Elementary school PE/Recess Question, for Argument Essay (College)

[gooberific]

I'm currently in college working on my bachelor for elementary education. That said, I'm in English 102, and I am working on a proposal argument paper regarding childhood obesity. I am slowly but surely finding that part of this epidemic is linked with the lack of physical education and, in some cases, recess, in elementary schools.

I would like to talk with current elementary educators about this issue, as well as how much you enjoy your job because you certainly will never get paid enough to do what you do day in and day out. Every now and then I need that uplift of how rewarding it must be to keep me going through school. Have you found that with the different types of learners, that adding small physical activities during your lessons helps your students? Do you start your day with a bit of calisthenics to get your kids' bodies and minds ready to go for a full day?

Also, if anyone reading this has experience with PE or general physical activities being cut from your school, your children's school, or your grandchildren's schools, I would love to hear from you to assist with my proposal argument. I do not need YOUR name, but the name of your school district would be helpful, or at least the city/state/province/county/country. This is a worldwide issue, not just here on American soil.

This is a semester-long writing project for me, and my goal is to make my argument strong enough to send to the US Congress. While I agree that No Child should be Left Behind, I feel that by forcing our students to sit at desks without a proper energy outlet leaves at least 15% of them behind in some fashion. Budgetary cuts for education have been affecting physical and health/nutrition education, which I believe are essential factors in leading healthy lifestyles.

I also strongly believe that education begins in the home. However, if we are not teaching today's children how to take care of their bodies along with their minds, what sort of eating and exercise habits will the next generation of children be instilled with?

[klp065]

I am a teacher.

Our city has a "healthy snack" list for the students. If I am using any food manipulatives in the classroom it must come off of that list. Also, if we have any parties, it must come off of that list. No more homemade brownies for the kiddos.

We are required to have 20 mins of recess a day. Gym is only once a week for 40 mins.

I see the food in the cafeteria now which has gone to junk because of budget cuts. Like for breakfast on Wednesdays they have funnel cakes. FUNNEL CAKES! How does that comply with the healthy food list?!? I see a lot of obese students and I am glad that you are looking into this issue.

Good Luck!

[gooberific]

Thanks for the information, klp065! It's sad that your kids only get 40 minutes of gym class in a week. In the 80s, we had gym class three days a week for 60 minutes in Indiana. Cafeteria food IS junk these days, and I saw it slowly decline while I was in junior high and high school (my 10 year high school reunion is coming up). My favorite thing in HS for lunches was basically a make-your-own sub sandwich with fresh veggies and breads... it was like generic subway. They did away with it toward the end of my sophomore year because they could get Taco Bell to come in for a much cheaper rate.

I'd also like to note, I have always been overweight/obese. I don't blame it on schools. I can't blame any ONE thing, anyway. But I do know that in gym class, they expect you already know how to run. They don't teach you how to run properly, unless you have a stellar teacher who can spot the problem and help correct it. Not every kid knows how to run! It seems a little silly on the surface... but it's true.

[starshine123102]

Originally Posted by gooberific

This is a semester-long writing project for me, and my goal is to make my argument strong enough to send to the US Congress. While I agree that No Child should be Left Behind, I feel that by forcing our students to sit at desks without a proper energy outlet leaves at least 15% of them behind in some fashion. Budgetary cuts for education have been affecting physical and health/nutrition education, which I believe are essential factors in leading healthy lifestyles.

I also strongly believe that education begins in the home. However, if we are not teaching today's children how to take care of their bodies along with their minds, what sort of eating and exercise habits will the next generation of children be instilled with?

First of, let me say that I too am in college and I am a psychology major. As one of my final classes I am taking Health Psychology and in it each student is responsible for doing a 5 minute oral presentation on a scholarly article. Oddly enough, the girl who did her presentation today had an article about the effect of fast-food chainsbeing near schools and adolescent obesity. If you would like I would be more than happy to ask my teacher for a link to the article and see if it would be of any help to you.

I know that in my high school freshman and sophmores are required to take gym class for the whole year and approximately a third of that is spent in health/sex education (which mind you is a JOKE). Juniors take gym for a half a year with one third being heath/sex ed. Seniors are exempt from all of the above (I can't tell you how happy I was about that!).

Unless you had Coach O. (the wrestling coach) or one of the female teachers (no offense to any female P.E. teachers here but I think the only reason they were harder is because they needed to prove themselves in a "man's world") gym was an absolute waste of time. All you had to do was kiss up to them and it was an asy A without actually having to do anything.

Health/sex ed was just as bad. We didn't elaborate much on what we had learned in these classes in middle school and the teachers didn't take it all that seriously either. I skipped quite a few classes (to go han out in the band room) and still got A's on all my tests and never got in trouble for not being there either.

I think there needs to be a total revamping of the current system because I do not think that what we currently have is working AT ALL. Schools need to start as early as kindergarden about the importance of eating right and exercisizing. However, parents need to work with the schools to make sure that what they learn in class is carried over into the home. It completely defeats the purpose of teaching healthy eating habits of mom and dad go out and give their kids McDonald's whenever they want it. However, I don't think junk food should be demonized just shown that if eaten too much is very dangerous and the occasional treat will not kill you.

[sophistacavy]

Gosh, my high school sucks even more than yours does, starshine! Freshman are the only ones required to take PE, and I think it was for one semester, but I could be wrong. Sophomores and up do not have to take PE.

I totally agree that unless parents are willing to step up to the "challenge", then it would be pointless to teach kids how to live healthy in school.

A lot of kids take it as a joke, so maybe showing them videos of surgical procedures being done as a result of someone living an unhealthy lifestyle would be effective...but that could be inappropriate because of the images. Something dramatically different would have to be done, because right now, not nearly enough kids are taking it seriously, and that bugs me too!

Schools nationwide should ban certain drinks, like sodas. They could instead offer bottled water, and bottled flavored water, and other zero-calorie drinks. The aspartame in diet sodas is no good for us either, so flavored waters with aspartame should be avoided as well. Splenda is still considered safe, so zero-calorie drinks with splenda should be used. Snack machines should be banned, unless all they offer is healthy snacks.

Good luck!

[NicholsS10]

I grew up in northern Illinois, maybe it's just where I'm from but when I was growing up (I'm a senior in college now) I had recess everyday for 25 minutes through 6th grade, and starting in 1st grade, I had a 50 minute gym class a few days a week, and then by 5th grade, I had a 50 minute gym class EVERYDAY! The only times I DIDN'T have gym class everyday after 5th grade was 1 semester freshman year in high school for a health class and 1 semester sophomore year for driver's education (if you qualified). As a junior and senior we were required to have gym class, although we could choose what kind of gym class we wanted to be in (outdoor--rock climbing, kayaking, camping, etc./weightlifting/a regular gym class). Personally I got an extra study hall my entire senior year of high school do to a severe spinal injury that I got the summer between my junior and senior years. I think it's Illinois law for kids to have physical education that often.

[Luvthempigs]

Has anybody looked into the responsibilities of the parents? What sort of food is being served at home? What kind of activities are the students being expected to do at home? (for some children, the only outside playing time is that time at school)

[gooberific]

Starshine, I'd love to have the link if you can get it for me. I am doing a lot of electronic resources dealing with snack machines/soda machines in schools, and the food chains being allowed in schools.

Luvthempigs, I agree the ultimate responsibility relies on the parents. Unfortunately, not every parent is responsible enough to eat right themselves (I'm one of them, I have no problem admitting!). I can see the issue spiraling into the future, with less emphasis on healthy eating and physical activity in schools, it will go by the wayside in (a majority of) people's minds.

However, I use the healthy snacks that I learned in FIRST GRADE with my son, like peanut butter on slices of apples, and fun-cut "piggie food." It's a slow process for me to reform my own eating habits, but I can ensure my son eats properly. Does that make sense? I'm sure he'll see my bad habits for what they are eventually.

When I was in jr/sr high school, 7th grade was a full year of PE. 8th grade was one semester. Then two semesters were required for graduation, you could take them any time during the four years... and I opted for a paid-for credit, to use bowling as one of my semesters, and then a weight training class my senior year, last class of the day. I really missed out on things. The girls' coach, realized I had a thyroid problem, worked with me on how to increase my physical stamina, actually taught me how to run properly, etc. And I was already 18. In elementary, I received consistent D's in PE because I could not pass the Presidential Fitness Award tests, and would have rather played team sports than run laps.

I'd like to take a moment and thank each of you for replying, it's all been really helpful so far.

[TwilightStar]

You know, I don't think the school deserves any blame at all. Our main purpose being there is to learn all we can in that short amount of time. I think the problem is parents not raising their kids to make better decisions.

[gooberific]

Originally Posted by TwilightStar

You know, I don't think the school deserves any blame at all. Our main purpose being there is to learn all we can in that short amount of time. I think the problem is parents not raising their kids to make better decisions.

I do agree that parents need to be involved. However, part of learning/school should also be learning about healthy habits (because many parents these days RELY on schools to teach everything). Think about it. Many people are forced to work for two income families, or a single parent, and they have to rely on a daycare or caregiver, and then they have to rely on a school because with the way the economy is, there's just no way they can be superparent and do it all.

If there is no physical education in schools, then parents who have poor physical ability are not going to be able to educate their children by example. My point in my paper, is that we should not be focusing so hard on cramming kids' skulls filled with facts as we should be teaching them how to live a full life, be well rounded and educated as best they can be without suffering physically from being sedentary while learning; couple that with the fact of the increase in childhood obesity -- if the parents weren't teaching it as much when I was a kid and we did learn some of it in school, where will the education come from if it's taken out of the school, as well? It's a slippery slope downward to the bottom of the fat hill.

(And yes, this is coming from a physically disabled morbidly obese parent of a very healthy, happy toddler. I cannot teach him the proper way to run by example, for instance. My eating habits have changed after getting my guinea pigs and learning about THEIR nutrition from research on here and the web, by choice.)

When I was in school, the food pyramid was crammed down our throats, and I had to educate my own parents about it. My parents are not obese, and they did attempt to reinforce healthy decisions, but a kid will do what they will do to get into locked cabinets filled with halloween candy. I was always last in running, but one of the first-picked for team sports because I had great sportsmanship and worked well with teams.

It was interesting when I moved states/schools. I was last-picked for volleyball, which was my favorite sport, and by far my best -- the team I was on almost always came first or second. Did you know that some parents do not want their child to be picked last, so they oppose PE in schools? The majority of these parents are parents of children who are overweight or obese (there are some who are on the opposite end of the spectrum with the kids who are small for their age, etc). Outside of school, the majority of those children whose parents who oppose PE in school... lead sedentary lives in front of video game consoles/televisions and computers. THESE are the children that I am most concerned about. THESE are the types of parents who create the problems that lead to more and more health problems for younger people.

So far, in my proposal, the issue of parents is addressed. The proposal so far includes healthier food choices in schools, better phys/ed programs, and mandatory recess for elementary schools nationwide. (just an aside: Not only does recess give kids a physical outlet, but it gives a teacher a small chance at not going insane some days...)

[dra&pigs]

Originally Posted by TwilightStar

You know, I don't think the school deserves any blame at all. Our main purpose being there is to learn all we can in that short amount of time. I think the problem is parents not raising their kids to make better decisions.

My mother is getting her ph.d in something related to "health education" and how childrens views of health are corrupted and changed when they enter school and what they define "healthy" as being. So I'm fairly disgruntled by this comment.

School is about learning. Learning each subject, but also learning to care for yourself in a way that will benefit you in the future. Being overweight is dangerous and definitely not beneficial to your future. Its the school's responsibility to back up their education with healthy options in vending machines and snack lines. If the parents are taught chips and soda are acceptably healthy foods, they will teach that to their children, regardless of whether thats true or not. I go to a city school, and I see kids who have fast food for breakfast, who drink soda throughout the day, simply because its the cheapest, easiest thing to get. If organic, healthy choices were less expensive and easily accessible, I think eating healthy would be easier.
Yes, its the parents job to instill proper manners into a child, but they can only instill ones that they are aware of.

[Angelgal]

While I'm not a school teacher, but a Vet Tech college student. I'm going to say how things were/are for me.

In elementary school:
- Two 20 minute recesses per day
- 1 40 minute lunch period (half of which they kicked us outside)
- They had milk things which you would sign up for, and sub days and pizza days. Otherwise we were required to bring our own lunch and you know parents, they make you eat healthy!
- We had a 40 minute or something gym period 3-4 times a week.
- Track and field day (mandatory)

We never had access to junk foods unless it was a party and in my school, those weren't often at all. I think the only one I can remember was the grade 6 testing and we got popsicles.

Main-stream Highschool:
- Caff food not the best
- Offered a "breakfast club" which was free, and served healthy food
- 1 year of mandatory gym class for an hour daily.

Individual-learning course:
- Healthy snacks offered throughout the day
- Healthy breakfast/lunches daily (FREE!)
- Walking-distance to great pizza place
- Lots of opprotunity for exercise, even if not in that program (haha can't tell you how many times I switched an english lesson for a gym lesson)

They were very um... health oriented at this program. They were awesome.
The parents back in my home-town are very supportive of this healthy thing.
I think it's great. I also think its great there are healthy video games out there for all the gamer kids (DDR etc.)

College:
- Caff food sucks. Seriously has effected my health. Currently making my own healthy meals apart from breakfast (toast, eggs, waffles etc. but $$$$$)
- Access to free gym facility
- They stuck all my classes on the 2-4th floor, and well the elevador working is a real hit and miss
- I live on 4th floor res and again with the elevador
- Res is a breeding ground for disease

Hm yeah I had it good in elementary/highschool. It seems to get unhealthier the more you move up in education here on my end. It's insane. I want the days of easy classes and healthy free fooood!

[tehdoc809]

Interesting, I always thought the schools I went to were bad, but at the same time, even though I don't come from money I came from a rich county in Georgia who were adament about our schools. We were ranked 28th out of all the private and public school in the state our high school was 26th. We had block schedules, so we had PE for 90 minutes a day and our Health/Sex Ed didn't skim on any information and we didn't have those corny 70s movies either, thank god. On top of that I was in JROTC and we had PT twice a week for 90 minutes... so needless to say I kind of stayed in shape. The bad part is now I'm a senior in college and I've slacked off so bad, whats worse is I'm a criminal justice major and plan on working in law enforcement and I'm in no shape whatsoever.. Oh, well.

[starshine123102]

Originally Posted by TwilightStar

You know, I don't think the school deserves any blame at all. Our main purpose being there is to learn all we can in that short amount of time. I think the problem is parents not raising their kids to make better decisions.

Originally Posted by gooberific

If there is no physical education in schools, then parents who have poor physical ability are not going to be able to educate their children by example. My point in my paper, is that we should not be focusing so hard on cramming kids' skulls filled with facts as we should be teaching them how to live a full life, be well rounded and educated as best they can be without suffering physically from being sedentary while learning...

Yes, it is important to give a well rounded education. No child Left Behind is an absolute JOKE! It forces kids to learn relatively useless things to pass dumb standardized tests while also forcing mentally disabled children to pass them as well. Kids should be taught things they can USE, not things that prove they know how to bubble in A, B, C or D correctly.

Originally Posted by gooberific

(just an aside: Not only does recess give kids a physical outlet, but it gives a teacher a small chance at not going insane some days...)

THIS is why I decided to not be a teacher

[dra&pigs]

Originally Posted by starshine123102

Kids should be taught things they can USE, not things that prove they know how to bubble in A, B, C or D correctly.

I couldn't agree more...I've had my fair share of standardized testing and I've got a lot more to come. And I hate it. Hate it hate it hate it. Honestly, I am never going to use any of those things in real life.

[dra&pigs]

I couldn't agree more...I've had my fair share of standardized testing and I've got a lot more to come. And I hate it. Hate it hate it hate it. Honestly, I am never going to use any of those things in real life.

[starshine123102]

Originally Posted by dra&pigs

I couldn't agree more...I've had my fair share of standardized testing and I've got a lot more to come. And I hate it. Hate it hate it hate it. Honestly, I am never going to use any of those things in real life.

And that, my friend is why I am only applying to graduate programs that DO NOT(!) require the GRE's on their admissions applications. SATs/GREs/(and in CT) CAPT/CT Mastery tests are all a huge waste of time and money.

[klp065]

Originally Posted by gooberific

(just an aside: Not only does recess give kids a physical outlet, but it gives a teacher a small chance at not going insane some days...)

Amen to that! I look forward to it more than the kids I think some days! That's why I give them 2 recesses a day even though I am not "supposed to"

[diane]

My children are not in school yet. But the school when I was attending was K-3 2 30 minute recesses a day and a 3 day rotation for a 45 min gym class. 4-6 one 30 min recess and same with gym. 7-9 mandatory 50 min gym class daily. Lunch was 30 min but you had the option of playing basketball in the gym if you wanted. 10 one semester of gym 50 min daily and the other semester of health same lunch. 11-12 no gym class persay but you could use your lunch and you always had the option of taking a gym class. The food wasn't terrible there were days when it wasn't super healthy but they always offered salads and fresh fruit like apples and bananas.

Now with kids my kids see me workout 3-5 times a week. My 3 1/2 yr old sometimes joins in. When the weather is nice I make a mandatory 2 hr outside play time. I watch what I eat very closely. My children love bananas and grapes and granola bars. My children do get cookies ocassionally. I do have to admit though I am able to be a stay at home mom. It would be very hard to do some of the things I said if I had to work 40 + hours to support my family. Mothers who work outside the home deserve an award not quite sure how they do all that they do.

Schools should teach to a certain extent but some (not all parents) really need to step up and take responsiblity for the learning process as well.

[gooberific]

I actually went to elementary school in Indiana, back when computers were first starting to boom as the MacSE came out -- our school was one that gave a computer to every student. I can vividly remember the school lunches there, and they really were far better than the last semester of 6th grade I spent here in Arizona, to the point that I always brought a lunch once I moved... until Jr. High, because it was nearly impossible to keep a lunch in your locker outside in the hot weather. Ice packs and insulated bags only do so much.