Imagine being an overweight teenager being bombarded every day by advertisements for McDonald’s, walking past vending machines with tons of fatty foods in it, and never getting the proper exercise that is needed to be healthy. This description applies to many teenagers in America today. Many spend hours on the couch watching television or playing video games, never going outside to get exercise. In Illinois, it is mandatory to take physical education while in high school. So why isn’t it mandatory in other states? Physical education should be mandatory in high schools around the country because it prevents illness, encourages teamwork, gives teenagers an outlet for their energy, and cuts down on obesity.
Mandatory physical education is an issue that has been heavily debated for years. America has many overweight teenagers that eventually grow up to be overweight adults. The people who are for mandatory physical education believe that this will help in cutting down on obesity. According to data collected in 2000 fifteen percent of teenagers are overweight. Also another fifteen percent are at risk of becoming overweight.(“Teen Obesity”) With these statistics its no wonder that parents and teachers are trying to push physical education into the high schools of America. Many children do not get the proper amount of exercise needed to be healthy. Many of their parents do not push them to exercise so they waste their time watching T.V. and playing video games. Another reason they are promoting physical education is it can lead to a better lifestyle and prevent illness. If good habits are learned early they tend to continue into adulthood. So if they are taught to exercise, they may continue exercising, so they will be healthy adults. Physical education also encourages teamwork which is needed in everyday life.
Those opposed to physical education have many reasons why they think it should not be mandatory. They feel that their teenagers academic performance will suffer if they are worried about things like physical education. They want their teenagers to focus on their school work so they can get into the best colleges and universities. In order to do so they need to be taking the best courses. When physical education is mandatory, it takes away from the spot where a useful class could have went. They also believe that making it mandatory will bring embarrassment to those students who are not athletic. Or to those who may be obese and can not run or play as well as the other students. Another point they bring up is that providing physical education in high school, is not going to promote a healthy lifestyle at home. They believe that parents need to push their kids to exercise. By schools doing so they may push kids into shying away from exercise. Whenever a teenager has to do something at school doesn’t mean they are going to do it at home.
Many oppose the idea of mandatory physical education in high schools. Parents believe that their children will be forced to take a class that will hurt their child’s academic performance. Parents are always pushing their kids to take extra classes so that they can get into the colleges they want. With physical education in the way they believe their children are getting cheated out of a class they could have taken. However students in high school take a total of seven classes a day. If six of those classes are academic, they will take a total of over twenty four classes before they graduate. They have plenty of room and time to take the necessary courses needed to get into these colleges. In fact one study done by Roy Shepard a professor at the University Of Toronto disproves that physical education will hurt students academic performance. He followed five hundred and forty six students around. One Control group had one physical education class a week, while the second group had sixty minutes a day of physical education. The result was that the group with the most physical education did better in their academic studies than those who had less. Even despite the fact that they spent fourteen percent less time on academics.(“Should Physical Education be Mandatory”) This proves that even though less time would be spent in the classroom, academics will not suffer if physical education is mandatory.
Another issue the opposition brings up is having mandatory physical education will not promote a healthy lifestyle. They believe that making it mandatory cannot change the habits at home. They will still go home and eat fatty foods while watching T.V. Although it may not change every students habits at home it does however make students more healthy. Exercise everyday in school is better than no exercise at all. If we provide students with fun ways to exercise such as jumping rope or playing basketball they may decide they like it and continue it at home. Many time in highschool I found sports I liked in P.E. I continued to play them at home and still enjoy them now. It also promotes a healthy lifestyle in another way. In a 1997 survey done by the Alberta School’s Althletic Association they found that children who are involved in active activities such as sports where less likely to take drugs, get in trouble with the law and smoke. (“Should Physical Education be Mandatory?”)Though physical education students can find a sport they enjoy and play it thus avoiding taking drugs and the other things mentioned above. Although the opposition has many good points to why physical education should not be mandatory, there are many more good points that say it should.
The first reason Physical education should be made mandatory in all highschools across the U.S. is it prevents illness. When teenagers are not active this can lead to many illnesses that can lead to death. If teenagers exercised around an hour a day they could prevent many ugly illnesses. One of these illness is type II diabetes. This is a illness in which a person does not produce enough insulin. People with diabetes are more likely to to develop heart problems, blindness, and kidney problems. (“Type II Diabetes”) All of this can be prevented with exercise, that is why physical education is so important. Also when teenagers do not get the proper amount of exercise they have less bone mass meaning they are more likely to break bones. Without exercise, according to The Palo Alto Medical Foundation, teenagers can also develop coronary heart disease, colon cancer, and breast cancer. Which can all lead to death. (“Teen Obesity”) Making physical education mandatory can provide teenagers with healthier lives free of illness.
Another reason physical education should be mandatory is it encourages teamwork. Working together is a very important thing to know how to do. It gets students ready for jobs where they must work together to get a project done. It can even help students work better together in a classroom, such as on a science project. When a student goes to get a job an employer is going to be looking for someone that is a team player. If the student has learned through playing on a P.E. team the value of working together than they are more than likely going to prove to the employer that they can work together. With working together also comes the ability to share. When playing sports teachers encourage student not to hog the ball and to pass to others. An example would be in basketball where all players are encouraged to pass to others. This leads to more compassionate students whom will share more. Mandatory physical education gives students valuable lessons on teamwork and along with that comes sharing.
The third reason physical education should be mandatory is it provides students with an outlet for their energy. Everyday high school students sit in a class doing schoolwork for seven hours a day. They get no time to get up and move around because they are stuck in their desks being taught all day long. Many times I have seen students acting out in class because of the extra energy they carry around with them. This causes disruption in classes that could be prevented if they had a way to use their energy in a good way. Physical education is a way for students to get all this bottle up energy out. They are allowed to go outside and run around for an hour to get ride of their energy. By doing this students will cause less disruptions and be more willing to sit in a desk for the remainder of the day.
The most important reason physical education should be mandatory is it cuts down on obesity and provides a healthy lifestyle. This is a very big problem in our society today. It is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Over thirty percent of the people in the United States are obese. (“Teen Obesity”) This is a huge percent of people considering how many people live in the United States. The fact is teenagers are eating too much fatty foods, watching too much T.V, and playing too many video games. They are just not getting enough exercise and so they become obese. If physical education was made mandatory the percent of obesity would be less. They would exercise more and prevent many of the illness I mentioned before. Which include heart disease, colon cancer, and breast cancer. They would live longer and overall live healthier more active lives. Physical education would add an hour a day of exercising to make students healthier. If we act now we can prevent our future adults from becoming or staying obese. All of this can be prevented or helped by just adding physical education to high school students schedule.
Also physical education can give teenagers a positive lifestyle. By showing teenagers how fun and exciting exercising can be they will want to do it more. When a teenager likes something they do it all the time so it will be brought home also. Instead of watching television or playing video games they will be exercising for the fun of it.
Making physical education mandatory in high schools can prevent illnesses such as certain Cancers and heart disease, it encourages teamwork which is a valuable lesson to be learned for future careers, provides teenagers an outlet for their energy which prevents less disruption in the classroom, and cuts down on obesity, the leading cause of death in America, while providing a healthy lifestyle. By providing physical education schools are giving students a healthier way of living. In essence they are giving life to students. Don’t you want your child to lead a healthy life?
Sources:
“Teen Obesity.” Palo Alto Medical Foundation. 12 Dec. 2005
“Type II Diabetes.” Health Jar Educational Series. 12 Dec. 2005
Should Physical Education Be Mandatory Until The End Of High School?” Readers Digest 12 Dec. 2005
Reference:
- “Teen Obesity.” Palo Alto Medical Foundation. 12 Dec. 2005
