I'm a fan of bringing back physical education. It seems that more of my younger colleagues (~23-30 y.o.) are trying to be physically active/fit. But exercise is a habit. If you don't build it up when you're young, it can be hard to develop it later. And then there's the physical challenges of returning to a physically active life after years or decades of inactivity. Certain injuries are more likely (like back, knee, tendon injuries) which can be debilitating, leading to months of recovery and more sedentary behavior.
And schools can always give several options to accommodate different interests and capabilities.
> But exercise is a habit. If you don't build it up when you're young, it can be hard to develop it later.
That's not my observation. People over 40 I see practising regularly a sport activity are mostly newcomers who found there something they could find in their usual work and family life. Whereas those who practised as teens and young adults have often given up, because it is not compatible with their 'new' life; or because it is a symbol of their young days and they are done with it, they moved on; or because they cannot keep the same level of performance they had and they rather stop than underperform; or just because their sport activity broke them so that they are unable to practise it or any other form of sport any more, or they don't want to hear about it any more.
> And then there's the physical challenges of returning to a physically active life after years or decades of inactivity. Certain injuries are more likely (like back, knee, tendon injuries) which can be debilitating, leading to months of recovery and more sedentary behavior.
I have never seen an activity generating as many injuries as sport does (and especially school sport in my personal limited observations: more injuries in school sport session than in club training, and more injuries in club training than in actual matches. I find the latter surprising, but not the former.)
Speaking specifically of college, I'm unfamiliar with current K-12 requirements in the US. Physical education is no longer required at most universities. Not even one or two semesters. It is offered. But so is going outside for a jog, or dropping to the floor and doing push-ups and sit-ups. The issue is one of motivation. If students (really, people) aren't feeling motivated to be active then they won't. Attaching a grade and a graduation requirement to it gives them an immediate motivator.
The hope, then, is that this pattern of physical activity remains with them throughout their life. Ideally also paired with courses on nutrition and diet.
Considering that gym class was hell on Earth for some of us fat people and we greatly looked forward to the liberation of college, I think the idea of mandatory PE is horrible.
PE is usually taught in a manner that's great if you're already fit, and atrocious if you're fat. It's hard on the joints and exemplifies how much weaker/slower/less valuable to society you are compared to the fit kids.
I know this because I WAS fat. Horribly so. I lost nearly 100 pounds in my mid 20's by doing something simple - ignoring the exercises I hated (running, any team sports, etc.) and doing what I loved (swimming and cycling, which no PE class had offered). Instead of agonizing knee pain I experienced the joy of cycling, and instead of being a dripping sweaty pig I was in a nice cool pool, where body heat was transferred away easily.
I also quit eating the poison that some call food on a college campus. Remember that at this time people thought margarine was comparatively healthy!
(Note - I use the word "fat" because I think it's an accurate descriptor. It has unfortunately taken on a lot of emotional overtones. But let's be honest, the simplest word that describes the experience I had is "fat").
High school and middle school PE were fucking miserable for me. I wasn't fat, but I was slow and in a group with very fit (naturally or by practice) guys. I was also uncoordinated as I had a massive growth spurt and, being extremely near sighted, wasn't active in any typical sport so my coordination lagged behind for years.
College PE is different. It's not (usually) a general class. You typically pick which one you want. Weight lifting, running, cycling, golf, swimming, etc. This means you're working on a physical activity that you enjoy or have some moderate interest in, unless you truly despise moving and can't even find one thing in the list that interests you (and somehow never fits into your schedule over the 4 years of college).
And all those options were at a cheap, no-name state school.
EDIT: As well, you typically end up setting your own goals within the constraints of the course. Usually an A requires: Be fitter/healthier/faster/stronger than when you started.
Where I studied, there were indeed groups of choices, but they had to take you for some reason (either be fast to apply or have good fit already). Most people were raked into general class, where it was as bad as in school, under the fear of dropping you out, since it was a required course.
Seriously makes me want to bulldoze the stadium (bonus points for frags) and set a few extra dorms on top.
> PE is usually taught in a manner that's great if you're already fit, and atrocious if you're fat.
I remember going through the Presidential Fitness Challenge, and saying "how am I supposed to just stretch further? It hurts!" If, instead, gym class (at least, by the time one gets to high school) was more about finding ways each person liked to exercise, it would be a much greater force for health. I recently decided I just don't like to run, and I'm not really going to try to force myself to anymore.
Well, this feels obvious, but let's say the required PE classes have skilled professors that can adjust a PE program to your fitness level? Would your opinion change then?
I can see a bunch of college students angry and complaining that their college feels like high school and that their money/time is wasted in such classes.
As they should, if you're looking for fitness you can get a personal trainer and then some for that kind of money. And focus on self-improvement instead of checking some box to graduate. We're talking about adults here, after all.
No, we're talking about students, and institutions intended to prepare them for the world after graduation. Fitness is a critical element of mental and physical well-being. Consequently, it's entirely reasonable to place physical education within the scope of a university.
I hear the same arguments about engineering students forced to take political science, or liberal arts students forced to take x number of laboratory credits. Arguably, health is more important that a journalist's ability to use calculus.
I ran and did judo so required PE classes would've just been annoying on top of that. This is purely anecdotal but I knew pretty much what I wanted to take so required courses just ended up getting in the way for me. At a certain point you have to trust college students to be able to decide how they themselves want to live
Even in 2006, when I was still in high school, most of the time in gym class the teacher would just roll out a ball. There was no other physical fitness type of classes.
I think at best once a year we were measured. There was no requirement of anything, just a hey let's see what everyone can do and record it, kind of thing.
It should be noted that in larger schools it is most likely different. This is just my personal experience.
At least at my high school, it wasn't taken very seriously and the quality of the class was low. There wasn't any education (how to properly XYZ, how to train, how to eat for training) and the activity wasn't very valuable either.
And schools can always give several options to accommodate different interests and capabilities.