The Importance of Physical Education in Schools

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Physical education time is being cut in schools to give more time for students to focus on core courses such as Science, Math and Reading. Some districts have eliminated the course or do not even provide it. These courses, although are very important, should not take away from a student’s well-being. Physical education provides a foundation to a student’s future lifestyle and good health habits. Physical education should be treated like every other foundational course because it is a necessary part of a student’s lifestyle that will benefit from every day. Physical education provides: 1) a variation of motor skills aimed to enhance the physical, mental, social and emotional development, 2) an understanding to improve and maintain their physical well-being and 3) opportunities to advance developing social and cooperative skills while gaining a multi-cultural perspective.
Physical education provides a variation of motor skills aimed to enhance the physical, mental, social and emotional development. The obesity statistics of 2009 quantified that childhood obesity rates have more than tripled since 1980 and in addition to concerns regarding chronic diseases, overweight and obesity incidences have even led to poorer levels of academic achievement (Taras & Potts-Datema, 2005). Additionally, in order to teach students the importance of preventing these ailments, those who oppose the amount of time in physical education or want to cut it out altogether should reconsider. Instead, time in physical education should be as equal as core subjects are seen. Physical education can help children in the classroom as well. The physical educator can incorporate math or science in to their lessons. If they are jump roping, they can skip count...

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...ifferent sports and activities from various cultures. Good sportsmanship makes students respect each other, and makes the lessons and activities more enjoyable. If the students perform some skills better than others, then they could help out those who have not quite mastered the skill. This helps with the social aspect of physical education. Working in cooperative groups allows for the students to come up with strategies, strategies that will help knock down the castle or to pass the ball five times before they can score in an activity.
In conclusion, the time students spend in a physical education class should not be reduced or eliminated altogether. As I have discussed, the physical education course is just as necessary as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Everyone deserves a chance to live a healthy and long life and education is the key to this success.

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