Importance of Early Grades Physical Education

Personal Reflection:

When I was younger and had physical education (P.E.) class in elementary school, I loved it. In fact it was one of the extracurricular classes that I looked forward to. In elementary school I went to P.E. one to two times a week depending on the week's schedule. During these classes we not only learned about the importance of physical activity but we learned about things such as astronaut training and how the heart and lungs work. These activities were explained to us through the use of physical activity. When we would do astronaut training we would go through similar experiences that astronauts go through such as walking on the moon(we used buckets with strings attached to them) or flying through space(we laid on our backs on shuffle boards and went under a table that was decorated with stars). During the lungs and heart we would start at one station with a ball of a certain color(either red or blue) indicating whether or not they held oxygen. We would then do activities that resembled how the heart and lungs circulated blood and air throughout the body and lost and gained oxygen.

Current Georgia Recommendations for P.E.:

The current Georgia recommendations for Physical Education are 60 hours for elementary students, nothing for middle school students, and only a half semester for high school students.

I do not believe that these recommendations are adequate. Many elementary schools are not on schedules that allow the students to be in a P.E. class for 60 hours out of an entire school year, middle school is, in my opinion, where you either win or lose kids, and high school is where students need to be thinking ahead to future consequences of not being physically active. It is important for everyone no matter what age they are to be physically active, therefore all students no matter what age should have to be physically active at least an hour a day.

Importance of P.E.:

Elementary students get the most physical activity of any age group, but I believe that they could use more, especially at that age. Allowing for elementary students to get an adequate amount of physical activity can help them to focus in class and in other activities.

Middle school is the age, in my opinion, where you either win or lose students. At this age students are also going through multiple body changes and a physical education class would help them to maintain an active life leading into their young adulthood. These students, like all other people need at least and hour of exercise a day.

High school students are only required to have P.E. a half of a semester out of four years of school. At this age students begin to acquire lifelong habits. It is significant to help them understand the importance of being physically active and the effects it has on the body. Instead of being required to only have to do a half semester of P.E. out of four years, high school students should be required to take a P.E. class every semester of every year.