Student Athletes Should Not Have To Participate In Physical Education Classes

The purpose of physical education is to keep kids active and healthy. For athletes, these classes just add one more unnecessary subject to their school day. On average, a student athlete exercises for twelve hours in a normal week, whereas regular students whom have P.E. every other day may exercise for four hours. Student athletes should not have to participate in physical education classes. Typical P.E. classes are held every other day, commonly alternating with a study hall. For kids with full schedules, who academically excel, this makes these days tougher. If a student athlete has a full day of classes in which he or she receives homework, and then goes to practice and then straight home, they most likely will spend all their free time
classes places a risk of unnecessary injuries on student athletes. Often times you will find these classes to be unorganized and chaotic, which could possibly lead to season-ending injuries. Statistics have shown that since 1997, P.E. injuries have soared up 150%, which include cuts, sprains, bruises, and bone fractures. Many say that bigger classes and less supervision has been the cause of this increase in injuries. Another aspect that has contributed to this is the fact that many P.E. teachers are not qualified. One of the biggest problems is that some don’t know the amount of space that students need to complete certain activities. Studies have shown that over 65% of injuries in P.E. classes have been students running into objects or other
teachers. Not enough athletes would be cut out of physical education classes that classes would have to be cancelled. Also, some athletes would want to continue to participate in these classes. They could earn multiple P.E. credits by being in a sport and taking the classes at the same time.
According to statistics, an average student spends 182 hours in physical education classes throughout their four years of high school. Compared to 800-1600 hours that an athlete may practice per year depending on the sport, those 182 don’t seem significant at all. Studies have shown that within these classes, after changing into different clothing, the teacher taking attendance, and the activity being arranged, students spend ten minutes per class actually exercising. Time to student athletes is very precious, and to waste that much time to only exercise ten minutes is quite an absurd notion. P.E. classes were created with the intentions to help form a student’s character through sportsmanship and teamwork. This is why for younger students, or students who do not participate in school sponsored sports, physical education classes are still extremely