Kyle Lane

English 1201

Prof. Barnes

3 Nov 2019

Rough Draft

The research proposal topic that I have chosen is about the pros and cons of requiring

physical education for high school students. This topic is important to me because I value

physical activity everyday and I believe that everybody should stay physically active. Walking

the halls of my high school, I see the effects of inactivity. One of the reasons I see inactivity is

because of video games keeping my peers away from outdoor activities that promote staying

physically active. Another reason is the inability to manage the amount of food intake which

can cause obesity and many other health issues. Finally, my family has always stayed physically

active and has influenced me positively in that way.

I feel conflicted about requiring physical education in high school because I can see both

sides of the argument. There are many health issues that students need to learn, yet there are

other ways to learn these health issues outside of high school classes. I think that physical

education can teach positive life skills such as tracking calories, writing a fitness plan, and

learning how to be disciplined. I also think many of these can be learned through being part of an

athletic team. I believe that physical activity can improve a student's quality of life because many

times students are focusing only on academics. I believe that physical activity provides balance

in a student’s life. I already know that physical education is not required for two-sport athletes in
high school and band students. This is a controversial topic among health physical education

professionals because they believe that all students need educated in this subject.

Research in this topic will help me form my own opinion based on what I find out about

the pros and the cons. One way I can research is by interviewing current high schoolers who are

required to take a physical education class versus those who are able to waive the class. I can

also research physical education publications with the hope of finding a study that provides more

insight to one side of the topic or the other. The two research questions I have formed are

“should physical education be required for all students” and “can students learn about health

issues and how to be physically active without taking a physical education class in high school”.

Chen, Grace. “The Pros and Cons of Mandatory Gym Class in Public Schools.” Public School

Review, 29 Oct. 2009, https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-

mandatory-gym-class-in-public-schools.

In this article, The Pros and Cons of Mandatory Gym Class in Public Schools from Public

School Review in May of 2019, Grace Chen explains that schools still need to have PE class

but things in that class need to change to give children more time for activity. The purpose for

writing this article is to explain to teachers and parents that their students are not getting

enough exercise in school and the class format needs to change. The writer is Grace Chen and

she is credible because she uses sources that are well known and she keeps her article updated

regularly. Her information in the article in also credible because it relates to my topic and

explains both sides of the argument.

Dora, Joy. “Should PE Classes Be Mandatory?” Education, 21 Nov. 2017,

https://education.seattlepi.com/should-pe-classes-mandatory-2028.html.

Joy Dora in 2017 explains in the article Should PE Classes Be Mandatory that schools are

cutting physical education class because of the lack of funding for the class. This leads to

obesity in children/students and can affect their health and style of living. The author's

purpose in writing this article is to inform people that something needs to change and it

needs to change soon. This is credible because she has many related articles that are up to

date and have the same view as this article. I will use this in my paper by informing by

readers that a crisis is happening in the subject of physical education.

Lane, Stephanie. “Xenia Community Schools Physical Education Teacher” 19 August 2017,

http://www.xeniaschools.org/schools.

Ntoumanis, Nikos. “A Self‐Determination Approach to the Understanding of Motivation in

Physical Education.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (10.1111), 16 Dec.

2010, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1348/000709901158497.

In this book, A Self‐Determination Approach to the Understanding of Motivation in Physical

Education, Nikos Ntoumanis shows readers that a sequence of motivational processes can

help increase participation in students. Ntoumanis ran a study to prove his theory and his

findings stated the importance of perceived competence and intrinsic motivation

compulsory PE. The purpose of this book is to explain that there are proven ways and

methods to help increase participation by students in physical education class.

 Person. “The New PE Runs on Fitness, Not Competition.” Edutopia, George Lucas

Educational Foundation, 28 May 2008, https://www.edutopia.org/video/new-pe-runs-

fitness-not-competition.

This video by the George Lucas Educational Foundation shows that some schools are

changing the way physical education class is formatted. Gym class is traditionally filled

with running laps, doing jumping jacks, and playing competitive sports. Now schools are

pulling away from tradition and pushing towards a new era that involves activities like zip

lining, collaborative games, and classroom aikido. I will use this video to show that these

new activities can lead to more participation in class which can lead to less obesity and

better health.

Polish, Jennifer. “Phys Ed in Schools: Improving Health or Breeding Bullying?” Law Street,

18 Apr. 2017, https://www.lawstreetmedia.com/issues/education/phys-ed-in-schools-

improving-health-or-breeding-bullying/.

This article written by Jennifer Polish in 2017 explains how requiring physical education can

be helpful or hurtful. Again this deals with how obesity rates are high and participation is

low, which is an obvious correlation. This article is reliable because the website it is on

does not have any pop ups or ads, it is up to date, and it goes along with exactly what my

topic is about. I will use this article to help explain to readers that there are positives and

there are negatives in requiring physical education class.

The research proposal topic that I have chosen is about the pros and cons of requiring

physical education for high school students. This topic is important to me because I value
physical activity everyday and I believe that everybody should stay physically active. Walking

the halls of my high school, I see the effects of inactivity. One of the reasons I see inactivity is

because of video games keeping my peers away from outdoor activities that promote staying

physically active. Another reason is the inability to manage the amount of food intake which

can cause obesity and many other health issues. Finally, my family has always stayed physically

active and has influenced me positively in that way.

I feel conflicted about requiring physical education in high school because I can see both

sides of the argument. There are many health issues that students need to learn, yet there are

other ways to learn these health issues outside of high school classes. I think that physical

education can teach positive life skills such as tracking calories, writing a fitness plan, and

learning how to be disciplined. I also think many of these can be learned through being part of an

athletic team. I believe that physical activity can improve a student's quality of life because many

times students are focusing only on academics. I believe that physical activity provides balance

in a student’s life. I already know that physical education is not required for two-sport athletes in

high school and band students. This is a controversial topic among health physical education

professionals because they believe that all students need educated in this subject.

Research in this topic will help me form my own opinion based on what I find out about

the pros and the cons. One way I can research is by interviewing current high schoolers who are

required to take a physical education class versus those who are able to waive the class. I can

also research physical education publications with the hope of finding a study that provides more

insight to one side of the topic or the other. The two research questions I have formed are

“should physical education be required for all students” and “can students learn about health

issues and how to be physically active without taking a physical education class in high school”.
“Understanding Physical Activity Intention in Canadian School Children and Youth: An

Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior.” Taylor & Francis,

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02701367.2000.10608889.

In this article written by a school in Canada the author explains a study done to test the theory

of planned behavior in predicting physical education intention. The study results say that

in a population of children and youth the detriments display a pattern of change

developmentally. This article and study are helpful for me because it can show me readers

that physical education is important and can lead children to a better lifestyle.

Work Cited

Chen, Grace. “The Pros and Cons of Mandatory Gym Class in Public Schools.” Public School

Review, 29 Oct. 2009, https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-

mandatory-gym-class-in-public-schools.

Dora, Joy. “Should PE Classes Be Mandatory?” Education, 21 Nov. 2017,

https://education.seattlepi.com/should-pe-classes-mandatory-2028.html.
Lane, Stephanie. “Xenia Community Schools Physical Education Teacher” 19 August 2017,

http://www.xeniaschools.org/schools.

Ntoumanis, Nikos. “A Self‐Determination Approach to the Understanding of Motivation in

Physical Education.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (10.1111), 16 Dec.

2010, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1348/000709901158497.

Person. “The New PE Runs on Fitness, Not Competition.” Edutopia, George Lucas

Educational Foundation, 28 May 2008, https://www.edutopia.org/video/new-pe-runs-

fitness-not-competition.

Polish, Jennifer. “Phys Ed in Schools: Improving Health or Breeding Bullying?” Law Street,

18 Apr. 2017, https://www.lawstreetmedia.com/issues/education/phys-ed-in-schools-

improving-health-or-breeding-bullying/.

“Understanding Physical Activity Intention in Canadian School Children and Youth: An

Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior.” Taylor & Francis,

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02701367.2000.10608889.