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P.E. classes focusing on individual activities
Filed under: Teens, Health & Safety: Babies, In The News, Day Care & Education, That's Entertainment
Remember the days of gym class, where if you weren't particularly athletic or in the mood to participate, you could just get out in dodgeball and spend the rest of the class sitting in the bleachers talking to friends? Well, those days are gone.
Physical education programs have finally started to realize that team sports might not be the best way to get overweight or obese children involved in physical activity. Many programs now are focusing on individual activities students can work at their own pace and not be left on the sidelines as well as lower impact activities like weightlifting, yoga or martial arts.
"Now we organize our classes in such a way where no kids are sitting," said Susan Henderson, coordinator for physical education and health for the Dallas-area Mesquite school district. She said that even if the lesson is about a team sport like football, they focus on skills like passing the ball. "Nobody is waiting their turn," Henderson said.
I wonder if the changes have had an effect on the number of kids who hate gym class?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
1-15-2008 @ 3:23PM
SKL said...When I was an education student back in 1984, this is what we were taught. It's nothing new; why haven't they been doing this all along? Probably because the gym teachers are too lazy to put forth the extra effort.
Reply
1-15-2008 @ 4:01PM
Marylena said...I hated team sports in school. I lacked the skills, which made my team mates
a) not throw me the ball
b) yell and criticize me when I made a mistake, which I made many, because I was no good at the game (and didn't know I needed glasses). They wanted to win and had no patience for teammates that held them back.
Both of which led to me still not developing skills. So I quit trying. I was a kid and didn't know any better.
I can imagine that if I'd been even slightly overweight, I would have had to deal with teasing and taunting about that as well.
So, no, team sports are not the best way, at least initially, to get kids to exercise.
Much later, when I got to college, I found many individual sports to my liking, including swimming and racquet ball. My interest in swimming eventually led me to several years playing intramural water polo. I still wasn't the best player, but I was having fun, so much I didn't realize until I climbed out of the pool just how much I was using my legs.
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1-15-2008 @ 4:36PM
Cynthia said...I would have loved to do individual activities in gym. Team sports in a competitive environment is a nightmare for someone who is terribly uncoordinated and self-conscious. I spent the vast majority of gym on the sidelines because I had no desire to be ridiculed. Thankfully, half of our grade was health, so I got 100% on that portion (anatomy, etc.), and a few participation points for doing warm ups.
I would have rather been in any class other than gym. If I'd had the chance to do something individually, it would have been so much more pleasant.
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