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Sadie Ikeda

Warren

English 7​०

5 April 2018

The End of PE As We Know It

Most high school students complain about PE. We hate everything from dressing out to

the dreaded pacer to uncomfortable weigh-ins and BMI measurements. But PE class is required

because it’s what’s best for us, right? Not necessarily! Physical education is vitally important,

but it can be achieved in better ways than mandated high school PE classes.

Everyone can agree that the purpose of physical education—to keep kids fit, boost

academic success with an active body, and promote a long-term healthy lifestyle—is worthwhile.

It’s actually more vital than ever because youth heart disease and diabetes have increased and

obesity has tripled over the last 30 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention. It’s no wonder that the California Department of Education requires high school

students to take a minimum of two PE courses to learn “the health-related benefits of regular

physical activity and the skills to adopt a physically active, healthy lifestyle.”

However, PE as we know it doesn’t successfully accomplish those things. A 2007 study

by researchers at Cornell University found that a typical high school gym class only keeps

students physically active for an average of 16 minutes, and there is “no evidence that PE lowers

BMI or the probability that a student is overweight.” Further, “adding 200 more minutes of time

to gym class each week did not produce substantial changes.”

Even higher education sees PE as no longer belonging in forced curriculum. Oregon State

University has reported that more than half of four-year colleges in the United States have

dropped PE requirements. Some even argue that PE as a graded class actually does more harm
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than good in promoting and encouraging physical fitness. In the ​Chicago Tribune​, one mother

expresses concern about grading PE: “My understanding is that physical education is to

encourage kids to move and be active. How are you encouraging kids if you fail them for not

being fast or strong?”

Others worry that certain aspects of PE curriculum can be ineffective and even damaging

to students. BMI, for instance, which is used in San Marin PE classes, is questioned even by the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which admits “there is not enough evidence...to

conclude whether school-based BMI measurement programs are effective at preventing or

reducing childhood obesity or whether they cause harm, by either increasing the stigma attached

to obesity or increasing pressures to engage in unsafe weight control behaviors.”

Keeping students in PE means keeping them out of the classroom and pulling time away

from academics, test preparation, passions and interests, and career preparation. A Minneapolis

Star Tribune e​ ditorial claims that some districts have allowed PE to become a barrier to

education and to graduation. “The two-semester PE requirement can be…difficult for students

who take...Advanced Placement courses, as well as students who have failed other required

courses and are working to get passing grades.” Here at San Marin, the need to fulfill PE

requirements often conflicts with AP classes, programs like STEM Marin, and electives such as

music, journalism and leadership—all of which give high school students better access to

colleges and careers.

The American Heart Association reports that “30 [states] allow student exemptions from

physical education class; 31 allow students to substitute activities such as marching band,

cheerleading, drill team, or intramural sports for physical education credit.” According to the

California Department of Education, local school districts can decide whether to allow high
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school PE exemptions and waivers. Currently, San Marin requires all freshmen to take PE but

allows students to waive their second year of PE if they participate in at least two school sports

after freshman year. San Marin students who participate in high-level sports outside of school are

still held to these requirements, which puts extra, unnecessary demands on their time and bodies.

While students ​should ​be required to stay active and learn ways to maintain health and

fitness, high schools need to expand the options for fulfilling those requirements. Creative

alternatives to PE classes are already in place in many areas. A Beaverton, Oregon, school

practices “brain boost” breaks and 15-minute periods of physical activity before lunch which

have “led to increased classroom engagement,” according to the American Heart Association. In

Minneapolis, reports the ​Star Tribune, ​teens are allowed to take PE online, where they wear a

tracking band and upload activity screenshots throughout the semester, or to participate in

Fitness for Life, where they develop a personal fitness plan and monitor progress with a teacher.

These alternative approaches are proving to be effective in accomplishing everything PE is

meant to accomplish.

From offering waivers to students who already maintain certain fitness levels to

providing flexible but effective PE alternatives, it’s clear that high schools can achieve the same

vital PE goals and benefits without forcing the unproductive PE classes that most of us dread.
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Works Cited

American Heart Association. “2016 Shape of the Nation: At the Heart of Physical Education is
Kids’ Health.” Dallas, Texas: American Heart Association, 08 Apr. 2016,
http://newsroom.heart.org/news/2016-shape-of-the-nation:-at-the-heart-of-physical-education-is-
kids-health​. Accessed 28 Jan. 2018.

American Heart Association News. “Many states allow PE substitutes or for students to opt out
altogether.” Dallas, Texas: American Heart Association. 08 Apr. 2016,
https://news.heart.org/many-states-allow-pe-substitutes-or-for-students-to-opt-out-altogether/​.
Accessed 28 Jan. 2018.

California Department of Education. “Physical Education FAQs.” Sacramento, California:

California Department of Education. 07 Sept. 2017,
https://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ca/pe/physeducfaqs.asp​. Accessed 28 Jan. 2018.

Cawley, John, Chad Meyerhoefer and David Newhouse. “The impact of state physical education
requirements on youth physical activity and overweight.” Cornell University, New York: ​Health
Economics,​ ​Dec. 2007, ​https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17328052#​. Accessed 28 Jan.
2018.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Body Mass Index (BMI) Measurement in
Schools.”​ Atlanta, Georgia: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 25 Jan. 2017,
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/bmi/bmi_measurement_schools.htm

Davich, Jerry. “Should students be graded on fitness shortcomings?” Chicago, Illinois: ​Chicago
Tribune.​ 22 Jan. 2016,
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/opinion/ct-ptb-davich-physical-fitness-grad
es-st-0124-20160122-story.html​. Accessed 28 Jan. 2018.

Star Tribune E​ ditorial Board. “Don't let gym class prevent graduation” Minneapolis, Minnesota:
Star Tribune.​ 09 Sept. 2014,
http://www.startribune.com/don-t-let-gym-class-prevent-graduation/274540481/​. Accessed 28
Jan. 2018.

Whitehouse, Elizabeth, and Matthew Shafer. “State Policies on Physical Activities in Schools.”
Washington, D.C.: The Council of State Governments.​ 09 Mar. 2017,
http://knowledgecenter.csg.org/kc/content/state-policies-physical-activity-schools​. Accessed 28
Jan. 2018.

Yeager, Angela. “Physical education requirement at four-year universities at all-time low”

Corvallis, Oregon: Oregon State University Newsroom. 04 Jan. 2013,
http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2013/jan/physical-education-requirement-four-year-univer
sities-all-time-low-according-study​. Accessed 28 Jan. 2018.
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ELEMENT OF ARGUMENT WRITING (COMMON CORE RUBRIC) SKILL

(Reference rubric on Google Classroom for skill level information) LEVEL

Claim: The text introduces a clear, arguable claim that can be supported by reasons and evidence. 4.5

Development: The text provides sufficient data and evidence to back up the claim as well as a 4
conclusion that supports the argument.

Audience: The text anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns about the claim. The text 5
addresses the specific audience’s needs.

Cohesion: The text uses words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, creates 5
cohesion, and clarifies the relationships between the claim and reasons, between reasons and evidence,
and between claims and counterclaims.

Style and Conventions: The text presents a formal, objective tone that demonstrates standard English 5
conventions of usage and mechanics along with discipline specific requirements (i.e. MLA, APA, etc.).