Physical Education Important in Schools
Joe Smith
John Jones
English-100
27 June, 2011
“Positive Outcomes of Physical Education”
Physical education budgets are being cut even though it has clearly been proven that students who actively participate in Physical Education from Kindergarten through twelfth grade not only improve their overall health, but also strengthen their academic achievements. In 2001 the Congress passed a bill called “No Child Left Behind”. The bill called for states to come up with a standardized testing to assess the students in order to receive money from federal funding. According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, the bill identified the following subjects as the “core academic subjects”: English, reading or language arts, math, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography (NASPE). Leaving the subject Physical Education clearly missing from the list. Did this mean that the congress did not consider Physical Education to be an academic subject? It certainly got states, school boards, and educational policy makers believing so. Unfortunately this made it legal for states to cut funding for PE and according to NASPE “gave many school boards the incentive (and political cover) to reduce or eliminate requirements for students to participate in PE classes” (NASPE). I have already begun to experience the effects of funding cuts. The first thing that went was funding for High School sports. For the last two years I have had to pay for traveling fees, support fund raisers, and purchase uniforms, just to name a few, in order for my son to participate. This makes it less desirable for lower income families to encourage their children to keep active in sports. This just simply adds fuel to the fire; our youth can already opt out of Physical Education and now in order to participate on a school team, they have to pay their own way. With these obstacles in our youth’s way, the risk for
John Jones
English-100
27 June, 2011
“Positive Outcomes of Physical Education”
Physical education budgets are being cut even though it has clearly been proven that students who actively participate in Physical Education from Kindergarten through twelfth grade not only improve their overall health, but also strengthen their academic achievements. In 2001 the Congress passed a bill called “No Child Left Behind”. The bill called for states to come up with a standardized testing to assess the students in order to receive money from federal funding. According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, the bill identified the following subjects as the “core academic subjects”: English, reading or language arts, math, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography (NASPE). Leaving the subject Physical Education clearly missing from the list. Did this mean that the congress did not consider Physical Education to be an academic subject? It certainly got states, school boards, and educational policy makers believing so. Unfortunately this made it legal for states to cut funding for PE and according to NASPE “gave many school boards the incentive (and political cover) to reduce or eliminate requirements for students to participate in PE classes” (NASPE). I have already begun to experience the effects of funding cuts. The first thing that went was funding for High School sports. For the last two years I have had to pay for traveling fees, support fund raisers, and purchase uniforms, just to name a few, in order for my son to participate. This makes it less desirable for lower income families to encourage their children to keep active in sports. This just simply adds fuel to the fire; our youth can already opt out of Physical Education and now in order to participate on a school team, they have to pay their own way. With these obstacles in our youth’s way, the risk for
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