To think PE is a waste of time

[ICantfindagoodusername]

I'm totally prepared to be flamed, but please take the time to read the thread rather than just saying YABU because of the title.
I think PE is a waste of time because:
•Why is it the school's job to make sure our kids get enough exercise? An example of the government parenting our kids for us.
•Why does it always have to be team sports? Schools could do other more interesting PE choices, such as zumba, aerobics, and other things that don't involve running around outside in the cold and rain.
•What good does it do for your education? If a kid is overweight, a couple of hours of standing on a football pitch won't change anything. The time could be better spent covering more of the curriculum. Kids run around at lunchtime anyways.
•PE is supposed to make kids foster a life long love of sports. But in reality, lots of kids LOATHE it, and as soon as they are 16, quit PE, never to do it again.

Well, yes, if there are solid reasons why children shouldn't participate then parents should be allowed to opt them out, but it shouldn't be on the basis of kids not enjoying it. If there are specific issues with the teaching or sexual harassment or the compulsory uniform, then that should be addressed - but the answer is not to ban PE altogether.

Gottagetmoving

Where did I say I advocate her not doing sport? She does plenty of sport. Encouraged by me. But she loathes PE at school

"You could say the same for other subjects where a child hates it and gets told off by a teacher."

It is not the same at all. The humiliation and bullying seem to be firmly institutionalised in many many PE departments

My experience of secondary school PE was mixed in that most of my PE teachers were decent. But there weren't that many of them and the curriculum didn't give them much flexibility. I don't actually think it is the teacher's fault they have to battle against such an outdated curriculum.

We did do a variety of sports but the irony is the only thing approximating a proper workout was when I was doing 'girly' stuff (e.g jump rope, aerobics, circuits) since I wasn't just left at the back which is the case for unstreamed team games.

There need to be more of a focus on everyday activity to be reflected everwhere, such as encouragement for walking, running outside every day. However, secondary school uniform is so unfit for purpose if it is to foster everyday physical activity. Who wants to run in a pencil skirt and awkward shoes?

As for team sports I learnt more about how to

DoH! stupid edit.

What I was going to say is I have never played team sports as an adult yet no one has questioned my professional competence over my inability to hit a ball with a stupid rounders bat.

I did learn how to make daisy chains though.

Yeah Geek, but one can say the same about a lot of subjects. I've never had to demonstrate my ability at any of the sciences, maths or use my Mfls in my career either but I think they were useful to study, just as sport was.

Most of us only use 5% of what we learn at school. The difficulty is know what 5% is going to be useful. Some people do make a career in sport or they work in a sports centre or the leisure industry.

Unless you are a spotty teen or work in a school then it's unlikely you will know what school PE is like. I have seen school PE lessons first hand and they are every bit as professionally delivered as any other lesson. School pe lessons have already been reformed from the 1980s.

I have never seen humiliation in PE lessons and I seen loads of lessons working in IT support. If saw a teacher humiliating a child I would have no hesitation in raising a child protection concern. Thankfully the teachers I have worked with in various schools have all been kind and professional people.

Well you've been lucky then really because my DDs have hated PE with a passion, largely because of the teachers and their sexist, bullying attitude.

I've resisted being really rude to you really. If you work in a school and type "and I seen loads of lessons". You really shouldn't be working in a school. I'm not sure of the capacity but some of your comments have been devoid of all empathy.

If you have never seen a less than "good" PE lesson you are very lucky.

You have made huge generalisations on this thread showing no cognizance of the experiences of others. That sort of w cannot be helpful in a classroom environment and if you made some of the comments you've made here at work you should have been disciplined.

The Roses is correct, your attitude is awful reallytiring

How many lessons are pupils required to strip down to minimal clothing and get screamed at by staff

The kids are required to wear appropriate clothing for PE. They can't do it in a uniform.
As for getting yelled at, that could happen in any lesson but if it's aggressive yelling then that is wrong...but if a child is being precious about making an effort in physical activity I can understand a bit of yelling from the teacher.
Kids will try to get out of doing things because they can't be bothered or are too lazy.

I think sound acoustics is harder if you are in a large echoey wall or outside on a windy field.

Our PE teachers are kinder than many PE teachers in other countries. Do you remember the Chinese school experiment at Bohunt school.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02ydlzz/p02ydmmr

Their kids wore a hideous shell suit for all lessons. Apparently student are assessed on PE ablity for the qualification that decides university entrance. No allowance for any disablities.

Agree re: echoey hall - DD tried a basketball club recently and really loved the actual playing, but just couldn't handle the noise in the hall. Whereas playing it outside she's fine. She's trying tap dancing next week and hopefully as it's a small class she won't find the tapping too painful! Indoor PE was a nightmare for her when she was still in school but it's one of the many things she just quietly put up with and it only came spilling out recently. :(

Going off topic a bit but unfortunately a lot of people just have no concept of how horrific it can be in a busy classroom/PE lesson etc if you have sensory issues. If noise, light etc don't bother you it's hard to see that other people can find it unbearable and painful. When DS was in infant school he kept saying he found assembly too noisy, it was a key reason he would school refuse on certain days. The teacher/HT wouldn't even let him TRY ear defenders, they just kept saying he was lying because he didn't want to sit still. Even though when I went to assemblies there, I would see him near tears, cowering with his hands over his ears. :( (yes I'm still bitter about this)

Its always surprised me when schools fit a soundfield system to the classroom but not the gym. Acoustics in a sports hall are liable to be poor. They often have high ceilings and hard floor and walls. I suppose PE is a Cinderella subject and the cost of a soundfield system is not justified by heads who are obsessed by exam results.

Sensory issues are tough. I don't think teachers have much training in that area. It's hard to get a diagnosis for sensory issues. Ds' friend gets upset by electric strip lights buzzing. He overly sensitive to seams on clothes and can't wear man made fibres. He has problems in all area of life.

I feel angry when malingers jump on the SEN bandwagon. It makes harder for children who really do have special needs to get help.

All the comments about ritual humiliation in PE lessons and children being forced to wear skintight inappropriate clothes are missing the point a bit - change the way PE is taught, fine. Change the clothes kids are expected to wear, fine. Change the way it is perceived and funded in schools, yes. Change the way kids with SEN are taught PE. Make sensible and appropriate changes to make it a better experience for everyone concerned. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater by banning it completely!

I would like to see PE lessons with a focus on helping kids find a way of keeping fit for the rest of their lives. Saying to kids, in the future you'll need to actively keep yourself fit and healthy, and exercise is a key part of that. What do you like? We're going to try football, rugby, basketball, running, swimming, gymnastics, hockey, netball, Scottish country dancing, athletics, circuits and trampoline over the next two years. Try them out, and think about what you you might like to keep up in adult life. Get rid of the competitive element in as much of it as you can - make sure teams are always mixed ability. For cross country etc, encourage kids to improve their times individually. Have information in schools about out-of-school sports clubs - so that school leavers can carry on the sport of their choice seamlessly (probably more important for football/hockey/rugby than running, but there are endless park runs and 5ks for runners).

I think keeping fit has taken off in this country massively in the last 20 years. When I was a kid it was very very very rare to see cyclists on the road (over the age of 16) or joggers. No one I knew had a gym membership. Exercise for adults has boomed. We need to encourage kids to think about lifelong exercise.

It doesn't actually - here's a fucking news flash - we ALL have special needs, needs that we have the right to expect to be catered for. We don't all have to just get on with it if we don't like lighting, or the air con is too hot at work or tyere's inadequate heating. We control our clothing choices, seems or no seems. The trouble is if you're in school that choice is removed. At no other time in your life do you have to put up with such an inflexible environment and yet it claims to be the launch pad into adulthood - and they can't work out why teen mental health is st an all time low. The mind boggles

I was a PE hater at school when it was team games as I was rubbish at netball, etc, but even in the 80s we did aerobics and trampolining, which were fine for me. In sixth form we went to a local sports centre and I learnt how to ice skate properly!!
Now they still do table tennis, dance, Pilates, gym, in secondary etc as well as the more trad sports, as they know that not everyone is good at throwing and catching a ball. Some kids don't move other than those couple of hours a week, so something is better than nothing.

TooExtraImmatureCheddar. That's a whole family issue, again funding has been cut to leisure centres who put on all sorts of fun activities for adults and children a like to encourage healthy lifestyles. Gym, cycling, fitness generally is find but its 80% diet so a game of hockey in the grand scheme of things is neither here nor there tbh

We had some kind of games (not all compulsory) every day at school, I was at my children only having PE lessons once a week. It's not only about physical health, fresh air and exercise are central to wellbeing!

Life isn't about always having or doing what you prefer.
As an adult there will be many things you would rather not do but have to do.
Why do we think that children should get to choose what they do or don't do at school? There will be things they hate and things they like.
I doubt very much that PE or Sports teachers are anywhere near as harsh as they used to be years ago.
It would be difficult to pander to every child's preferences.
I hated Hockey but loved netball - but I had to play both. An hour of doing something you don't like won't kill you.

Your life might not be but mine is and my kids will be, what a shame in this day and age people waste their time doing things that they don't like doing. Time is precious, I'm not waistinv a moment if J can help it

what a shame in this day and age people waste their time doing things that they don't like doing

The world would be in the shit if no one ever did what they don't like.

I disagree the world would be a far better place if everyone fix what they enjoyed, less miserable buggers working in schools making children's lives miserable for a start.

I have no idea what a sound field system is so I'm off to google!

I disagree the world would be a far better place if everyone fix what they enjoyed, less miserable buggers working in schools making children's lives miserable for a start

Poor children having to do what they don't want? Yes, lets have a lot of entitled children leaving school and going into the workplace refusing to do stuff they don't like.
Let's have parents not doing things for their kids because they don't like it.
You live in a fantasy world.

I disagree, my life is set up to do exactly as I please, not sure why everyone else doesn't do that but up to you I guess. Be happy, don't, your choice