We NEED to bring back Physical Education!!!
I've been thinking about this a lot lately, especially since my kids are now in the UK educational system.
Growing up in Illinois, having P.E. every day was a normal thing. Every school in every town in the entire state had P.E. every day.
Then we move here, and my kids have P.E. only ONCE a WEEK!!!
And since moving here, I've come to find out that Illinois is one of only a few states that STILL have P.E. every day.
Why?
Have we become so "politically correct" that we've gone way over to the other side in order to not make the unathletic kids feel left out?
I really started thinking about that today - my youngest had "sports day" at nursery today - and I realized something.
*I* was one of those unathletic types. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't exactly lazy. But there were certain aspects of P.E. that I just wasn't very good at. But there were others that I WAS good at. I was good at volleyball - my classmates even asked me to join the intramural class team I was so good. I was pretty good at basketball, too. I tried out for the team, but the coach (and P.E. teacher) couldn't be bothered to even look at me to see if I was any good or not. In soccer, I was pretty good. I could kick the ball halfway across the playing field right to the person I wanted it to go to.
But I wasn't very good at things like aerobics and running and calisthenics. But instead of focusing on what I COULD do - like you'd think any teacher worth her teaching certificate would do - I was constantly told what a failure I was and how I just "wasn't bothering to try."
What we need - and I'm not just talking in the UK OR the US, I'm talking world-wide - are teachers who actually know how to TEACH. Who will praise our children for what they CAN do, and give them the confidence to at least try to improve on the areas they're not so good at.
I can tell you from experience that having a teacher who will focus on what you can do WELL does WONDERS for your self-confidence and self-esteem.
Why is it that we'd rather take the easy way out and just avoid the subject altogether? Why is it SO hard for us to stand up and say "our children need ___________ and __________ and the only way they're going to get it is with GOOD teachers who ACTUALLY teach"?
Our children are getting fatter and lazier by the decade, and we keep placing the blame on fast foods and lazy parenting and pretty much everything OTHER than the decline of our society as a whole.
It's not just one thing or the other, it's a culmination of a lot of things. And the only way we're going to make a difference is if we stop cow-towing to what "they" tell us we should be doing and stand up for ourselves and our children. If we don't stand up for ourselves, who will?
And how will our children learn how to stand up for THEMSELVES if they see us letting ourselves get walked on at every turn, just because "they" say it should be so.
"They" need to take a long frigging walk off a short freaking pier and stop destroying our society.
Growing up in Illinois, having P.E. every day was a normal thing. Every school in every town in the entire state had P.E. every day.
Then we move here, and my kids have P.E. only ONCE a WEEK!!!
And since moving here, I've come to find out that Illinois is one of only a few states that STILL have P.E. every day.
Why?
Have we become so "politically correct" that we've gone way over to the other side in order to not make the unathletic kids feel left out?
I really started thinking about that today - my youngest had "sports day" at nursery today - and I realized something.
*I* was one of those unathletic types. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't exactly lazy. But there were certain aspects of P.E. that I just wasn't very good at. But there were others that I WAS good at. I was good at volleyball - my classmates even asked me to join the intramural class team I was so good. I was pretty good at basketball, too. I tried out for the team, but the coach (and P.E. teacher) couldn't be bothered to even look at me to see if I was any good or not. In soccer, I was pretty good. I could kick the ball halfway across the playing field right to the person I wanted it to go to.
But I wasn't very good at things like aerobics and running and calisthenics. But instead of focusing on what I COULD do - like you'd think any teacher worth her teaching certificate would do - I was constantly told what a failure I was and how I just "wasn't bothering to try."
What we need - and I'm not just talking in the UK OR the US, I'm talking world-wide - are teachers who actually know how to TEACH. Who will praise our children for what they CAN do, and give them the confidence to at least try to improve on the areas they're not so good at.
I can tell you from experience that having a teacher who will focus on what you can do WELL does WONDERS for your self-confidence and self-esteem.
Why is it that we'd rather take the easy way out and just avoid the subject altogether? Why is it SO hard for us to stand up and say "our children need ___________ and __________ and the only way they're going to get it is with GOOD teachers who ACTUALLY teach"?
Our children are getting fatter and lazier by the decade, and we keep placing the blame on fast foods and lazy parenting and pretty much everything OTHER than the decline of our society as a whole.
It's not just one thing or the other, it's a culmination of a lot of things. And the only way we're going to make a difference is if we stop cow-towing to what "they" tell us we should be doing and stand up for ourselves and our children. If we don't stand up for ourselves, who will?
And how will our children learn how to stand up for THEMSELVES if they see us letting ourselves get walked on at every turn, just because "they" say it should be so.
"They" need to take a long frigging walk off a short freaking pier and stop destroying our society.
posted by nukkingphutz at 11:53 am
2 Comments:
Oh I so agree with you, we don't have it here anymore, nevermind just once aweek!!!
Well, even when I was in public school in Chicago, I only had PE once a week, but I loved it. I am waiting til Arianna starts school in the school district here to see what her schedule looks like here. I am hoping that her school overall will be good, and maybe she will get to skip a grade or two (cause that should keep her right on par for NC's standards to be in the right grade when we get there!)
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