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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think PE is a waste of time

346 replies

ICantfindagoodusername · 22/10/2016 19:48

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.

OP posts:
BackforGood · 22/10/2016 21:12

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 No it's not. They spend a lot of their waking hours at school, and do so much better in terms of concentration etc if they've had to move about and get some exercise part way through the day - if anything, there isn't enough, it would be great if it were possible to do something EVERY day.

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 It isn't. It wasn't even when I was at school some 40 yrs ago. Nowadays my dc do so many different sports and forms of exercise, from multi gym to bouldering walls and table tennis to banghra dancing

•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. Depending on what age you are talking about, not that many 'run around at lunchtime'. It does lots for all sorts of team work, and for leadership skills, and - crucially - introducing all sorts of people to skills and to sports they might not otherwise try. It also give some dc chance to shine who might not shine in other areas.

Here's a thing - there are an awful lot of youngsters who actually love PE lessons, and find them fun!

•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 Absolutely there are lots that don't do PE once they leave school, but they probably wouldn't if there was no PE at school. However there are lots of adults who do go on to play/do a sport or other fitness activity as an adult, that were first introduced to it at school

OhTheRoses · 22/10/2016 21:13

Where did I say it should be abolished?

I am sorry your son isn't very good at reading. I hope his teacher differentiates lessons for him and makes sure he isn't humiliated on purpose because of it. It would be discrimination. Just as the PE teacher and/or class eyerolling at a,dyspraxic child or leaving them to be the last to be chosen is discrimination.

No child should be pandered to and I hope both of mine are resilient and confident. FS because he just is. DD in spite of, certainly not because of PE.

OhTheRoses · 22/10/2016 21:18

DD's day. Half mile walk to station with heavy bag; half mile at other end. Does this there and back. Mondays Brownie helper/leader, Tuesdays Theatre group plus Dance, Wednesdays (quiet), Thursdays usually school rehearsal, Friday - singing, she's grade 8 already but still working on her voice.

ANewStartOverseas · 22/10/2016 21:20

Actually I agree, in some ways, with the OP.
At my dcs school, children are put into two sets. In effect, the ones that do sport outside school and the ones who dont.
Sports has a very strong emphasis on football and basically, if you dont like football/play football, then you cant be 'good' at PE Hmm

PE, the way its taught, is putting off people, big way so there must be something quite wrong about it. Starting with using sport where its easy to be competitive (athletics, football etc) so you can be sure that the least athletic will feel bad about themselves.

Sports DOES help with concentration and learning. However, meditation helps students concentrate and get better grades and you don't see them sitting down like this very often.

Finally 2 hours of PE should help towards getting some exercise. Maybe not enough to help a kid to loose weight or avoid being overweight. But better than nothing.
That is, if they actually do 2 hours of PE, whihc doesnt seem to be the case at my dcs' school where the 'less keen' are allowed to just sit around and do nothing.

NataliaOsipova · 22/10/2016 21:20

I hated PE. I agree with the OP in some ways. I think PE should focus on the health benefits of exercise - teach aerobic vs anaerobic/heart function - that sort of thing. It should also involve doing/participant in exercise. Where schools go wrong - in my opinion - is an obsessive focus on ridiculous sports. If you like netball, great. Join a club. My DD likes tap dancing. She's in a club outside school.

The other problem is that schools seem to focus on these sports and the best kids at these sports. So what's important isn't the enjoyment/participation, but whether or not you're in the first team. And that's absolutely crap, in my opinion. One girls' school head was roundly castigated for saying that more girls would do PE if there were more "girl friendly" options available (eg aerobics, Zumba). I completely agreed with her.

HalfShellHero · 22/10/2016 21:20

My DS has mild ASD ...he hates P.E purely because he has to get changed and then they have a system in which if they don't get changed back again within 5 mins they get knocked down the chart! Hmm .....so that whole inconvenience and palaver overrides any fun he may have in the lesson. I do think P.E is definitely necessary but perhaps better at the end of the day.

arethereanyleftatall · 22/10/2016 21:21

And, puff, no sign of the op.

Quel surprise.

frikadela01 · 22/10/2016 21:21

Lots of people on this thread have spoken about how good their children's primary school PE is. However also anyone who hated PE when it started and I'll bet they say it started in high school where PE can be very different.

ANewStartOverseas · 22/10/2016 21:22

Back I'm happy to see that yoour dcs' school do so many activities.
My dcs' school doesnt. We are stuck with the very traditional sports that are vey likely to put off children (football, athletics, rugby...)

Violetcharlotte · 22/10/2016 21:24

My son loves PE, it's his favourite lesson. He hated geography though, so perhaps schools shouldn't bother teaching that?

Not everyone's going to like everything, but in life we just have to get on and do things we don't like sometimes.

arethereanyleftatall · 22/10/2016 21:24

A lot of people on this thread are saying that the more physically able kids get the more attention.

I can't speak for other sports, but I'm a swimming teacher, teaching schools swimming. The lesser able kids definitely get the more attention in swimming.

AfroPuffs · 22/10/2016 21:25

The reading issue isn't a worry for me really...he's 5 so feel that he'll catch up in his own time and with some support. His teacher is great and he is in no way humiliated at all...We do all the extra reading but I don't make a big issue about it if he loses interest and wanders off!

Seems as though you've had a particularly crappie experience at school with PE but I don't think it's the norm these days.

Even his sports day last year was all about "team" completion of egg and spoon etc...All mixed ability in every team...so I think things are very different in our schools now.

OhTheRoses · 22/10/2016 21:29

The other side of this is that DS's school offered a huge variety of sports. Rugby, football, hockey, tennis, squash, rowing, archery, martial arts, golf, swimming, water polo, probably others too. DS is my very sporty child. He was first XV rugby, first XI football, first X1 cricket. He never was allowed the opportunity to try anything else.

cluelessinstyle · 22/10/2016 21:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

missyB1 · 22/10/2016 21:42

My ds is at a prep school and does sport every day, team sports 4 days a week then either tennis/gymnastics/ swimming on the 5th day. It's one of the reasons I like the school, sports are about so much more than just excercise.

BackforGood · 22/10/2016 21:43

Anewstartoverseas - that's not one school though, that's all secondary schools I know (which is the 2 my dc went to, the 2 my dns went to, the 2 my godchildren went to, about 10 or 12 others where I know friends dcs go). that's what I'm basing my knowledge on. I actually think my dds' school is pretty poor compared with the schools many of their friends go to, however, there are a lot of opportunities to try different things at the vast majority of secondary schools now.

FantasyAndHope · 22/10/2016 21:44

back
I wish there was at DDs school it's all team sports and as a sixth former she hates it

ForalltheSaints · 22/10/2016 21:53

Children need exercise. PE is one way of this happening. So it should not be a waste of time. Agree that it should not just be team sports.

Tiniti · 22/10/2016 21:55

It's like saying you should get rid of maths or science or any of the subject because you're a bit shit at it and hated it at school. Course They need to look at how to improve the way it is taught as with all subjects, But getting rid of it is ridiculous. For some kids it's the only frigging exercise they ever get, And though it may be miserable it might stop them dying of heart disease etc at 50.

PrincessHairyMclary · 22/10/2016 22:00

I supported a child in PE last week (secondary TA), it was so lovely to see children who struggle so much with academic subjects relaxed, behaving and succeeding.

Like most subjects at Secondary school it gives you a taster of lots of different sports to follow the ones you like.

lapsedorienteerer · 22/10/2016 22:02

YABU

ANewStartOverseas · 22/10/2016 22:02

back that wasnt my point though.
My point is that not ALL schools are like this.

And most schools are still putting teenagers off PE and exercise which, really, is going against what you would want to acheive with PE.

ANewStartOverseas · 22/10/2016 22:04

Tiniti I doubt that 2 hours of PE done half heartidily will make any difference on dying of heart disease at 50....

I also doubt that it is he reason why PE is part of the curriculum.

Natsku · 22/10/2016 22:13

YABU its not a waste of time, its very important, there should be P.E. every day in my opinion. Exercise aids concentration so children will learn better after a good run around, and of course with obesity levels rising its more important than ever to get children moving. Children under 8 need to be physically active (as in exercise level active) for at least 3 hours a day, older than that at least an hour every day.

I do agree that the focus on team sports is not so great. They should learn the rules and skills of various sports but there should also be lots of non-competitive stuff as well. When I was in school we did step aerobics and line dancing and everyone enjoyed the days when we did laps of stations in the gym.

PrincessHairyMclary · 22/10/2016 22:14

A large number of teens I work with don't want to even walk across the classroom to get a pair of scissors "'cos it's effort".

I work in a very deprived area, yes lots of students 'hate' PE but it's because they don't know any different, it's not cool to like anything in school and no one blinks an eye when someone says they hate maths. Lots of our students aren't good at the sports, not because they haven't been given much opportunity to develop skills outside of school (which they haven't) but because they can't follow rules. They can't follow the rules in a classroom and they can't follow them on the sports field. Many of our students have very difficult home lives and a chance to run around a field and get rid of some stress, anxiety and anger is far more important than how many goals they score.

Team sports are important because they teach teamwork skills, not something this generation gets much of an opportunity to develop.

Anaerobic/aerobic/heart function lessons are done to death in biology even if you don't choose GCSE PE.