+33 Gym/PE classes should focus more on active lifestyle and making healthy choices, amirite?

by Agreeable_Star 4 weeks ago

I think you should be able to choose. I hate exercising just for the sake of exercising but I do like playing sports (even though I may not be great at them). I'd much rather play basketball/volleyball/swim/etc than run all class.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

i'd rather do martial arts

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

I did marital arts once. Got my ass handed to me.

by InfiniteBiscotti872 4 weeks ago

That's how you improve. It takes years of practice to become good at any sport unless you're naturally talented.

by Logical-Service1324 4 weeks ago

i'd rather do sword fights We settled with backalley hockey stick combat

by reece29 4 weeks ago

Nah. The OP spoke to an approach that would benefit the most people the most amount of time. And high school team sport opportunities are ample already anyway, so if you really wanna get your fix, it's waiting for you

by IndependentVideo2161 4 weeks ago

It helps to learn basic motor skills, hand eye coordination, quick thinking, etc. Things that you wouldn't get from simply running on the track. A surprising amount of adults are inept in these kinds of things. I agree though, contact football and wrestling in PE is a bit excessive. My school just did flag football and other ball sports.

by cartwrightsusan 4 weeks ago

The only thing I got from PE classes are anxiety, hate for any group activity and hate for sports in general (playing them, not watching them)

by toreytreutel 4 weeks ago

Did you ever think that avoiding these types of activities and feeding into your anxiety around group work, made your anxiety worse? Sounds like you just want kids to never deal with uncomfortable feelings.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

How was I avoiding them? I had PE for 12 years, I didn't have a choice. I do work in a group if I have to, I just prefer not to because I'm an introvert and I prefer relying on myself. I am still physically active but instead of playing volleyball I go to the gym and walk a lot. Kids should be able to choose what they like to do instead of being forced and they shouldn't be graded for that. It's important to try yes but it's unnecessary to stress kids with grading PE and teachers should react to bullying by other students. They shouldn't allow others to yell at a clumsy student for not scoring a goal. And let's not forget, many PE teachers body shame and bully their students. Oh yes I'm an adult and I can decide what's the best for me and have a right to say that something traumatised me

by toreytreutel 4 weeks ago

oh no you bricked a shot in basketball and your team was displeased with you for it, tHe TrAuMa soft ass mfs i swear lmfao

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

I actually find its less pressure when in a group sport then solo sports, but personally I find solo sports more fun cuz you don't have to communicate your plays over to other ppl

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

Elementary school level, I can understand doing a group activity, small kids need direction and supervision. But once the kids in question reach middle school and are capable of understanding basic morals (most parents/teachers expect 6th graders to largely have the same emotional maturity as adults now), then I think this idea could be viable.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

You ever work with grownups? Lots of them still can't do groups well

by terrell63 4 weeks ago

Nah, teens should be pushed out of their comfort zones too. We should let kids feel and overcome uncomfortable emotions related to social things like sport and participating in group work.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

This People are way to keen that thinking that staying in their comfort zone is okay. The people that do this are often the most horrible people that exists, whether they are horriblr shy or a complete narcissist

by okeefemacy 4 weeks ago

I went to an ok school with a frenetic scheduling for its gym classes. 2 weeks of football then 2 weeks of swimming then 2 weeks of wrestling, then line dancing, then basketball, then dodgeball, then tracks, you get the idea. I tapped out when gym class was no longer mandatory. I would've continued on cause I do like being active and healthy. But little of what was happening in those classes was about being active (to me)

by Agreeable_Star 4 weeks ago

Here drink this milk with your lunch and then go outside and run a mile in blue jeans

by mschoen 4 weeks ago

My school would actually take marks away if you came in jeans.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

Personally for me I would have hated to do anything non-sports. Like lifting or sprints or something? Nutrition would've put me to sleep too. I only liked playing sports but hated running with a passion. This is coming from someone who runs or hits the gym 5x week because my joints no longer agree with team sports, funny how life changes on you.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

Yeah when I was a kid my gym class was always a healthy mix of everything. Running, aerobics, ball sports, frisbee, kickball, archery, dodgeball, I even had a bowling unit once. It was a combination of teaching personal physical fitness, exposing kids to popular ball sports to encourage them to join school teams, and then just general goofing off activities because it's good for kids to move around and burn off some energy. This was 2000s in the US, not sure if it's still the norm though.

by Llewellyn90 4 weeks ago

Not far off from my experience. The rest of my school was pretty good, gym class was not very productive in teaching wellness and fitness.

by bernierkelley 4 weeks ago

I mean I remember getting tested on certain physical things like the 8 minute mile or being able to do a pull-up or how many pushups and situp per minute we could do. I didn't fail because I couldn't do a pull-up but I did not get an A in that class either lol. Maybe you're right about the sports and just trying your best I honestly can't remember lol

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

Wait you never had the beep beep test? Lucky

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

We're just talking about physical education here. yeah I don't think that I should have been graded on how well I comprehended football lol because I will never care about football. sure if you are on the football team you probably care to do well and deserve any accolade coming your way for it. I just think if the pressure of a grade wasn't in physical education kids would do better and find what they like and thrive in that area more and most likely take that on in their adult life. Thanks for the sarcasm tho lol Great conversation skills.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

Yes!! Nearly 40 years later, I'm still a bit bitter about the fact that the C's I got in gym in high school brought down my otherwise high GPA. Was it because I didn't TRY to swim, run or perform gymnastics well? No. It was because I couldn't--no matter how hard I tried--perfect the breast stroke. Or because I couldn't-- as an otherwise healthy slim teen (who didn't smoke or drink--run a 5-minute mile. I was graded on my ability to perform physical fitness tasks--things I certainly gave my very best efforts to--which is simply not fair.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

On the one hand it is unfair On the other hand, you have also kids that give their all in maths or english and fail. Why is that fair? Is a process-based grading method what we want?

by okeefemacy 4 weeks ago

goddamn everyone has anxiety from everything and doesn't even wanna try anymore

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

I have ptsd from causing you trauma

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

I agree that the contact aspect of sports should be reserved for those who want to play football on their school's team or something. Gym class is for more general skills and physical activity; the harsher contact required for sports is not necessary for PE. I do think it's good to introduce some variety though. I loved just walking around the track for an hour, but it's good for your body and other physical health skills to have some diversity that require different types of skills and using many parts of your mind and body.

by Cameronmoore 4 weeks ago

I agree. I took a "physical health" class and they taught me things such as: what's a set and a rep? Whats good form for working out? Whats the importance of carbs, fats, macros? Whats a calorie? What vitamins and minerals do what, and what foods have most of them? Whats BMR? Whats BMI? It was amazing

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

Bombardment!!!

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

Which generation? I think the issue here isn't isolated to one.

by bernierkelley 4 weeks ago

There's anxiety, and there's "I got a C in this class because I have bad aim" anxiety

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

Most pe classes don't grade on how well you do, so long as you try and aren't just sitting out

by cecilsmitham 4 weeks ago

That wasn't my experience. At school, we got half of out grades the first week after each break. They graded you based on things like long jump, chair, beep beep test, laps, sprinting, and weight (and YES they called out everyones weight to all students). This was to grade us based on athleticism. Then it was sports. And sports we were graded on how well we did compared to everyone else in the class. It was bell curved and so the winner of the tournament for each sport got an A+, then it went all the way down and the first one out of the tournament failed. FWIW I went to an all-girls catholic high school so maybe its different than most public "regular" schools.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

My school had gym and nutrition as two separate classes. We also had a general wellness health class where we learned sex Ed stuff as well as lifestyle habits, time management, and other things. We also had financial literacy classes. In the US. I think many schools do have it and many schools don't have it. It depends on the school district. It's very sad! It should be standard!

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

We should give high school level kids some level of choice for PE. It could be team sports, could be geared more towards health/wellness etc.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

Ugh yes this so much. I hated gym so much from middle school on because of having to play with boys. And we always did the "boy" sports but not once did we do dance or yoga or gymnastics. Funny that my mom went to the same school and they did do gymnastics?? I literally wouldn't even try when we did basketball or soccer or anything like that and the only sport I liked was tennis because we got to play with our friends. I have a terrible memory from volleyball in middle school because I never liked catching balls or anything so even though I tried I was terrible and the boys were all mad and making fun of me

by MaximumCorner 4 weeks ago

Yes!! Also the boys would get so rough and it was bad when they were going through puberty and kicking soccer balls so hard that a girl had to go to the nurse cause one hit her in the face. I would've loved gymnastics too!! I think I also would've favored if the teacher would at least teach us to play soccer or other sports

by Delicious-Cress 4 weeks ago

My school they told us it was important to learn the basic rules of sports ... because even if we weren't going to play we could learn to be a better spectators ... literally said we would be better at parties and better friends if we understood the sports that people like to watch ... Several teachers said this throughout Jr High and High school ... and honestly I enjoy watching sports with my friends even though I hated PE class ... We also learned tennis and golf which are popular sports where I live ... They definitely need to teach people to live an active lifestyle ... I sit way too much and my joints hate me for it ... I wish I would have been more active in my younger years .

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

We didn't do sports in high school gym. We just did thirty minute workouts everyday along with a plank challenge. The rest of the period was health

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

My school had a personal fitness class just for this, separate from a regular Gym/PE class

by Designer-Strain 4 weeks ago

I got more exercise in Elementary school recess more than middle and high school purely because of the choice.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

They aren't? Hmmm. I had stupid team sports PE, I had health nutrition, anatomy physiology, and weight training…. I loved PE. I wanted to be a PE teacher growing up and my dad dissuaded me ‘Those who can't do- teach, Those who can't teach-Phy Edu.' I was in the military, I was a body builder…. I wish I was a PE instructor doing training on the side.

by fswaniawski 4 weeks ago

I always wished that PE classes had taught basic injury prevention such as proper sitting/walking pastures and stretching techniques.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

No, PE should only be for dodgeball and dodgeball theories and strategies.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

In my PE classes throughout middle school and high school I had a balance of physical activity and mental health / physical health learning

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

I agree entirely.

by PhilosopherPurple295 4 weeks ago

My loathing of the forced sports participation 100% influenced my avoidance of anything physical for many many years.

by Ok-Penalty1653 4 weeks ago

More than this I feel like gym classes are focused in such a way that if youre socially awkward ur automatically getting a worse grade.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

Our school had a weight room and we weren't allowed to use it during gym. I would've loved it and probably would've gotten in shape a lot sooner in life

by Level-Independence 4 weeks ago

That's boring af tho. Having a lesson to focus on that occasionally is fine but please last thing we want to do is ruin pe for kids

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

I listened to a history podcast once that said America's approach to Physical Education was in large part a response to World War 2. Calisthenics and personal fitness were very much associated with the Hitler youth, so the government put together curriculum focused on cooperative team sports that was supposed to be uniquely American. As someone who never enjoyed team sports as a kid but fell in love with weightlifting as adult, I feel you.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

Ummm.. Ummm… We had health class/period, up until late high school. Nutrition, calories, etc. It's pretty common in the PE curriculum.

by Ok_Green_7604 4 weeks ago

I agree, I've had asthma since I was a baby so I hated gym. Having kids scream at me to hurry up while I was hyperventilating was not fun whatsoever. I'd always get F's too because I was told that there's no reason I should be struggling to breath since I used my inhaler before hand which isn't even how asthma works. I'd much rather enjoy a class that taught me how to live healthy or focused on slower activities like going for a nice walk or yoga. I think there should be more options when it comes to gym class because wellness is not a one size fits all. America would have much less of a health problem if they would teach kids there's multiple ways of being healthy.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

I played chess. It is a sport. Found a loophole in the schools rules 😎

by dboyer 4 weeks ago

Would be a shame to take the sports away from all the kids that love it though. Maybe give a choice between a few options.

by Certain-Parsley1889 4 weeks ago

I love exercise classes. But I'm in my 70's, not athletically inclined, have had major surgery, but, am eager. Except for 2 instructors, the ppl I've had to deal with aren't well trained in dealing with someone like me. They are glad to see me go.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

I'm 46 and have no kids. Have classes like PE not evolved from back when I was in high school?

by Relevant-Resource 4 weeks ago

What would be nice is if they let us split into the sports we already play, eg football players play football, basketball players play basketball etc... And the people who don't play sports can hover

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

It'd be nice if physical education involved any actual, you know, education. "Go run around the gym for half an hour while I do nothing to teach you proper form or sustainable exercise skills. Now go play basketball for a bit. I'm totally a real teacher, and not just the failure who got thrown at the most pointless job in the school!"

by Medium_Raisin_3099 4 weeks ago

This is wildly insulting

by candida92 4 weeks ago

When my friend was in school years and years ago, she got the option to run a mile or participate in whatever sport they were playing that day. She ran the mile and used whatever time she had left to do homework.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

I also really hated sports. I was always athletic, but not able to wrap my head around team sports. I wish we'd learned body mechanics/geometry. It took me way too long to learn that the way I'd been taught to deadlift/benchpress/squat was NOT conducive to my arm/leg length:torso ratio. I wish we'd learned about the glycemic index, and how different carbs are broken down. I wish we'd learned about the importance of warming up rather than stretching before exercise.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

PE teacher here…this reminds me of when people say, "I wish they taught taxes and financial competence in school." I understand something they don't…kids (especially these days) have extremely short attention spans and expect to be entertained at all times. They don't understand how to deal with boredom. PE class has to be fun, fast-paced with quick transitions, and very structured. I do fitness units all the time and 99% of students b!tch and complain about exercising, they'll say it's boring, and they sit out. I have to incorporate technology and mini-games and goals to keep their interest. You are in a minority. Most kids won't run/walk around a track for an extended period of time…..

by considinenichol 4 weeks ago

So introducing kids to sports is not a way to focus on an active lifestyle?

by Born-Preference 4 weeks ago

at hs level my hs gave you a choice on this and most people did personal fitness.

by eleuschke 4 weeks ago

But isn't it meant to break kids self esteem? /s

by Intelligent-Bear 4 weeks ago

I agree with YOU. All that gym class taught me was that I sucked at sports, and was a loser and a geek, destined to fail at life. They should offer alternatives like running, walking, biking, hiking, yoga, etc. It's important to stay active, after all, and those things keep you active.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

It's almost like you're supposed to learn how to work with people & function in a group setting

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

My high school had a lower-level gym class. Basically for all the fat and unathletic kids. They didn't play much sports and focused more on the theory side of it.

by Madison78 4 weeks ago

My homeroom in 1979 was gym ... teacher graded us on our gymnastics skills. I get dizzy doing a somersault. Softball was graded on participation. Yup, played competitive ball. Totally understand your point.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

My experience of PE was the teacher forcing kids to over-exert themselves way beyond their capabilities, and then punishing them for "failing".

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

The goals of P.E are broader than just fitness. They aim to teach you sports because they are an important part of our culture and a way you might have fun and connect with others throughout life. By learning the basics of soccer, basketball, football whatever, you can now play and join pick-up games with your friends, understand what is happening when other people talk about them, or enjoy watching them. It's a part of educating people to be a complete well-rounded humans. By letting students just run laps they would miss out on all this learning that can take place in P.E

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

I think this is a good opinion. also this: Sure I wouldn't learn anything about sportsmanship or being a team player you will learn plenty about when you enter the work force.

by Karl19 4 weeks ago

Looks like your school got it right. Maybe times have changed.

by Agreeable_Star 4 weeks ago

I was in high-school from 2004-2008, so this was 20 years ago now.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

Nah, children (especially boys) just need to run around for a bit, we can't just ignore the problem even more.

by iwiza 4 weeks ago

Completely agree. Gym/PE classes should encourage kids to do some physical activity and teach them about health, rather than making them anxious about it. I hated they were grading every little thing, that they let others laugh at you when you were scared to do something or simply couldn't do something.

by Zestyclose-Drink 4 weeks ago

Do you mean Gym/PE classes should be fat phobic and not follow the science that all body types are healthy and beautiful?

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

I have read this 10 times, and I still have no idea what point you are trying to make..

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

Pretty sure there is no point, it's sarcasm or satire. If it's serious then, oof.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

The media has been saying this for 4 or 5 years now. Its like they are intentionally trying to make people sick.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

all body types are not healthy lol

by Velmamurphy 4 weeks ago

There are different ways to be healthy. High blood pressure and diabetes are easily controlable now, so the healthiest and most beautiful you is the one you see in the mirror now.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

If you were healthy in the first place you wouldn't have diabetes. Do not misinform people like this.

by Velmamurphy 4 weeks ago

Its just wild that people are so cartoonishly stupid that they would believe this. Influencing public opinion is like childs play. As a society we're going to have "resort to cannibalism" level problems in a few generations.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

Easily controllable by pills and injections?

by Agreeable_Star 4 weeks ago

Yes. Electrolytes too.

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago

What

by Anonymous 4 weeks ago