Hi, Polite24. I wonder if there are different views as to the way that P.E. should be reformed. Was there any spokesman for PE4Life in this program that you saw? I agree with you that when there is competition, there will be winners and losers. I don't agree with the view that everyone should be called a winner. Self-esteem is developed and earned, not given by someone else.
Considering the particular bias of HBO's Real Sports, I wonder if they would even be concerned about the needs of nonathletic kids. I doubt it. After all, what they really care about is sports, not nonathletic kids. Why would they care about nonathletic kids? I dare say that the needs of nonathletic kids and the problems that they have had to face in traditional mandatory P.E. classes probably have never even crossed their minds.
My perspective as a 59-year-old man is different from yours. Your are of my daughters' generation. The mandatory P.E. of my generation was lousy for nonathletic boys. In the P.E. classes that I took from the time I was in the 4th grade through junior high, none of the nonathletic boys were ever taught how to develop any athletic skills; yet we were still forced to play in ball games, even if we weren't interested in them. There was no mention of exercise programs for the physically unfit. I never even heard of weightlifting, which would have been great for building up my self-confidence at a time when I had none. I am not exaggerating. This is the truth. And I have talked to many other men of my generation, and they have told me the same horror stories.
Physically weak boys and overweight boys were frequently humiliatied and bullied for no constructive purpose. Perhaps those who say that we're starting to baby and coddle kids too much actually condone and defend bullying. In fact, I think many of them do. The bullying of kids in schools actually has a lot of defenders. Bullying kids does not make them stronger, especially if they have nothing to fall back on for support (which is often the case); it only makes them weaker. And I fail to see the wisdom in forcing nonathletic kids to participate in competititive team sports. What good does that do? How does that help them to be successful in life?
Even physically handicapped boys were forced to take P.E., which
defies common sense. For example, both Fat Man and Greencom were forced to take P.E., even though Fat Man could not even run and could walk only with a limp and even though Greencom was born with an eye defect that left him without depth perception. Fat Man and Greencom grew up in different states, which shows that this stupid policy of forcing the physically handicapped to take P.E. was nationwide. This is amazing to me. Both were bullied by athletic classmates in their P.E. classes, despite the fact that they were physically handicapped; and I'm sure this went on for years. You would think that they would at least have been given a pass simply because they were physically handicapped and therefore could not even begin to do well in any sport. Is it any wonder that they became prejudiced against athletes?
I do believe that the traditional sports-centered P.E. classes should be kept as an
elective for the athletic kids and other kids who want to try out for sports. It's not necessary to make traditional P.E. mandatory in order to have a winning football or basketball team. Those who want to play those sports don't need to be forced to take P.E.
The PE4Life program (which you-all no doubt are getting sick and tired of hearing me plug
) actually provides physical activities for
all students. I know I've said this before; but I actually got very little exercise in mandatory P.E. I did experience a lot of anxiety and humiliation, though; and over the years that I was forced to take P.E., I received no attention from
any of the P.E. teachers or coaches, although they knew that I needed help. And as I've also said before, I get more exercise in a single workout session at my health club than I ever did in a single
year of junior-high P.E.; and the sad fact is that I'm
not exaggerating.
I don't think you and I have a major disagreement here. I think we're actually in agreement. You say that you favor giving kids a choice. What you need to understand is that historically kids have
not been given a choice. You also need to understand that nonathletic kids, especially those who are physically weak or overweight,
fear P.E. classes because they know what is in store for them. They know that they will be humiliated or even bullied. If I sound a little heated (which I don't mean to be), just remember that I'm speaking from my own personal experience and what I've been told by other nonathletic men.
The needs of the nonathletic kids must not be disregarded, as they have been for generations in this country. If the humiliation and bullying continues to be imposed upon nonathletic kids while the hypocritical claim is made by those who support mandatory P.E. that they want these kids to be physically fit (when what they really want to do is just promote sports because that's all they really care about), then there will continue to be teenagers and adults who support this website and subscribe to views that you don't like or find to be offensive.