Who takes Physical Education classes seriously?

By Andrew Coakley

FN Sports Editor

I'm sure many people, like myself, have seen the familiar sight while driving past a school.

Kids, out during Physical Education classes, running a block or a short distance from the school, as part of their P.E. period.

That's all fine and good, but take a closer look, and you will see some of those kids running in school pants, their uniform shirt or dress shoes.

Some of the kids actually walk the course, some run and stop, some have even tried flagging me down in my car to ask for a ride back to school.

There are so many things wrong with that picture, that it's hard to know where to begin.

For starters, there is the speculation that all of the kids within that class are actually capable of running an entire block.

As it was when I was in school, today some kids have aliments like asthma, diabetes, lung problems, etc. and are incapable of doing some physical activity like running a block or more.

Yes, I know, in those cases, the parents should present a letter to the school indicating the situation, to have that child excused from P.E. classes until further notice.

Of course, most parents are unconcerned about taking the time to write such a letter and let their child go to school as usual, giving little or no regard to the child's well-being.

But that's another story.

Secondly, why are kids doing Physical Education classes wearing their school's uniform?

Shouldn't each school have Physical Education uniforms (perhaps with the school's logo), and each child required to have at least one set?

And that includes a pair of tennis.

Consider how much risks children are taking running in dress shoes. It may look harmless, but there is the risk of ankle injury, shin splits or even knee problems.

When you talk about running, proper tennis is extremely necessary.

That's why I can't understand why a teacher (or a coach) would permit a child to go run a block or two, wearing dress shoes and long pants.

Which brings me to my next observation.

Where are the teachers who are supposed to be responsible for these kids, while they're running on the street?

Only once or twice I've actually seen the P.E. teacher running along with the kids. But that's in rare instances.

For the most part, the teacher is back at the school, waiting for the kids to get back on campus.

Don't get me wrong, this is nothing new that I'm talking about.

This has been going on since I was in school.

In fact, we had no steady Physical Education teacher, and every so often a fat lady, or an out of shape guy, who obviously had no clue as to what physical activity was all about, was put as our Physical Education teacher.

Only kids who were athletes took P.E. classes seriously, because that time was used to work on whatever sport or skill they were good at.

All of the focus was on them anyway. The rest of us were...well, sent out on the street to run.

The bottom line is, Physical Education in schools seems like a way to pass the time. It's not taken seriously, by the kids, in some cases, neither by the teacher.

I wonder what would happen if physical Education was taken seriously in our school.

Perhaps we would discover some hidden athlete, who may not have known that he/she had a particular talent.

But we would first have to get to the point where P.E. becomes more than just another class period on our schedules.

© 2006 The Freeport News