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.

Yabu and it isn't all team sports

PE is great for health, teaches hand eye coordination, improves flexibility, fosters communication and team working skills with team sports, sense of achievement, builds confidence, discipline...I could go on.

Not sure what school you've been in recently but my child does zumba every day in his classroom lots of other activities as well.

I don't think PE is a waste of time. I do think it needs a massive overhaul. At my sons secondary they offer a wide range of activities before school and after school but the actual PE lessons are the same old boring football/netball/rounders I disliked at school. I think the pupils should be allowed to sign up for the activities they want to do and that could count as their PE session.
DD loves sport and is competitive, DS1 enjoys sports and activities for fun but has no interest in doing anything competitively.

I wasn't very good at pe & the pe teachers were only interested in those who were good at it. I remember when sports day trials were taking place & those who didn't qualify had to sit around in the freezing gym whilst the sport 'elite' practised their high jumps etc. What a waste of time.
I didn't dislike pe, I enjoyed most things but was not very coordinated & was terribly anemic.
My children love pe whether it's football or dance. I would love the schools to introduce yoga to help the children physically & spiritually.

I left school a very very long time ago but yes you are right Op . I hated PE with a passion.

Your description of PE is nothing like what goes on at our Primary School

You seem to have assumed that PE is just about health or weight

Your seem to have assumed that PE is just team sports

You seem to have assumed that most kids hate it

You seem to have assumed that all PE takes place outside

Children spend most of their time at school. It therefore makes sense that physical activity is factored into school

You seem to have assumed that all children run around during playtime.
And in any case. If it's cold and rainy, it'll be cold and rainy then

Yabu.
Must depend on the school because at my dds primary there is a complete range offered.
Healthy body is a healthy mind.
It improves concentration.
It improves coordination.
It's great for discipline.
Swimming is a life skill.
The sad reality is that while parents should definitely be responsible for giving their children more exercise, many don't.

I think if ever a child is just standing around doing nothing but getting cold, then yes, that particular activity could do with a rethink, but as a general rule, physical education is vital for children.

I actually wish there was more. Much more in state schools. I'd like it to be every day.

• same reason it's their job to give them lunch, because they're there all day. When else will they exercise, especially on a dark winter evening?
•YANBU
•Physical exercise improves your capacity to learn. www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jun/18/how-physical-exercise-makes-your-brain-work-better
•see second bullet point.

I hated PE at school, absolutely hated it but I don't think it should be abolished completely.

I do think in the majority of schools it needs a radical overhaul, so much of it seems to humiliate the children who don't find it easy. There should be a much wider choice, with team sports not the be all and end all.

I now do no exerise at all because I have such horrible memories of PE and I'm majorly unfit, I don't look it at 5'2" and size 6/8, but I get out of breath if I have to push the buggy through town.

If it had been more inclusive, finding what you enjoyed and being praised I could well enjoy exercise and sport now.

AfroPuffs yes it does all those things if the person has an iota of sporting ability. I can honestly say that PE taught me the strong bully the weak and PE teachers have a sadistic streak.

I left school in 1976 and vowed from that day nobody would ever make me hit, throw or catch another ball ever again. People do not need PE to live fit and healthy lives.

Yabu some kids would do no exercise if they didn't do it at school. A lot of kids love it. Ok maybe some don't. But for kids with working parents who don't get picked up until 6 from school they can't be expected to just sit reading and then do exercise in the dark when the clocks go back.

Our kids spend a significant amount of time at school so it makes our lives as parents much easier if they're getting some phys in there.

My primary kids do dance at school! As well as lots of other things and they're lucky enough to have the option of some good after school clubs like tchoukball, dodgeball, gymnastics, dance, football, tag rugby, tennis and netball to name a few they've been offered over the last year. They also do zumba, just dance etc in short stints in the classroom which I LOVE! As a pp said these things help with their concentration. They're also about to trial the 'daily mile'.

I do agree that pe really puts some people off sports though (it did me and I've said the same) but for me this came from high school pe lessons and awful showers rather than primary/middle school pe lessons.

So many people talk about their experience of school without knowing what goes on now. It's frustrating

PE has changed a lot in recent years. In my primary class this year I'll be covering dance (tribal, Bollywood and Haka!), gym ( routines, horse, jumps, and floorwork), dodgeball, rounders, tag rugby, netball, plus athletics.

The focus is always on skills, not winners, and I always ensure team games are in teams I pick, a range of skills are focused on, and they win by displaying teamwork. I won't have kids made to feel bad like I was.

I've also introduced yoga and elements of martial arts.

I would love to try golf, archery, tennis. Tons of stuff, but we are a small primary with little cash. Equipment is lacking.

I always group kids into mixed ability groups and make sure they know that teamwork is vital. I was helped in this by a local rugby team coach visiting and insisting that the only kids he would about would be team players. I've been insistent on this and am proud that my class know that moaning or making a classmate feel bad isn't acceptable.

PE should be enjoyable.

I've also introduced a mile run. They love it!

I hated PE at school, but absolutely think it should be part of a balanced curriculum - along with Music, Art and other subjects that contribute to a well-rounded education, even if they aren't traditionally "academic".

By the way, DS is in L6th, and this term has been given the choice of Yoga and Zumba for one session a week. He's wishing he could do football!

You're being U, but you know that.

I neither loved nor detested PE, but I was disappointed at sixth form when I no longer had to do it. Did C25k 2 years ago and have since fallen in love with exercise- I run, cycle and do yoga. It taught me how to train, and it was amazing feeling my body change.

What I think the PE curriculum when I was at school (noughties) didn't foster was a recognition that exercise is accessible anybody, not just the innately talented.

YANBU. I absolutely HATED PE at school. It was all about team games and competitiveness, and massaging the ego of the teacher.

Left to myself I discovered years later that I like exercise, and enjoy walking and swimming. Who knew? Not me because I spent 10 years at school being told I was lazy because I had no coordination and no balance and was rubbish at anything with a ball in.

It's always geared towards the best - best footballers best rugby players - girls teams always have second best - nobody has ever won a best downward dog award!!

Can you imagine the maths department tearing the kids the same as the PE department?

We have lessons planned for mixed ability in every lesson other than sport- cross county on a cold wet day? No thanks

I hated PE - luckily I was allowed to change to leisure activities when I was 13-14 - mainly I guess cos the PE teachers couldn't wait to see the back of me -
I agree with the humiliating showers and I have never taken pleasure from running - I'm not a natural runner, would never have been any good and can't see the point in running round in circles on the athletic track or cross country - did quite like high jump and javelin and shot type things but we seemed to spend a lot of time running round in circles.
Team sports were always dominated by the sporty types who were on the school team - the humiliation of being one of the last ones picked and always in defence. Mostly ignored - no one passed to you and then blamed if the other side scored and never given any credit when your side won. (And having said that I was on the hockey team for a year or so - defence but still ) I will admit I was a PIA for the PE teachers - always trying to skive and complaining...
Leisure activities was brilliant - outdoor pursuit type things - we did canoeing, rock climbing, camping trips, gorge walking, trips to outdoor pursuit centres, dry slope skiing...even circuit training in the gym. I guess it was expensive for the parents at times -but still was more fun than Netball...(or running round in circles). Only problem is when you leave it is harder to carry on doing those things...
DD1 is a bit like me, not really a runner and she did have to do PE for years and at secondary mainly hated it. Mostly because of the really sporty competitive types - it couldn't be a friendly or fun they had to try and win...and DD isn't like that. She was lucky they did swimming too (have an ancient pool) -but it was still competitive. In the last few years she managed to get away with hiding behind the changing rooms and reading or just walking around the massive playing fields with her friends...
I think what sums it up is one of her friends (a gentle, quiet, kind girl) showed an interest in choosing to take a sporty qualification - the PE teacher almost laughed in their parent's face when they mentioned it - they apparently weren't the type...
So should DCs be made to do PE? I think they should have to do some physical activity - for the ones who do nothing outside school (someone said they run around at playtime - not in secondary - when DD1 started she said playtimes and running around was one of the thing she missed about primary school). And also to give them all a break for sitting behind a desk - will be better for their concentration etc.

But I think it should have a greater emphasis on just being active and finding something you can enjoy for life...trying different things (dance, aerobics, boxing, badminton, squash, table tennis etc - even how to use gym equipment ) make it less competitive - by all means have teams etc for the really sporty types but try and keep that element under control - make it about fun and not just about winning.

OhTheRoses So basically because some children may not be "sporty", that means that it must be abolished? My child isn't very good at reading and hates it...should I see him as precious and skip the reading book/phonics every evening that his teacher has asked him to do?

No. Because sometimes there are things in life you just have to get on with and do for your own personal development. ..We can't pander to the whim of every child and it's quite frankly this sort of attitude that means we have kids who can't handle the real world, have no self discipline to get stuff done etc.

I enjoyed PE...didn't enjoy the changing in front of others...but I survived. Millions have.

I found secondary school tedious but vastly improved by the opportunity to get out of the classroom and play a bit of basketball or hockey. Would have struggled without it.

I agree with the idea that focusing exclusively on team sports is a crap way to get children into healthy exercise habits. Schools can easily offer a wide range of activities... Yoga, street dance, trampolining etc. Don't a lot of schools already do this though? My Neice's school had kids in sporting ability groups. DN was in the lowest group and loved it because they got to do a fantastic range of non competitive stuff.

DD is at a private school so big on sport but DD hates it,she's in sixth form and sometimes has so much work on she could do without 90minutes of pe however school say it's a break from pressure of school life even though it stresses DD out more. Plus it's alll team sports and DD just can't be bothered

OP your description of PE sounds very much like my PE lessons back in the day but this is absolutely nothing like the PE lesson my DCs experience. They do a wide variety of activities and really have fun and get a lot from these lessons. In fact I would be all for even more PE is n schools.

Let's face it many kids do not move anywhere near as much as they should do. PE could be the only exercise they do all week. Secondary school kids are very unlikely to run about at break time and have far more important things to do on their phones.