Response to Proposal to Cut Extra Cirricular Activities in High School
Our principal recently asked for the student’s opinions on the “school cuts” proposal.
This proposition proposes that all extra curricular activities be cut until the money
situation improves as predicted in two or three years. What do you think of first when
someone mentions the word school? Most kids, if asked, would probably say their
basketball team, cheerleading squad, or the various clubs they may be involved in. For
some kids these extra curricular activities may be the only thing productive that they do
outside of school. I disagree with this outlandish proposal because extra curricular
activities teach us discipline, teamwork, and sportsmanship, this may be the only means
of exercise some kids get and once these activities are removed from the agenda, they
may never be phased back in.
First of all, we all realize the importance the of learning discipline and other
attributes such as teamwork and sportsmanship. We learn these qualities, not out of a
book, but from participating and interacting with others during activities. Students learn
how to cooperate with others by doing a team project or playing a sport. We also learn
qualities such as competitiveness. This characteristic makes kids eager to do their best,
not only on the court or on the field, but in the classroom and in everything they do as
well.
Obviously this proposal is unhealthy. This may sound strange but consider the
question. How healthy can children be if these activities are the only means of exercise
that they’re getting? According to government statistics, not as healthy as they should be.
Now we must step back and ask ourselves one question. Isn’t it better to get any means
of exercise than none at all? Surely our school board officials can answer this question
with the answer that is only unbelievably apparent to all who hear it.
Finally, I disagree with this proposal because there’s always a possibility that the
activities they are taking away, will never return like they say they will. Our school
board officials always say that our school will have extra money in a few months. How
can they set a time limit on something as unsure as money? It’s simple, they can’t. They
are only trying to insure us so that we won’t put up much of a fight against the proposal.
It helps babies and young children improve their balance and flexibility, improve their bone strength, heart and lung capacity. Regular physical activity and exercise and engagements is very important for a healthy brain development in babies and young children. Physical activity and movement can help stimulate the brain growth and facilitate key connections for learning. Babies would develop muscle tone over time so they could begin to crawl. Exercise and physical activity improves babies and young children’s coordination, catching and throwing skills, enjoyment, motivation and social skills. It increases energy boosts and helps stop stress and anxiety which affects positively on self esteem. Activities such as: a climbing frame, balls to roll/throw, moving to music are good to help children’s physical development. In my setting there are many activities that are planned to increase opportunities for children to improve their physical
School boards now and days are corrupt and only care for personal financial gain. The problem persists throughout the entire nation. We need to find the right people to control our schools if they are going to be productive, and help re-establish educational...
French students get 1 ½-2 hour lunch breaks, and many countries including France have off-campus lunch programs, where they can go home or to a restaurant for lunch. Why can’t Oak Creek High School have off-campus lunch? By the time students are in high school, they should be responsible and trusted to have off-campus lunch privileges.
Who doesn’t want to have to do exercise? Everybody needs exercise to be in good health, but some people don’t like to exercise. They just want to stay inside and do nothing in life. Even though people don’t want to exercise all the time they could have a treadmill or a bike to exercise on instead of going outside and running or play basketball with friends just to lose weight. Sometimes students get lazy after work or school and don’t want to go outside and enjoy the nice weather. Although for students they have to exercise because they have to stay in shape for sports, but if the school is trying to take away interscholastic
Also, many children suffer from obesity, and being outdoors is the best way to burn those calories. Since 1980, the childhood obesity rates from ages two to nineteen have tripled — with the rates of obese six to eleven-year-olds more than doubling (from seven percent to seventeen and a half percent) and rates of obese teens from ages twelve to nineteen quadrupling from five percent to twenty percent. (NHANES, 2011-2014 data) Children need to be more active, and by reducing recess this is not assisting the obesity epidemic. Physical activity simply feeds the
Schools serve as an amazing venue to provide students with everyday physical movement, and to instruct the essentialness of general physical action for wellbeing. Shockingly, most individuals' get little to no general physical activity while in school. Budgetary obligations and the pressure to increase test scores have brought on school authorities to address the worth of PE and other physical activity programs. This has prompted a significant lessening in the time accessible for PE, and in a few cases, school-based physical action projects have been totally eliminated.
Being physically active from childhood may lead to many health benefits not only physically but also cognitively. A child’s cognitive development is one of the most important developmental factors during childhood. From the article Exercise and Children’s Intelligence, Cognition and Academic Achievement, Dr. Philip Tomporowski along with his colleagues, examined studies that observe the effects of exercise on children’s mental processes. Researchers in the fields of cognitive science typically use a componential-analysis approach to assess the operations of the mind, such as memory, attention and perception (Tomporowski, 2008). These theory bases tests are used to isolate and evaluate how various factors impact brain functions.
Parents could be encouraged to ensure their children get involved in Moderate physical activities such as walking or bike riding. Playing ball or Frisbee Swimming in the summer and skating or tobogganing in the winter. Vigorous-intensity physical activities (these activities make kids sweat and be ‘out of breath’) Hockey, basketball or soccer, dancing to their favorite upbeat songs, shovelling snow or raking leaves. To be active every day is important for healthy growth and development.
Being physically active helps children maintain that healthy lifestyle. According to the textbook “ Healthy, safety and nutrition for the young Child”, good health is a balance of mental,emotional,physical, spiritual elements all these work together to form a strong healthy person. Young children are naturally active and will move , kick, throw and play on their own in nearly any environment. However, children today are faced with a lot of challenges that reduce their natural aptitude toward movement and physical activity such as 1- increase use of technology as a form of sedentarity activity, leaving less time for movement based activities. 2- Classroom that focus on mental activity in order to prepare children to meet curriculum requirements and standardized test score levels later in their education.
According to statistics gathered by youth sports organizations, “Up to 50 million kids play youth sports in America, and 73 percent of those who begin playing a sport quit before they turn 13” (Binns). The children could have quit because they did not like the disappointment of losing, or because they are exhausted from their parents pushing them too hard. But parents have their reasons for pushing their children into sports. “Studies show that kids who play sports are less likely to become obese, abuse drugs or alcohol or to perform poorly in school” (McCormick). If children are not active, then they will most likely become overweight, and if they have nothing to do in their pastime, they may turn to drugs and alcohol, which usually leads to a decrease in grades in school.
Modern children's obesity is increasing all over the world, bringing potential problems for them when they become adults (Benefits par 1). Recent reports project that by 2030, half of all adults (115 million adults) in the United States will be obese (President’s par 3). Physical activity is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. To get started and stay active, make physical activity part of your daily routine, keep track of your progress, be active and safe, and talk. Physical activity benefits all parts of your body. Even little amounts of activity are good for your health. The more active you are, the more you will benefit. Physical activity will benefit you in anything you do in your life. Regular physical activity can help keep people’s thinking, learning, and judgment skills sharp as you age. It is something that everyone in the world needs to do more of to be the best that they can be. Without physical activity, we wouldn't feel or look very good at all. Physical activity is important because it increases communication skills, inspires kids to be different and move out of their comfort zone, and it creates a positive effect on organized sports and on today's health in society.
In today’s society, too many children spend excessive time indoors watching television and playing video games. Children are becoming couch potatoes more and more each day. Childhood is the worst time to develop unhealthy habits. This type of behavior is the basis for an unhealthy, inactive lifestyle. Young kids need to get outside in the fresh air and stay active. In this day and age, there is no excuse for obesity in children. Although certain medical disorders can cause obesity, less than 1 percent of all obesity is caused by physical problems (obesity 1). Obesity in childhood and adolescence can be related primarily to lack of exercise and laziness. The parents of these young ones should be intelligent and responsible enough to see the positive effects of physical activity and sports. Athletics often gets children active and physically fit without them even knowing it. They are too busy having fun and competing to realize they are exercising.
Opposition of mandatory Physical Education in high schools believe that if a student has not developed a desire for voluntary physical exercise by the time he or she reaches high school , he or she may not ever (Eberhardt). It is true that individuals should not be forced into something they don’t want to participate in, but if these students don’t get any exercise outside of school, where will they receive an appropriate amount of fitness? Paul Eberhardt, athletic director, intramural director and head coach of the McNair Marlins basketball team in Richmond, B.C., believes “that students don’t care about participating in P.E. anymore and we have to educate students on the benefits of Physical Education”. In the 1994-1995 school year there were 1,133 students enrolled at McNair High School but there were only four P.E. classes available, which meant approximately 120 students attended in these classes. The remaining 1013 grade eleven and twelve students had no Physical Education at all. This is an astonishing figure. “Many students participate in sports and recreation activities outside of school, but most of them get hardly any exercise at all.
Students should be encouraged to interact with one another and to develop social virtues such as cooperation and tolerance for different points of view. Also, teachers should feel no compulsion to focus their students' attentions on one discrete discipline at a time, and students may be responsible for learning lessons that combine several different subjects.
Imagine walking across the stage in just a few years from now. Having thousands of eyes pointed at you as you take that emotional walk to finally receive your high school diploma. After a few years when you have graduated high school and started life, you're going to look back and think, what have I accomplished so far? Extracurricular activities can be very beneficial for students now, and those in the future as well. They can allow you to feel like you have accomplished something while in school. Extracurricular activities are important because they can benefit a student through personal, educational, and even social means. It is a great idea to get more students involved in extracurricular activities and parents should begin to give their kids a little push to get them more involved.