Physical Education
 

Should it be a required course? I don't think so! As fun as running around is, it becomes extremely tedious and annoying when you have to purchase a uniform and do what some obnoxious coach says.

Besides, do you even learn anything there? After you finish P.E., you don't join a sports team do you? In the real world, sports is insignifigant to non-sports-related jobs! P.E. only benefits people who go on to play "professional" sports if you think about it. By the School Boards' logic, they should make Music or Art required courses! So what do you think? Should P.E. be a required course in schools, or just optional?

Disclaimer: Art and Music are several thousand times better than P.E.

It teaches physical fitness, which is good because we are fast turning into a nation of fatties. But, should it be required? Sure. Just take the damn class. It will make you a better person. I had to take a government class, but am I going to rush out and run for congress? No, but I now have at least a basic understanding of how our goverment works and it makes me a better person.

If you don't want to take gym, then develop asthma.

I think Phys. Ed. should be required, but to today's junior high and high school kids, its not fun anymore. So I think school districts should get creative with their phys. ed. programs to make them more appealing. How many of us would be happy to take phys. ed. if there were a DDR day once a week, or if we were allowed to play video games while running on treadmills? If a kid isn't into that kind of thing, they should be allowed the choice to do something else. Some kids are into sports, so let them play sports, put in a rock climbing wall, a giant trampoline, something fun that still includes excercise.

The biggest problem with my suggestions is funding, but if parents, teachers, and government officials are really worried about the health and fitness of today's youth, then they need to figure something out.

Well, Phys Ed can be a required course. Even if you suck at sports like me, you can do them well, and you don't need any sort of creativity at all. Art and music are different, because few people can do them well and creatively.

I don't really have anything against it, because forcing kids to exercise is good. It's more healthy to exercise and be fat than to not exercise and be skinny. Exercise also releases enforins and crazy stuff like that which could be said to be trying to deal with teen depression.

I always liked Phys. Ed, and we didn't only do running, we played other sports. I definitely think it should be required because if it's not, then very few kids will do it. With over 50% of the population being overweight I don't think we can affoard to not make it required.

I really doubt taking one or two semesters of Phys. Ed will solve the US's overweight problem, or make it any worse/better. Most people (My school atleast) just blow off Phys. Ed class, do the minimun requirements to pass with a high grade (Since it is easy), then never think about it again.

I took it over the summer. I don't worry about it.

And, what's even better, my band director is pushing to make marching band into a phys ed credit. WHOO!

What's the point? You can say it helps with all the overweight people... but those overweight people, for the most part, aren't in highschool. Highschool kids are much more active than their parents with deskjobs regardless of PE. That's attacking a problem in people that don't have that problem... When I was in highschool there were a few fat kids, but for the most part people were in decent shape (and by decent shape I mean there were a lot with rockhard abs... few of which did anything in PE)... and about half of every grade failed PE for not doing anything in it or skipping it. It was our most common summer school course. The reason? PE is boring and doesn't teach you anything in the real world... and teenagers tend to do things like play DDR, or practice skateboarding or sign up for extracurricular sports, anyway. Those who don't aren't going to be much healthier from under an hour of 'exercise' playing volleyball and learning archery for a single semester per year.

All it really does is take away from time when you could learn something useful.

As for music and art, those SHOULD be required because they help to develop someone into a more well rounded individual. People tend to actually do things in them... but they should only be required up through middle school. After that, there's little point in bothering with it... people that are going to like art and learn about it will continue to do so regardless of class... and the same goes for people who wouldn't.

If that happened at our school, I would be so happy. But it's already a summer school credit, so I doubt it will become a P.E. credit.

I think it's okay for it be required, but like Video Drone said, they could be more creative with it. I'm sick of 'learning' how to play volley ball, soccer, basketball, etc, over and over again! And (at least at my school) they base a LOT of the grade on the mile run. Well some people just don't have that kind of endurance, no matter how long they train.
They should have different P.E. classes that you can choose from. Kinda like how the arts program has three choices: Art, Band, or Choir. You need one arts credit, so you can choose which one you want to do. With P.E. you don't get any choice. They should have different choices, like:
P.E. 1- Basketball, football, indoor hockey, etc etc
P.E. 2- Dancing, Guard work (like, color guard. I tell you, that stuff is hard!), Archery, Fencing, Gymnastics, etc etc

It would have to be those exact choices, but let the kid choose what type of P.E. class you want to do, so you can do more of what YOU want to do, instead of what their making you do.

At least this year I get to do Archery. ^^


But I also agree with Krylo and IHMN, a P.E. class really isn't going to help anybody that really doesn't want to work. It's the student's choice weither they do physical activity or not, the school isn't going to make that much of a difference in that aspect.

Archery should never be included in a Phys. Ed class... It's not even physical activity in the first place, and it is useless...