Coming around to other ways of thinking on PE

There are times in life where you learn not to be so rigid in your beliefs.

By my own admission, I can be slow to change my mind because I have
a strong belief that my principles are on point. In general, I think most of
us feel that way.

Two weeks ago, I shared this story that appeared on my Facebook news feed:

https://medium.com/luminate/why-pe-should-be-required-from-kindergarten-
to-college-af232eb3a153

The headline read that physical education should be required from kindergarten
through college. Without even thinking about it, I posted about how I could not
agree more because kids need balance in their lives perhaps more so than adults.

I received three responses from teachers/coaches that I hold in pretty high
esteem: Dylan Leach, Jill Stewart, Melissa Shimer and DeAnna Bowers. I
don’t consider their responses to be pushback simply because it got me
thinking about things that I never considered. Before I get into why I altered
my stance, let me give you context on how it got there:

Dylan Leach: PE is great for kids who do not participate in a school sport.
However, kids who participate in sports should not be required in my humble
opinion. I see the ignorance daily. Those kids should be with their coaches.
Especially the "9th grade PE situation." They are forced to do PE like pacers,
run miles and kickball, etc. Instead of training for athletics. Then, after school
they go to two hour practice where there coach is demanding 100% and they
are tired. Don’t get me started on PE teachers forcing the athletes to run a
timed graded mile on a game day. Pure ignorance. In addition. Those kids
(9th graders) also are not allowed to take weight training and lose out on a
year of learning techniques and accumulation of muscle. So once again, they
have the stress of finding time after school to lift. Those kids and their
coaches/strength coaches get no credit or stipend for the time they spend
giving back to the school.

Jill Stewart: Unfortunately, quality Physical Education is not a priority in
our district. We have excellent teachers and roll out the ball teachers. It’s
about professional integrity. Making Phys. Ed synonymous with athletics
is also ignorant. Even good coaches do not teach the FITT principle, energy
systems, rest and recover principals to take into adulthood. They are
concerned with training for athletic performance for their sport only. I totally
respect that. And all student athletes should have the opportunity to perform
at their highest potential. But kids should learn lifetime fitness and activity,
golf, tennis, learning how to pace on a run. Etc. I’m all for finding ways to
blend conditioning and Physical Education after HS students meet the state
mandated standards in Fit Gram after 9th grade. But, A very small percentage
of the high school kids will play sports in college.

Melissa Shimer: We need quality Physical Education that promotes lifetime
(lifelong) health and fitness. I have also made a huge focus on what the kids
are “learning” vs. what they are “doing.” It’s great to keep them active, but
also important that they feel that have learned quality things from my class.

I must confess that as a 46-year old man who is a father of three kids between
the ages of 10-12, I am one of these triggered old souls that is quick to get on
his soapbox and say things like: “Damn kids ain’t active enough!” “They
spend too much damn time on technology!” “Active kids get better grades!”
I have not necessarily wavered in those beliefs because I think sports mirrors
life. You have days of victory and defeat. For the former, you celebrate the
success but stay humble. For the latter, you pick yourself up and try to succeed
the next time.

I come from a generation that had Atari but we were still wired to be active
whether it was playing sports or riding our bikes like Bo Duke drove the
General Lee or simply playing outside. We also did all of these things and
took PE classes. We did it, why should today’s generation be any different?
So I thought. It makes sense in that just because things were done a certain
way in 1985, does not mean it should be done that way in 2019. Beliefs
evolve because we learn new information. Just because my generation rode
in the back of pickup trucks, did not wear seatbelts, rode as passengers on
bicycle handlebars, etc. does not make it a prudent choice today.

These responses, however, opened my eyes to think that perhaps kids that
already participate in a sport should not be required to overly exert
themselves. Asking a kid to run a timed mile on game day is purely asinine.
To Leach’s point, these same kids have coaches crawling up their tail to
give maximum effort. To Stewart’s point, high school is the pinnacle of
most people’s competitive athletic endeavors. To Shimer’s point, activity
should not be confused with production or learning.

So what are the solutions? I’m not privy to what life is like as a teacher.
Perhaps PE curriculum should be geared toward the lifetime fitness structure
like swimming or golfing, the two activities you can do at 65 or 25 because
they are low impact activities on your joints. However, if a youngster does
not participate in a sport, I couldn't agree more that PE should be a
requirement. For those who participate in a sport, perhaps their PE class
should be geared toward conditioning for their sport when they are out of
season.

So what exactly is the solution? I don’t know and I’ll leave that to those more
qualified than me but I’ve come around to other ways of thinking.