rcfreak339 wrote:^That post is straight up BS. Ive been to 3 middle schools and have moved to 2 different high schools. Not a single ONE of them MADE me do anything. If I didn't want to do it, she never forced me. Sure it would hurt my grade but that was because your not even trying. I just don't see why you guys can't just go out there a shoot a ball once in a while. I was never humiliated, Never. I acutely suck at sports, I just love them. My teachers have always been nice. You Fat Man don't know what its like in todays schools. Don't ban PE. If we do, we will see the consequences.
Your experience is not necessarily universal. In a recent e-mail to me, Coach Tim McCord (one of the leading proponents of the innovative PE4Life program) said that the old P.E. is still around at many schools. I think he knows what he's talking about more than either of us. He's coached for years.
I still pose this question: Is the purpose of P.E. to promote physical fitness, or is the purpose of P.E. just to promote sports? Yes, the two goals are not totally exclusive; but the fact remains that we are talking apples and oranges here. The most efficient way for a nonathlete to get into shape is by getting on an exercise program.
How many times do I have to tell you? Any medical doctor would tell you that. You don't seem to have read my lengthy post addressed to you previously. Again, I cite the example of the obese child. He or she needs to exercise by constantly moving, which is not always done in sports. Why can't you see this?
Like many other teenagers, you seem to have a know-it-all attitude. (I'm quite thankful that my daughters didn't have this attitude.) When I was a teenager, I didn't know my head from a hole in the ground. It appalls me now when I think back and remember just how clueless I was. Someday when you're middle-aged, you may look back on your teenage years and cringe. That is, unless you're boneheaded stupid.
You say that you "just love them (sports)." Well, goody-goody gumdrops!

We
don't! And nonathletic students who have benefited from the PE4Life program are probably in better shape than you.
You say that you "just don't see why you guys can't just go out there a (sic) shoot a ball once in a while." Well, I just don't see why
you aren't interested in the history of stamp collecting or how table salt is processed today or why you don't want to memorize the names of all of the Russian czars or the title of every book that H. G. Wells ever wrote or learn about the chemical composition of skunk spray. It's because
we're just not interested, that's why.
And there's another answer to your question. Again, I draw upon my personal experience. When I was forced to play basketball in junior-high P.E., I did terribly and assumed that I must be a lousy kid for that reason. There never was any teaching about how the game of basketball was played or any instruction of how to shoot a basketball in any of the P.E. classes I was forced to take. I assumed in my ignorance (which should have been rectified by the P.E. teachers) that shooting a basketball was just shoving the basketball towards the hoop. Two years ago I joined a health club and started working with a personal trainer on a bodybuilding program. To provide variation in our routine, he once showed me how to shoot a basketball. I was amazed to learn that particular wrist and finger action is involved, and that it takes time to develop this skill. I was never told this in any of my P.E. classes. The incredibly stupid assumption seems to have been made that all boys were athletes. So, to answer your silly question, another reason why we just don't want to shoot a basketball is because we don't know
how.
Oh, by the way, the last time I checked, Fat Man wasn't running any school districts; so, I don't think you need to worry about your precious P.E. being banned. To the contrary, the reality of the situation is that there is a big push to make P.E. mandatory K through 12 nationwide. The question remains as to whether the mandatory P.E. will be humane to nonathletic kids or if it will provide an opportunity for bullies to make their lives miserable, as was typically the case for generations. I'm more concerned about
those consequences. Frankly, I'm not entirely optimistic. As I've already pointed out, there is a solution to this problem. But I think you're close-minded and are not willing to really study this issue.