So what exactly is the point of making PE a requirement in high school? I just can't figure who is supposed to be benefiting from it. I mean, pretty much everyone hates doing it, right? And while that applies to most classes, in this case, they don't even have the half-assed excuse that they're "educating" us. So what are we accomplishing?
Basically, the problem that I see is that the kids who do well in PE don't really need the help, do they? I mean, if you're pumping out six-minute mile times and leaving all the fat kids in the dust, you're probably already taking a sport of some kind, aren't you? And if not, then you're one of those lucky bastards that stays healthy no matter what they do, so you don't really need it in either case. And if you are one of the aforementioned fat kids in the aforementioned dust, you probably aren't going to be helped by pretending to run for an hour a day. Seriously, these kids don't try, because they don't give a damn. And why should they? They know they're wasting their time. At leas they're honest about it.
This is also completely beside the fact that it's completely crap that this sort of thing is factored into your GPA.* It's already stupidly difficult to get into a good college these days, why do they have to aggravate it by screwing over the kids that can't run fast.** Isn't school supposed to be about knowledge? Yeah yeah, it totally isn't, but you know what, I can buy the bull sometimes. But not this bull.
*This is completely true, and there are schools that grade you on your mile times, without any sort of sliding scale, mine included. Thank God for marching band. Loopholes ahoy!
**You laugh, but acceptance offices can be bitches about this kind of stuff. "You have a 3.99 GPA? DENIED!"
The government shouldn't regulate the health of teenagers. Sure, outlaw like poison or something, but forcing people to make decisions on how to spend their time? I'm sorry but if you're a highschooler you have the freaking mental capacity to decide if you would like to sit on the couch and drink coke or run a mile. You know it's bad for you, and you don't give a shit, and that should be okay.
ReplyDelete~Casey "Ten-Minute-Mile" Dye
They would be criticized for adding to the obesity and poor health epidemic given America is such a fat nation and there's a ton of pressure, internationally and domestically.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think it's a good idea to have it as long as it doesn't interfere with academic opportunities. People can't just go through their lives without exercise and be healthy. School's supposed to prepare us for real life, and to live on our own we need to get into the habit of exercising to stay healthy or else we'll just wither away and die. Which is totally fun. And about the aforementioned fat kids who don't try, make them.
I think the real issue is that people who are already in good condition already KNOW that they need to exercise. That's why they're in good condition. People who aren't, on the other hand, just want to get their damn credits and get the hell out of there. It's a waste of money, basically. Money that could be spent on new timpani.
ReplyDeleteBut they can try to discipline the kids who aren't and are lazy to be in good condition. And actually try, not like what 99% of most PE "teachers" do.
ReplyDeleteI say we just melt all of ours down and try to make our own.