number of young adults that get a cardiovascular disease rises, and the only thing that can help stop this is the Federal

Mandatory high school physical education tries to pawn off a healthy lifestyle on teenagers who frankly don’t care. Without mandatory physical education, students will be able to take control of their education and the costs of mandatory gym will be filtered back into the school in more purposeful ways. Prairie Ridge should offer weights, total body fitness, and cardiovascular to students as an elective who wish for that break in between academic classes.

In 2012 there were 66,689 U.S elementary schools (National center for Education Statistics). If a program was established to make physical activity and education mandatory, where children could exercise and learn the benefits of being healthy, the outcome would be the masses of students becoming healthy. Schools see the faces of millions of students a year and go on to see these students return in following years. Public schools offer a great medium to require students to get healthy just as they are required to learn math or English.

“Physical education hopes to accomplish, to engage all students, not just the athlete elite, in fun activities that will instill a lifelong commitment to fitness.” (Johnson, 264). Physical education in the classroom can be a vital steeping stone to the way that teenagers think about fitness. Lifelong fitness is something that everyone should be guaranteed, it mainly depends on the experience that a teenager has. Like many other subjects in school, the

There is nothing more important than health, especially in this day and age. It’s concerning that only 29 percent of high school students surveyed by the CDC (2011) had participated in at least 60 minutes of physical activity on all seven days before the survey. The CDC also noted that only 31 percent of these high school students attended physical education class daily. Only 8 percent of elementary schools, 6.4 percent of middle schools, and 5.8 percent of high schools provide daily physical education to all of its students (SHPPS, 2000). The government is missing the fact that physical education can actually improve test scores, not the opposite.

In the modern schools, too many elementary schools are so centered academics and don’t focus on the well-being of the students. The school systems also don’t realize that physical activity can help students perform better in the classrooms. In the recent years, there has been a worldwide tendency to reduce school-based physical education in favor of academic subjects. Given the beneficial effects of exercise and the disadvantages of a sedentary lifestyle, cutbacks in physical education lessons are not near as productive as people think. Systematic reviews provide clear