P.E. or Not P.E., That is the Question?

• "If we fail to act, this generation will lead shorter lives than their parents," Nelson says. "We cannot let that happen. Plus, studies show a strong correlation between a student's fitness and their academic achievement." I'd like to see the data for that statement, because I'm not sure I can agree. Correlation does not mean causation.

• Physical Education is a good thing, our kids are getting fatter. But think about it for a second, where do the kids get the junk food they are digesting daily....THEIR PARENTS? Parents need to be held accountable for the unhealthy habits of their children. What good is it if a child goes to 30 minutes of P.E. then comes home and eats crappy junk food before dinner, crap at dinner, and a crappy unhealthy dessert. If there is going to be more money spent on Physical Education it needs to be intended to educate parents on health and nutrition and not how to slowly kill there kids and develop bad habits.

• Here's one to discuss with our budy Dr. Flores. Take the DIDS required classroom time, then take the state requirement for physical activity and see if you can fit both requirements into the weekly schedule...can't be done! And as for the required Fitness Assessment, never seen one in 5+ years. We can't sit these kids in a chair for 7 hours and expect them to focus! I don't do it, you don't do it, and a kid sure as hell can't do it. Maybe we should take a second look at some of these overweight no exercising principals who don't see the benefits of physical activity...

• Here's one for Robert to research: Is it possible for our kids to achieve state mandated exercise time and DISD mandated classroom time on their current schedules? I think not... Kids won't learn if they're sitting in a chair all day...let 'em roam!

• The design of the suburbs and most small to mid sized towns make it almost impossible for kids to walk or bike anywhere safely not to mention the fear of abduction encourages parents to keep kids indoors. ********** I was talking with a friend about this just the other day. When we were kids, we would play outside all day long in the summer, find other kids to play with, ride bikes, climb trees, catch frogs in creeks, and not go home until the bugs got really noisy just before dusk. Any parent who wants to let his/her kid do the same thing these days would be hauled before CPS for neglect. It's just too dangerous.

• Cracker Daddy just wants to make sure that it's for the sake of the children that he advocates throwing wrenches at the less physically fit ones and that he would never consider defiling a wrench performing an erotic act upon Shanda Perkins with said wrench.......the horror...oh THE HORROR.

• Sure, kids are going to eat pizza, french fries and junk food but the school shouldn't provide that in the lunch line, no matter how much money Papa Johns or Pizza Hut gives the school district. Stop letting kids choose what they want to eat and give them what they should eat. Entree, 2 vegetable sides, lo-fat milk.

• Damn right. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iXP9yoc4VY

• If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball. So, c'mon everybody who wants healthier kids, start hurling wrenches at those fat kids.

• Anything that will slim down our increasingly fat youth population is fine with me. I'm tired of walking around town and seeing 10 year old kids wearing XL/XXL/XXXL t-shirts. Teaching kids to eat healthy is fine, but c'mon, we all know kids are going to eat pizza and french fries no matter how healthy you make salads sound...and even as adults we'd rather eat pizza than salads. So instead of pretending that salads are awesome, let's get and keep our kids active (even with dodge-ball) and help them slim down and keep the pounds off.

• It's no coincidence that Texas cities are some of the least walkable in the US. The design of the suburbs and most small to mid sized towns make it almost impossible for kids to walk or bike anywhere safely not to mention the fear of abduction encourages parents to keep kids indoors. I agree with matma above. Good eating and exercise habits need to be taught. It just seems like every time this comes up it takes years for the schools to come up with material that everyone can be happy with. I say bring back the rope and dodge ball. If some kids are too dominate at dodge ball make them put one arm behind their back. Also, when I was in school, if a kid participated in an after school sport he was given a free period during PE. This gave the jocks time to study and the more academic kids a chance to excel in physical activity. Be aware that marching band doesn't count.

• I'd like to see a bill introduced where state legislators had to get up an exercise. Sure they get most of their work outs jumping to conclusions and shoveling cash but how many of them could still chase an ambulance if they had to!

• It's not going to be enough to just extend the amount of time kids spend in gym class. P.E. needs to be just that, Physical Education. There needs to be more emphasis on teaching the repercussions of of poor health decisions. They need to be teaching kids how to use exercise equipment, planning workout routines, and tracking calorie intake. 30 more minutes of dodgeball isn't going to equip them with the tools they need for a lifetime of continued physical wellness.

• Yeah, more mandates for things teachers need to do. When do you expect these teachers to do this? P.E. good Recess good More state legislative mandates on teachers...bad.

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