Making the unfit kid who comes last run round the field again?

[Veuvelily]

Can anyone tell me the logic here.
What is the games teacher trying to achieve?

The child has tried his best and feels like he’s being punished unfairly
Plus he’s then used up all his energy, so is tired for the actual games lesson

I am so disappointed that despite all the learning and development around how to engage children, and grow an interest in things, school PE is still the mechanism that puts so many kids off sport.

Both my children were super active in middle school years and one especially loved most sports. Now I have one who is leaving and is in a group where the school has basically given up, and the other one dreads PE because the teachers constantly tell them off, and punish them with laps etc for ‘not trying hard enough’. You don’t turn someone into a sports lover by making them dread the lesson! And how do you expect to grow a love of running if it is used as a punishment?!

It’s like using reading a book as punishment, or tidying their room - they’ll hate it even more!

@EdithWeston

you do have a finite capacity for physical exercise

That's simply not true, barring underlying medical conditions

You think anyone not ill can run for ever, without stopping? Loon.

That’s appalling. Really unfair on your DS.

Slightly different situation but my DS1 was born extremely prematurely and was tiny when he started school (wearing age 2 trousers). He has various disabilities including autism, hypermobility and dyspraxia. He cannot run properly. At sports day each year they made him ‘run’ in the same group as every other child with an autumn birthday, regardless of him barely coming up to their shoulders in height and being unable to actually run. He was so far behind that it was like he was in a separate race. We moved schools eventually for multiple reasons and he was so terrified of sports day that for three years in a row he didn’t take part at all.

Running is definitely not a sign of fitness, as an adult I'm very fit but I hate running with a passion and after 10 minutes I am done. I would not expect a child to have to run an extra lap simply for coming last and would be going in to speak to the school so they can explain their reasoning and then say my child would not be doing it again.

Humiliating. There's no other word for it.

Like a PP I have exercise induced asthma. Once the PE teacher realised, they quietly excused me from any sort of compulsory public running where I wasn't able to self pace. And defended me from those who tried to bully me about it, which happened frequently. Because children see that sort of thing as a weakness, and try to cash in on it.

And yes, there is a finite capacity for doing maths problems. At some point your brain will fog up, your eyes will stop focusing, or your fingers will cramp up. Just ask anyone who's ever taken a long maths exam!

I'm another who was the slowest runner.
I wasn't overweight. I wasn't even unfit. I swam competitively so I was very fit indeed. I just was hopeless at running and jumping.

@Hellocatshome

If a child struggled with sums, would they make them do an extra page whilst everyone else looks on??

Its a strange way of thinking that if a child struggles in PE they should just get to continue struggling and not try to improve but if a child struggles in maths they get set extra work. My son is very athletic but absolutely shit at maths, he has to do extra maths work and stay behind at breaks/after school to do more. Yes he isnt being stared at by his peers but they all know why he isnt around at breaks. Do we know the child has to run an extra lap while everyone stands and stares?

That's also wrong. It's pointless making a child stay in to do work they don't understand. What the school should be doing is giving the child some targeted extra tuition to help him, and properly differentiating work in lessons.

@tattleandbagels

It's a sad world when asking kids to exercise is called a punishment or an humiliation. Explains a lot, but still depressing.

That's not what has been said. Asking a child to be the only child to run around the field one more time, singled out for coming last, is a punishment and humiliating. Not the same as asking them to exercise.

@tattleandbagels

It's a sad world when asking kids to exercise is called a punishment or an humiliation. Explains a lot, but still depressing.

I think you are being deliberately contrary tbh, it is very clear what is wrong with the approach being taken by the PE teacher.

This is absolutely unacceptable. It’s humiliating and bullying behaviour and like being at school in the 70’s/80’s/90’s - the stereotypical PE teacher. I would complain.

Wouldn't it make more sense to make the very athletic kids run an extra lap -- "well you lot (say top 4) obviously need a greater challenge, off you go for another lap & let's see who gets back here first!"

Every PE teacher I have ever known is cruel and vindictive. I’m sure there are good ones but neither i nor my 4 adult children nor their partners have ever met one.
I stood up to mine, saying “no one expects everyone to be in top group for maths, so why do you think everyone can run 1600m?
Actually took up running at 50. If I had been encouraged instead of humiliated, I would have took it up much younger. Have done two half marathons since I did tho!
Complain in the loudest voice you can.

@tattleandbagels

It's a sad world when asking kids to exercise is called a punishment or an humiliation. Explains a lot, but still depressing.

You were obviously never "that child", which is lovely for you, but please don't dismiss the personal experiences of others on here.

This is bullying and cruel. By all means encourage kids to beat their own times. But this will not help this child enjoy or want to do exercise. It’s very damaging.
I hated sport at school, was bad at running and the teacher would always make sure I was humiliated. It’s only as an adult I’ve discovered exercise that I enjoy and am good at. But for years PE put me off even trying. Definitely speak to the teacher. I would actually refuse to allow my child into PE lessons with this bullying wanker.

How to totally disengage a student! It's definitely not because they think he's messing about and not doing what he should? If not I would speak to the school, it's humiliating to be singled out like this.

@Veuvelily

I’m trying to be calm and considered and see if there’s any possible other point of view

I've also really thought if there could be some alternative point of view to justify but have drawn a blank.

It is cruel humiliating bullying that doesn't achieve any purpose in trying to either encourage the child in physical activity or improve their physical fitness.

If the teacher genuinely was trying to improve the child's physical fitness then a compulsory one to one lunchtime circuit would be better or at the very least a genuine comment to the parents that they may want to try and help improve their child's fitness.

But to do this in front of other children is just wrong wrong wrong. My heart sinks....

Erm this might sound really harsh but the only way you stop being unfit is by exercising more, so running around the field again is actually beneficial to the child's fitness. Obviously has to be done in the right way with the right explanations etc and not done to humiliate the child.

I've just come back from a run. If I went out and did the same thing again now, it would not improve my fitness. My legs are tired so I would risk injury. If I do the same run tomorrow, or a different one, that will help my fitness. If I do some cross-training that will help my running. You don't get fitter by doing the same thing over and over again, you just risk injury. You also put people off exercise by making it boring and unpleasant.

We absolute do have a finite capacity for exercise. That's basic bio-mechanics. Exercise requires energy. That requires respiration. You can increase your cardiovascular capacity but it is by no means limitless. If it were, we'd all be ultra-marathon runners.

If the child has tried their best, very unfair. Trouble is you cannot tell.

Exercise is important, even more so when children are taken walkable distances to school in the family Chelsea Tractor. Anything that can be done to encourage exercise is valuable, using it as punishment is not.

@tattleandbagels

It's a sad world when asking kids to exercise is called a punishment or an humiliation. Explains a lot, but still depressing.

I think you are just determined to misrepresent everything said on this thread. It's a bit tedious.

At my DCs school they do running multiple times a week, but they don't compete with each other, they just try to maintain or beat their own previous best. Which means they enjoy it without pressure, they don't walk away from it having been told they aren't good enough or having been made an example of in front of their class. As a result they actively choose to do more. Which is surely better than PE being a dismal experience that they can't wait to get away from? I don't get why anyone would argue making PE unpleasant is good for anyone (aside from a bullying teacher)?

This is wrong. If I were you, I’d contact the school particularly in light of your comment that it wasn’t a one off and happens every week.

There’s something about PE teachers, maybe not all, but they do have a streak ... had it when I was at school and only this morning my DC was crying before school because they have PE today, did high jump last week which they couldn’t do and was singled out. This isn’t the norm but the criticism they got last week has really knocked their confidence. Criticism is okay when it’s constructive with advice on how to improve but not when it’s just shouting at them in front of everyone else.

Hope you can communicate with school and get this sorted for your wee lad.

Sports is like anything else in life, someone will come last and need to practice more until they progress. Nothing horrendous about that.

Why, @tattleandbagels? Why does sport have to be competitive? Why can children not be allowed just to exercise for the sake of exercise?

I was always last. Diagnosed as an adult with a genetic condition that also affects my breathing.

Doing that to the slow kid is just unbelievable. Talking to them about what exercise they do like and trying to encourage that might of been more helpful.

It's shocking how people are willing for kids to abandon all exercise, for schools to remove all competition and pretend everybody is great and there's no need to put any effort anywhere.
Expecting staff to behave professionally is not saying kids should abandon all exercise.

If I have a mixed ability class, I adapt my teaching for the students. Those who are good at essay writing get more difficult tasks, those who need extra help get sentence starters for difficult tasks, or a slightly easier question to build their stamina for extended writing.My colleagues in the PE department do the same. Exercise and physical activity is not a punishment and any PE these days should know better better better single out those who struggle.

I hated most PE as a child because it was always team games and the favourites picked their friends first. I remember getting one report that was negative and telling me I needed to join clubs to improve my fitness. The next term was athletics and I was one of the quickest in the year, even without the clubs. The issue was never my fitness. The issue was lessons too often focused on the cool, sporty, popular kids holding court and the rest of us didn't matter.

I never quite understand this mentality. There's always someone who will come last. Why promote a 'fear factor' into it? Whilst you don't want kids to just 'give up' someone has to come last.

In my DS's class (from primary up to now) that person is him. He was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition which all his teachers through the years have been aware of and fully supportive of. He's always last - his classmates cheer him on when he's left out there on the track for a few minutes! In fact, as he also has someone who is diabetic and another person who is hypermobile (both slow runners), they wait for each other and run in arm in arm to loud cheers (led by the teacher).

Because of that he loves PE - which means he does more of it, which helps his heart or shows if things are going wrong. But he will always be the slowest and he's proud of that - he calls it taking one for the team as, if he's the slowest, everyone else isn't!

As mentioned though, it's worth checking if this is a race or if it's a '3 laps of the field' type of thing and he's just not completed the final lap. If it's a race then the teacher is just making PE even less palatable. Setting a personal best type of target is more helpful - we can't all be Usain Bolt!

It may be worth having your DS checked too as constant stitches and blood tastes can be linked to diabetes or heart conditions (don't panic with that - we've always said it's better to know if there's something amiss as you can do something about it). Could be something and nothing but it's always worth checking if it's always happening.

@tattleandbagels

It's a sad world when asking kids to exercise is called a punishment or an humiliation. Explains a lot, but still depressing.

Um, no, no-one has said that. Have you even read the opening post? If so I don't think English comprehension is your strongest subject. I suggest you do another lap of the thread then come back and try again.