SHOULD P.E. BE MANDATORY FOR YOU AND ME?

PE Teacher Mr. Mason said, “I am absolutely in favor of PE being mandatory. I wouldn’t have a job otherwise. In all seriousness we have become a screen society. We are looking at screens more than ever. It would be wise for society to get up and move.”

“For many years, life expectancy had increased; but now we are dying sooner. If we can motivate kids to be active at a younger age, maybe it will translate to the rest of their lives. Getting kids to participate is getting harder as a PE teacher. We try to convince kids it helps with her GPA, but we also try and explain the lifetime benefits of it,” Mason said.

“I have found that most kids who give it an honest effort in PE really do find most of what we do enjoyable. The kids get to learn many sports that can be played for a lifetime, and while it can be done on the screen sometimes, the fresh air and a little bit of sweat can make you feel proud. There is no substitute for exercise. If we are going to exercise on our own, maybe mandatory PE in school will help,” Mason said.

“Being physically active can also help your mind feel refreshed. That activity can help clear the mind of the stress you may be under. Physical activity has been proven to help your mental health. If you stay in school seven hours a day and you get eight hours of sleep, you lost 15 hours before you can even think about doing exercise. Then you have dinner, homework, or maybe work to help the family. All that leads to more hours gone to take care of yourself. Physical education should be been mandatory all four years if we care about the overall health and well-being of our students,” Mason said.

“I think PE shouldn’t be mandatory; those who want to do PE and stay active should be able to do it and those who don’t want it shouldn’t have it,” Freshman Yvette Duran said.

Another thing she said is that some things that make her not enjoy P.E. is having to be out and playing in the sun and heat.

“The cons of taking PE is being out in the sun and your body can be sore unless people are used to what is being done in class. I like participating in PE and what they do overall. The only time I do’t really enjoy the is when we are out in the heat playing a boring sport or game,” Duran said.

“Using positive encouragement is a huge motivator. I strive to be positive when it come to students in PE class. I know that not everyone enjoys PE, this is one reason we do so any different activities. The hope is that trying such a variety of activities will enable everyone to find a physical activity that they enjoy doing,” P.E. Teacher, Ms. McDonald said.

She also said that there are always a few who refuse to even try, but overall, most students enjoy getting out of the typical classroom and move around for 45 minutes! It becomes a welcomed break in the academic school day.

“One P.E. credit is already mandatory for all students in our school district. There are so many scientifically proven benefits to being physically active, it sometimes boggles my mind that PE isn’t mandatory for a longer period of time. So, yes I do wish it was required for a longer duration during high school,” Ms. McDonald said.

“I feel pretty neutral about taking P.E., but I don’t enjoy it. In my opinion, I think it shouldn’t be necessary because I am already doing sports outside of school and school sports. Also if someone is already doing athletics then why should they be forced to do more. I think it should be optional. Another thing id I don’t like to do it in the morning,” Freshman Sela Bunsick said. They also say a benefit P.E. can offer is trying different sports without making commitment to it. Another thing they mention is that they participate but they usually don’t want to. Bunsick believes that P.E. should not be mandatory.

” I feel good about taking P.E. because I enjoy it. I don’t think it should be mandatory for students,” Freshman Alexandra Vazquez said. “Some things I don’t like about PE is having a dress code, doing assignments, and having finals,” Vazquez said. Vazquez said that a good thing about P.E. is that people can be athletic and lose weight. Vazquez also said that a bad thing about P.E. is that there are assignments. However, she said she does like to participate in P.E..

There are many opinions on if P.E. should be mandatory, a lot of different answers and many point of views. P.E. is still a credit people have to earn to graduate. So, it doesn’t give people a full option to really not do it. It may be hard for some people but it’s how the system works.