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.

Its a complete waste of time which would be better spent teaching our children to be literate and numerate.

Dyspraxia is a neurological condition. Modern PE teachers do understand dyspraxia. My so has lovely PE teachers.

One drawback to being in sets for PE is the bottom set mentality. There are kids who are sullen, disobedient and make little effort. Behaving like a brat in PE is not SEN. It's similar to bad behaviour in any other bottom set.

I think there is an element of truth that PE is a Cinderella subject at school. There is little in the way of resources to help children who struggle.

Optional sports day? Why? Should prize giving also be optional? Or maths Olympiad for those able to attempt it?

Competition is important and an element of life, like all others, that needs to be practised. If failure is humiliating, then either the school or parents (or both) are failing. We all need to be taught to deal positively with failure.

PE where children are actually taught how to do a sport regardless of ability, great. If that's what is happening at a school then fantastic. But I'm not aware of people giving notes to their kids to get them out of Maths or English so what is going wrong with PE?

My son has his PE lessons ruined by poor behaviour. These children need punishment not sympathy.

Eddie,

Some would if they could!

Also some parents are vicariously very academically competitive and view a pe lesson as a waste of learning time.

I hate P.E. and always have. Even now I hate it when I have to cover a P.E. lesson in an emergency.

It needs a massive overhaul, IMO. It's way too competitive and leaves a lot of kids feeling left out. For lads, it's basically all football and rugby with about 2 weeks a year doing tennis. My DS1 loves this because he loves football but DS2 loves swimming and gymnastics and feels left out as a result.

Also, all these people who are saying it teaches skills. Really? Are you being serious? I've never known a P.E. lesson to actually teach anything unless they pick it as a GCSE option where they do actually have to teach them something. Most P.E. lessons are "right let's have a football match" or "right girls, we're playing volley ball today, here's the basic rules."

I've never heard anyone say PE was a waste of learning time and useful exercise is extremely important as an aid to concentration and yes, can be a great way of reinforcing teamworks. However, I think PE poorly "taught" in an environment which puts children off sport to the extent stretches into adulthood is counterproductive.

Oops, illiterate post, sorry!

Its a complete waste of time which would be better spent teaching our children to be literate and numerate. Speaking and listening is part of English and there are a lot of numeracy opportunities in PE.

ReallyTired Some PE teachers understand dyspraxia. Many, many don't. My DD has been laughed at by a PE teacher with the alpha girls joining in.

My DD can stand in front of hundreds of people and sing an aria or belt out "cabaret" as only a post grade 8 teenager can. Nobody, but nobody would make a child who couldn't sing in key stand up and sing a solo in front of his or her peers.

Why therefore is humiliation still allowed in PE. My DD, as I did before her, has lots of extra curricular interests. They just aren't sport.

It was a huge disappointment when her GDST school changed the rules and made PE compulsory in Upper 6th. Totally unacceptable. I now have to pay not only £15.5k this year but an additions £200 because my DD has no wish to do the team, ball sports that are free.

Derxa

Except 99% of P.E. teachers don't use those opportunities. I know this for a fact. Most P.E. teachers don't teach anything other than how to play the sport. There's no teaching about the body or anything like that and I've never known numeracy to be mentioned at all.

I think PE is a waste of time. I hated PE and every waking moment was spent forging notes and being off sick, twisting my ankle etc to get out of it. I never participated very well it was just torture twice a week. My sister love PE and always joined extra groups etc. I think its a waste of time when you need help to get real qualifications such as maths and english I should have had extra maths lessons as I was terrible at maths and only scraped a d grade. PE should be like drama, art, music if you love it or are good at it then take it otherwise its useless. And the funniest thing is I remember my PE teacher telling me it was instilling a good habit for life but my sister and I are both overweight her so more than me and I go to the gym 5 days a week voluntarily , she hates all exercise. So what use is it?

Ok, so people do say better to have more academic classes, I stand corrected. I disagree that PE has no place in schools, physical activity aids learning and if we think it's good to have social & health guidance in schools it would be crazy to say there is no space for physical activity. My view is the "education" aspect is often poorly targeted and counterproductive.

What PE do you do? Children do what parents do.

PE's really important. OK so some PE teachers don't assist with encouraging a life long involvement in exercise and some kids hate it. But some kids hate every lesson and we don't let that be a good reason for missing say maths, home ec, art, English etc. I could say I was put off maths by a rubbish teacher and being bottom of the class and worst in exams. I'm sure no one's going to suggest I should have been able to give it up.
And children are well aware who's succeeding in other subjects-who's top of the class. It's not suggested that a child who comes top in a geography exam say shouldn't and isn't praised. And I'm sure that other subject teachers criticise the lower achieving students-not just the PE teachers. I think a lot of it is that it's often the case that children who do not so well at sport excell academically and simply aren't used to not being good at something. Its a good life lesson to learn to compete and not do so well and good for other children to do well when they may not do so well in strictly academic subjects.
I used to love PE and I don't think I'm particularly biased-I wasn't particularly good, but enjoyed the challenge and team sports environment and the rest from the academic focus.
By all means focus more on nutrition and the importance of exercise but I do think it's an important subject which might need an update but shouldn't be got rid of-increased if anything!

There's no teaching about the body or anything like that and I've never known numeracy to be mentioned at all. Many's the time I did lessons which involved measuring heart rate. PE/science/maths combined.

Athletics. Measuring jumps. Timing races. Etc Etc

School PE put me off sport for life. I hope it's changed now. Luckily my DH had an understanding teacher who let the boys who hated rugby do cross country instead. DH cycled, ran, windsurfed, sailed and rowed. He was very fit when we met despite never playing team games. I was a fatty who had a miserable time in PE. Funnily enough it didn't encourage a love of sports. It's a shame that the kids who need it the most get the least out of PE. Aged 16 I lost a couple of stone through cycling, circuits and aerobics while skiving 6th form PE. I still exercise regularly at 42 no thanks at all to school PE.

I've tried to encourage my children to take part in sports so they don't suffer like I did. My eldest is 9 and has ASD. She hates PE at school and is unable to manage extra curricular activities. She likes cycling and body boarding, hoping to get into a surf club soon. My other child is 6 and does swimming, gymnastics and football. Different children, different preferences. Unfortunately school PE is only geared up for children like my DD2 who is outgoing and self conscious.

DH and I are perfectly able to function in teams at work despite being shit at team sports.

'Outgoing and not self conscious' I meant.

I would remove all non-academic subjects from secondary schools. Streamline the purpose of school to exclude these. Then provide art, music, PE, public service, etc., as out-of-school activities, with a place made in the school week for these activities. Not necessarily organised by individual schools, and those provided in schools open to any schoolchild. One day or half-day a week, children are required to participate in these activities, whether provided either inside or outside school buildings, by council services, by independent or charity providers, etc., and provide evidence of participation. An allowance for fees for these, for each child, but able to be topped up parentally. So kids could be at football club, painting lessons, 1-1 music lessons, dry slope skiing, cross-country running, gym, crown green bowling, orchestra practice, ballet practice, first aid training, whatever, and whichever school you go to you can participate in any of those provided.

Yes they are Bellsaringing but the dyslexic child isn't expected to read in assembly or in front of the class, just as the tone deaf child isn't expected to sing a solo.

I will never forget the day we were devising a five step, three step rhythm in PE (or similar) and the PE teacher stopped the class and asked them to observe what I was doing. I was so pleased, thinking for once I was doing something right. And then she booked:

"and that girls is how not to do it, it incorporates everything I've told you all not to do. If you listened Roses, you'd achieve more in my lessons".

And everyone sniggered, and then sniggered again when I cried in the showers and nobody sat with me for lunch that day. My mother said I needed to toughen up and ignore it. I did. I moved away and became successful - and sometimes when I see overweight women in the local town, looking ten years older than they are I outwardly smile and say "how lovely to see you" and inwardly think "ha, whose laughing now".

It wasn't that much better for DD but if a salaried PE teacher had done that to my DD, I'd have bypassed the head and would have gone straight to the staff room and in front of her peers I'd have torn a strip off her.

No many,many PE teachers do not understand Dyspraxia. Our OT team said it was a big problem hence their need to visit schools to educate. One of our Sencos said lack of understanding from PE teachers was a problem. And sorry if you had tried to run in pain in front of children epicly failing in full view of everyone sniggering time and again you'd be sullen too. Our OT highlighted the probability of reluctance, a sullenness if you like during PE lessons and said it was wholly understandable and to be expected should it happen.

A child needs an hour of exercise daily. My eldest two only have two hours a week which isn't enough

I agree that's awful Roses and quite wrong. It's very much a teacher training issue in that case tho, and also different to pp here complaining that they didn't like it, didn't exell at it, didn't win etc. And as the mother of a severely dyslexic child don't underestimate the weekly grind of being last in the spelling test and, yes having to read aloud to the class (albeit before diagnosis).