Perspective: What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement.
I am not sure how we fix this. It requires tough love, rarely encouraged these days. When I told my high school’s cross-country coach I was quitting the team because all that running was boring, he said he wouldn’t permit it. That wouldn’t work in today’s schools. Even then, a teacher’s pet like me could have gotten the decision overturned. But I didn’t want to cross that formidable coach, the nationally known Connie Smith. I stuck it out and got an unexpected taste of glory.
After cross-country season, I went back to regular P.E. It devoted a week to long-distance running, ending with a two-mile race up and down our hillside campus. To my astonishment, those cross-country team laps gave me so much endurance that I won. It was the only first-place finish of my life and my only A ever in P.E.Schools are still focused on academic gains. Few are likely to allot more class time for exercise. After-school sports seem the only hope.
I think it will take more than that to inspire a national movement for more physical activity, particularly among children. But there are ways. I am now doing vigorous hikes four days a week, carrying a 12-pound bag, because I have become addicted to hitting small yellow balls into round holes. The lady I married 55 years ago gets her exercise walking with me and pointing out which bushes my shots landed in.
Can such obsessions be implanted in the young? Tech geniuses, such as the one who owns my newspaper, have found ways to interest people in all kinds of new daily habits. Can they invent something that makes moving around irresistible? Our grandchildren are already in their grip, so I have hope. Whatever those entrepreneurs do will have to be subtle and cunning, like the Fitbit craze. My high school coach somehow got me to stick with running. Clever people like him could brainstorm attractive activities that have the effect we hoped P.E. would have. But they will need to find a better name for it.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Perspective | Why I reclaimed my South Korean citizenship after losing it as a babyAbout 200,000 Korean children have been sent overseas for adoption since the 1950s. Some of them are trying to regain what they lost in the process.
Read more »
Russia ‘suffering huge losses’ losing ground in Sievierodonetsk: officialUkrainian military officials said the continued fighting was not unexpected and eastern Ukraine would remain a focal point of Russia aggression.
Read more »
The One Republican Who Could Decide Whether Congress Passes a Gun BillJohn Cornyn says it would be embarrassing if Congress can’t reach a deal. He’s also tweeting that it’s “not gonna happen.”
Read more »
Using This Wood-Fired Grill Is the Most Fun I've Had Cooking All YearIt's big, it’s heavy, it’s pricey—it’s not for the casual griller—but it's worth it.
Read more »
A’s continue to slide into the abyss in loss to Red SoxThe A’s have lost five straight — their second-longest losing streak of the season.
Read more »