In 7th grade, we had boys PE and girls PE, and boys PE involved a half-mile run, followed by playing basketball or flag football, with twice-a-month fitness tests. It worked very well for getting in shape. Girls had a similar regime; the only difference is they did their run at the end so the classes could use the track separately.

In 8th grade, our school did Title IX reforms and integrated PE. For some reason, they massively watered it down and it was no longer much of a workout.

I’m all for better academics, but you do need some break during the day when you go outside, breathe fresh air, and work up a sweat. Imprisoning kids in classrooms all day grinding on pencil-and-paper sounds awful, and will probably cause even more kids, especially boys, to hate school.

My point is, before this becomes a requirement, somebody’s got to make sure that the PE teachers and facilities are up to the task. Considering the way most public schools are run, I truly doubt it.

Passing the physical fitness tests weren’t that hard for me, except for the flexibility stuff (I always failed the Sit N Reach). We were also required to run 2 miles once a week. Of course, a lot of the students would just walk the entire way and end up failing because they didn’t make it in under the time allowed. And then they’d complain.

This punitive approach to what should be a national goal of personal fitness is typical of the way we have been approaching all educational problems recently–when we identify a need, we mandate a fix, then punish those who aren’t fixed quickly. And it is punitive and humiliating to the kids who can’t pass 5 tests and are forced to take a class that should have been designed for fun and enlightenment, and has now become Special Ed Gym.

If school sports were more about fun and fitness and less about rewarding a top few athletes, maybe more kids would participate. I read an interesting story recently about the dearth of 3-letter, all-around HS athletes. Athletes are being urged to specialize, as early as 6th grade, and get on expensive travel/summer teams, rather than playing many sports. Sports are not about school spirit and fun any more. They’re about crushing the competition and scholarships (although few kids get them, and those who do often have to balance their academic needs against having their tuition paid by Nowhere U).

Maybe this comes from my own experience. While I was fine on the balance beam, I was never a graceful runner. The first time I ran the 50-year dash, my gym teacher, Mrs. Firm (no kidding) asked me, in front of the class, if I had suffered polio as a child. Sheesh.