Kids protest new exercise requirement

[The Shadow]

I think this article definitely belongs in this section.

What the hell is wrong with kids today?

'Get moving,' Education Ministry tells high-school students
Requirement for physical activity hiked to 30 minutes a day

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/ne...2-80f05f06da7a

[ThePhoneGoddess]

I think the problem here is not that the kids dont want PE (OK, well some of them dont want it at all, but I suspect most have other objections) but that the new rules are vague, were implemented at the last minute and now their schedules are up in the air again.

Are they going to eliminate a subject to make sure these kids get an extra hour of exercise a day? Or are they going to try and make them do it on their own time? Cause I guarantee you some of those kids come from poor families, and they spend their after school hours either working to help with bills or working on the family farm or business. Kids like that are more likely to drop out of school if the school makes them choose between getting their diploma and putting food on the table. Sad but true.

[Sylvia727]

It didn't sound to me like the majority of the protesters were the "kids these days" types. Rather than protest the exercise itself, they're protesting the lack of planning and guidelines; in short, they're protesting the Ministry's incompetence. When one nearly quadruples a graduation requirement, one needs to ensure that the proposed changes are feasible. Since the students were not informed of all the requirements when they chose their classes, they are no longer on track with their education through no fault of their own. I would protest that too.

[anriana]

I had to waste one of my class slots for "PE," aka walking laps around a gym for an hour every other day when I was a volleyball player and practicing two hours a day during the season and running or lifting weights everyday in the offseason. If the school board had tried to raise that I would have protested. If they had tried to ninja raisee it after I had made my schedule, I would be doing far more protesting than making a page on Facebook.

P.E. just isn't a subject that should be taught in high school, unless it's going to be a highly structured class designed to teach people how to exercise.

[Greenday]

Whoopdeefreakingdoo. My high school mandated 3 years of gym. So 3/4 marking periods each year you took gym. The other marking period each year was health. I still got a good education. I still had history, math, english, spanish, science, band, and other electives. And my schedule didn't vary day to day. I had 8 classes a semester (includes one period where I'd take study hall), so that's 7 actual classes. Take out gym and...I still have 6 other periods for classes. Plenty of room for "real" classes. The only people I knew who complained about gym in high school were girls who didn't want to break a sweat and guys who were lazy as hell.

[protege]

I took health class in high school. Boring as hell, and the biggest waste of time ever. Why? Well, my mother is a nurse, and works for the county health department. My feeling was, why should I have to listen to boring lectures...when I have her at home to answer questions?

[Greenday]

I took health class in high school. Boring as hell, and the biggest waste of time ever. Why? Well, my mother is a nurse, and works for the county health department. My feeling was, why should I have to listen to boring lectures...when I have her at home to answer questions?

Because most kids don't so that's why it's mandated everyone has to. I mean, I wonder why, majoring in Forensic & Toxicological Chem I need to take arts classes, lit classes, or philosophy classes, but for some unknown reason I have to take them anyway.

[anriana]

Whoopdeefreakingdoo. My high school mandated 3 years of gym. So 3/4 marking periods each year you took gym. The other marking period each year was health. I still got a good education. I still had history, math, english, spanish, science, band, and other electives. And my schedule didn't vary day to day. I had 8 classes a semester (includes one period where I'd take study hall), so that's 7 actual classes. Take out gym and...I still have 6 other periods for classes. Plenty of room for "real" classes. The only people I knew who complained about gym in high school were girls who didn't want to break a sweat and guys who were lazy as hell.

And what did you do in gym? Play basketball for one class a day?

[Boozy]

I don't have a strong opinion on this either way, because I haven't thought about it much. But I'm appalled by the comments section on the news article site. It seems these people are just assuming that these kids are fat and lazy, and there could be no other reason for their dissatisfaction with the curriculum change. In fact, there are dozens of reasons why someone may not like this idea, like they'd rather be spending their time studying, prepping for university, working, or doing community service. Maybe they just think it's going to be a poorly run program.

But no, it couldn't be a matter of these students taking their education and lives into their own hands. It must be because they're all lazy. They're all worthless teenagers, right?

I would love to see some photos of the authors of these comments. Are they in top physical condition? Likely not.

[Greenday]

And what did you do in gym? Play basketball for one class a day?

Basketball, dodgeball, kickball, wiffleball, football, soccer, hackeysack, track, handball.

The list used to be a lot longer when my mom was there. Back then it also used to include archery, fencing, track AND field, gymnastics, etc.

Seriously though, if you play the game and don't half-ass it, you work up a good sweat and burn a lot of calories.

[Arcade Man D]

Not to sound like an asshole, but a lot of people *didn't* read the article.

The requirements went to 2.5 hours per week, or 30 minutes per day, not 1 hour per day.

Which is pretty much what I had between PE and seemingly intentional classes on opposite sides of the high school with a 4 minute passing period.

[protege]

I mean, I wonder why, majoring in Forensic & Toxicological Chem I need to take arts classes, lit classes, or philosophy classes, but for some unknown reason I have to take them anyway.

Yeah, but in those classes, you can actually learn something. Our health class consisted of...listening to one of the coaches whining about his losing football season

[Greenday]

Yeah, but in those classes, you can actually learn something. Our health class consisted of...listening to one of the coaches whining about his losing football season

I think that just comes down to whether or not the teacher teaches. I'm sure there is stuff to learn regardless in health. I learned all about STDs, safe sex, driving, and drugs/alcohol in my health classes.

[AdminAssistant]

There are so many things that kids need to be learning - oh so desperately. How to play various sports shouldn't be one of them. Hell, if it were up to me, there wouldn't be athletics in school, PERIOD. Why? Because schools waste ridiculous amounts of money on the equipment, fields/gyms/stadiums, and coaching staff that could be put to much better use - say on hiring competent teachers and maintaining classrooms.

By the time a kid is 15, the school should not be responsible for their physical health.

[Sylvia727]

Of all the classes I took in high school, the most useful one was my culinary class. We didn't just learn how to cook, we learned what was in our food and how to eat healthily. For our final project, we had to cook a meal at home and serve it to our families. We were graded on appearence, courses, and most importantly on the nutritional values of the meals we planned and served. Before that class, I had some vague ideas that potato chips and soda weren't the most optimal diet, but I didn't know what was good for my body and my taste buds. If kids were taught that in every high school, obesity might not be on the rise among that demographic.

High schoolers need PE and health classes. But they need to be learning how to do it for themselves. Getting the kids to run around the gym will keep them healthy for a day, but teaching them how to exercise will keep them healthy for a lifetime. It seems to me that too many of our high school classes simply do the planning for the kids instead of teaching them how to plan, and when the students can't do the work on their own, they are called lazy and unmotivated.