Professor Anderson

Example 3

Professor Anderson

ENC 1102

16 April 2014

Keep P.E In Schools

It is no secret that America is always striving to win first place. However, recently we have been winning some battles that we should lose. Being one of the fattest countries in the world is certainly not something to brag about. According to Forbes Obesity adds $93 billion to our nation’s medical costs per year. Of course it is important to note that in 2012 $893 Billion dollars were spent on Health and Human services. In 2012 the United States spent about $71

Billion dollars on education according to the charts released in Bloomberg. When one looks at these numbers one sees how important our stability is economically. However one must think about properties. Will cutting one spending really add money to another? Health should not be pushed back due to educational cuts because health is fundamental to life.

Although obesity is a term that is very common to us to hear I think it is important to see the gravitate. Obesity is not just people in bigger than average clothes. Often people think of the popular TV show “Biggest Loser ”when obesity is brought up in conversation. It is not important to get fit to fit into society , however. The real reason is to be healthy and live a long and happy life. I believe that what should come to mind is a simple number: 112,000. Each year it is thought that 112,000 people die from obesity-related causes. It is important to remember that obesity causes other things like not only heart disease but cancer. On the flip-side of the coin we have education. America’s elementary and middle school educational level is nowhere near the highest in the world. Many argue that more time needs to be spent in classroom than out of it. As a result recess and P.E classes are being shortened and sometimes even eliminated altogether. In the state of Florida physical education and health are cut down in high school. You are only required to take one semester of P.E to graduate and one of health. This means that for the next 3 years nothing is hear of about health and nothing is required of physical action.

Many students are even able to take PE online now where they just “log” exercise. As one can imagine this logging is often all false. As if this was not bad enough the work level is increasing and students are being stressed more and more every day for no reason. Many of the things students are made to do is imply just busy work. ABC News reported “In Florida, where

58 percent of children do not attend gym class in any given week…”

The opposing side argues that in order to have a successful future we must make cuts, I argue: why do we want smart kids if they’ll be dead kids? Although we are all going to die one day , without physical education we are basically dooming our children to be prone to disease that will make their way of life harder and maybe even shorter. Education.com argues that P.E now helps get a child’s heart rate up more than they usually would. They also point on how P.E helps develop other skills such as social ones that help children over time.

It is astonishing that today one can even propose to cut P.E . Numerous different organizations and even important figures are saying to get fit. According to the Huffington Post,

America in 2014 is still considered to be the most obese country in the world, and our neighbor to the south, Mexico is not far behind us anymore ranking 2nd. As a result even the First Lady has help implement numerous activities and programs for people of all backgrounds to get fit.

The problem can’t be solved completely just by adding P. E and many know this. However, adding 45 minutes of Physical Activity to a child’s daily life makes impact. Only 15 minutes are left out of the recommended 60 minutes in a day. Even if kid’s do not go home to do these 15 minutes they are still closer to 60 than they are to 0, which is exactly what they would be at.

Not to mention that P.E helps build healthy habits. Most people want to be the best at everything. P. E helps add a healthy competitive push to children. Children are encouraged to shake hands at the end of class and say “good game”. Also kid’s are more likely to do as they are taught and see. If a child sees a toy their friend has they go home and ask their parents for it. The same goes when they see an action, they want to do the same thing. By seeing other children do something as simple as jumping rope, a child has a higher likelihood to go home and want to jump rope. I joined dance because my friends in kindergarten were dancing ballet & I wanted to be like them. Years later, that little competitive bug lead me to do Flamenco, which I currently love and am passionate about. My little brother has been begging my parents for basketball lessons for the same reason. During P. E they play horse & he never wins, so he wants to win and get better. This can also be explained by many social psychologists as well.

Social Psychologists also explain that as humans we have the need to fit in. Over time a lot of psychological studies have been done to see the need for this and how we may conform just to fit in. Social psychologist Solomon Asch is one of the many people who have produced shocking results. Hers however is a bit comic as well. In 1962 Solomon Asch performed what is now known as the “elevator study”. Just by having everyone face the back of the elevator, the uncommon and unnormal way, the subject would willing do the same just to conform. Some subject took longer to turn to face the back of the elevator than others, but the end result was the same. A different action was done because simply, everyone else was doing it and they felt the need to conform.

It may take time but I think P.E will help get kids more active. The need to conform will have a big impact on these children and just by having everyone do physical activity many other children will turn to it too. Our children are our future and health wise it isn’t looking bright. In order to help our children and our country as a whole P. E should not be cut in schools. Sources:

1. Ungar, Rick. "Obesity Now Costs Americans More In HealthCare Spending Than

Smoking." Forbes. Forbes Magazine

2. "How Much Does the U.S. Government Spend?." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 12 Feb.

2012. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.

3. Sealey, Geraldine. "No Sweat When Gym Class Cut." ABC News. ABC News Network,

30 Sept. 2003.

4. "The Case for Physical Education." Education.com. N.p., n.d. Web.

5. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/22/obesity-rates-rising-developed-fattest-

world_n_1294212.html

6. "About Solomon Asch." About Solomon Asch. Bryan Mawr Univeristy, n.d. Web.