Because in highschool, we aren't really "kids" anymore. I can only take six classes at a time. If I'm already excercising at home, why should I have to waste one of those six on PE?
It should be a compulsory class. Taking two hours a week out of other lesson time isn't going to mean you have to completely quit another subject. In fact divide 2 hours by 6 and you get 20 minutes. If you spread out those 20 minute slots, that's 20 minutes less teaching time in the other 6 lessons. I think that can be sacrificed for the sake of health.
This obesity crisis is only going to go away when people make a conscious choice to be healthy. Forcing health on people will only solve things until they find away around it.
The only way to affect behavioural change is inorganically. You can't expect anyone to change their behaviour if they have no incentive to quit it, or disincentive to continue down their current path. I'm not claiming PE will solve the crisis, but it seems obvious to me that normalising exercise to children who wouldn't do so otherwise is a sensible thing to do.
There's nothing in PE that will benefit you when it comes to choosing a career. The whole point behind high school is to allow teenagers to figure out what they want to do with their lives and to learn what they can before heading to college.
Education is focused on producing productive members of society, and consequently the workforce. How can this be achieved if people are so fat, they are unable to do menial tasks, and even die at a very young age.
Plus, I am a firm believer in the power of sport for character building. It teaches personal discipline, teamwork and leadership. It is much more important, in my view, in comparison with say, advanced maths, or english literature (assuming of course you don't want to be a mathematician or an author).
This may simply be an area where we must agree to disagree.
I think it comes down to the classic positive vs negative freedom debate. Usually I come down on the side of negative freedom, ie., let people make their own choices, and if they syffer from it, it's their problem. But in this case, I think a lot of damage can be undone by getting kids to exercise. Sometimes kids simply need to be told what to do. I wouldn't have trusted myself to know best about what I wanted to do in life by the time I was in the Brit equivalne of high school. I probably would have dropped maths if I had the choice, since I hated it. As it turns out, I got a job which is very heavily maths based. My point being that kids don't have the knowledge to choose for themselves. All 16-18 year olds think they know best, but they really don't. Me being a prime example.
Obesity is a problem, but high school PE is not the solution.
Let me reiterate, it is not the solution, but it is a small piece of the puzzle.
As it is, there is no link between high school PE and obesity that I am aware of.
I saw Supersize Me the other week and although I can't remember the exact stats, there's a section pertaining to schools, and the lack of PE kids do is highlighted in that. Needless to say, it seems obvious that people not doing any exercise is a contributing factor in child obesity rates.
To be honest, I think it's the parent's and the student's responsibility to make sure the student isn't fat.
It is their responsibility. But letting people get fat without any thought for the consequences. What does that say about society if even trying to educate children about healthy living is frowned upon?
I would rather pay a little more insurance than have my life revolve around diets when I am the last person in the world who needs one.
No one suggested that would be the alternative. Regular exercise is good for everyone of every size and weight.
