Though I may be alone on this, I absolutely loathe physical education.

It has done nothing in all the years I've taken it except further discourage me from physical activity of any kind and make school terribly humiliating because I'm not what you'd call athletically-inclined.

What are your opinions on this class? Should kids be forced to take it or not?

There seems to be more and more kids faking doctor's notes or getting their parents to help them get out of PE.

You are very right.

Here is how I look at it. Younger people must be given the tools to live healthy life styles. How to be active. A good PE class does just that.

A student might not like math, but still needs those tools for everyday life. They might not like it, but it is a required class.

PE should be a required class, just like math and science....yada yada yada.

the only reson that the school bored is forseing us 2 have p.e. is cause that studys have shown that teens r getting mor .. ummm .. "big" there not realy trying 2 harm us.. they(the teachers) just want us 2 b healthy..
and plus u just have 2 take ppl 4 a copple of years..
its not realy that bad

My high school doesn't require PE if you take band, choir, or some other music class. I'm in band, so I haven't had to take it and I don't plan on taking it because I always hated PE in middle school. But at my school it doesn't really matter because even if you do have PE, they don't make you do anything. It's basically a study hall. I don't think it should be a required class anywhere, though.

Kids shouldnt be forced to take it cuz i know everytime i have that class i never participate! I hate PE.

Eh, I'm a bit undecided on this subject. PE in high school has not encouraged me to engage in more physical activities either, but I still liked it because it seemed like an easy class, the recess of high school. Honestly, I think PE should be optionable, but that won't be happening any time soon. If a school without PE as a required class coincidently had a bit of overweight kids in it, who else would be blamed but the school for not encouraging their kids to try different physical exercises?

If I owned a school in a country other than the U.S., I would definitely consider making PE an option class rather than a requirement.

wow im lucky in LA (the state not city) Pe is mandatory to graduate but if your in rotc or a sport you dont need to have pe (or if your in band) and i have all my pe credits to graduate !!!!!!!!!!! =P

in va the pe class is required 9th and 10th grade year... i hate it because im in jrotc and pe and ones enough if the student is enrolled in jrotc or in a sport then they should not have to there getting double the excersie and its not like pe is gonna help everyone students are bringing more and more not to get them out of pe and some kids are even emberresed in pe to do anything in front of the entire classes either some of these should be dealut with or im leading toward no they should not be required at a high school level there fine for elementary and middle but when you get to the highschool you are old enough to have your own thoughts and opions on certin stuff and sometimes your classes are included in this so my opion is a no

i live in london

and at my school pe is compulsary for 1 lesson week all the way through highschool

through years 7-9 I hated pe and was dreadong doing it in year 10 but to my suprise i love it, its so much fun we do things like bowling and swimming so were allowed to go out of school the classes are alot smaller and much friendlier too

i think it that pe should be compulsary now that all ove rthe world people are talking about the increase in obesity

while PE is totally lame, some people never get out there and exercise. PE is only compulsory for two years here[twice a week], and i kinda agree with that.
Since obesity is becoming such a major issue in the world maybe its not such a bad idea.

I wrote an article about this for my school newspaper. I wrote about the usual "we need it so we all won't get fat" but I did say that it brings a sense of structure into the lives of those who are not on athletic teams. It teaches team work, but i do see what you mean. I personally didn't like PE at all so I can sympathis with you.

Hey Meagan-

I do agree with you. PE is an important class for teens and they could just simply take up a sport and have a good time.

he rise (I don't know the current statistic, but in years past, it has been around 57%) of children that are obese. With TV pastimes also growing and activities like computer and with nothing to do, teens just sit around like a bump on a log. So I do think PE should be required.

In my free time, I do play golf, practice my golf swing, play out on the course, things like that. I also play tennis, volleyball, and all sorts of activities. It's great to exercise and take advantage of the outside.

quote:

Originally posted by Meagan87:
I think some sort of PE should be compulsory. However, I think that where possible, there should be different classes students can take in place of a general class.

For example, at my high school there was a gymnastics class, swimming, team sports, yoga, aerobics and weight lifting. Despite this, we were still all required to take the general class. Taking additional ones took up our electives, and everyone knows gym classes are "blow-off" classes to college admissions people.

I think some sort of PE should be compulsory. However, I think that where possible, there should be different classes students can take in place of a general class.

For example, at my high school there was a gymnastics class, swimming, team sports, yoga, aerobics and weight lifting. Despite this, we were still all required to take the general class. Taking additional ones took up our electives, and everyone knows gym classes are "blow-off" classes to college admissions people.

I don't think it should. I really hate the things that we do in PE, but it's not that I'm not physically fit. I'm an Irish dancer, and I wonder if the triple-letter boys at my school could do what I do. I don't think I could do what they do either, but it's just, I still work my heart-rate up, and I still burn calories, I still stretch, I still build muscle, just in a different way.

Why should I have to do the athletic stuff that isn't compulsory for life, when I have other things that keep my fit?

I guess in my school, and yes, I go to a public school, students don't mock others if they aren't good at sports in PE. Though, come on, a student isn't going to have a good time or learn anything, for that matter, in PE, if the teacher fails to control a class and earn their respect.

What? Do you think states shouldn't require students to take math if they get mocked because they can't do math well? What about science? Should states not force students to take a class if they could be potentially mocked for not being good at mixing chemicals or conducting experiments? And the same goes for history and English, and foreign language classes.

PE is just one of many classes students are required to take as part of an overall curriculum. I said it before in this thread 2 years ago, schools are trying to develop the entire student, not just for college, but for their lives as adults.

quote:

its the teachers.

And students

As I have said before, its not PE thats going to discourage children, its the teachers. If you have good teachers, trust me, you will enjoy PE.

I guess I'm lucky to go to a school where the PE teachers are fantastic, even if you suck at sports.

As the saying goes, "Theres a sport for everybody."

quote:

Will it help? Of course it will.

No it won't. Children who do not preform well in PE are often mocked. Thats not going to want to make them join a sport.

Physical activity isn't going to start from scratch...somebody, something needs to get children up off of their butts and on to the fields/courts/gyms/training centers of the world.

Cartoons, TV, computers aren't going to solve the problem in this country of childhood obesity.

Is PE going to solve the problem? No. Will it help? Of course it will.

PE doesn't help with obesity. If I child needs to loose weight they are going to need more than the minimal activity they will get in PE.