As Schools Fight Obesity, Physical Education Is Cut.

[radicalliberal]

15. I understand there have been some changes since the time I was a boy.

Last edited Fri Jul 27, 2012, 04:12 PM - Edit history (1)

(I've referenced an excellent program -- PE4Life -- with a link in my first post above.) But I've also been told the "old P.E." is still around in some school districts.

When I was a boy, the "health aspect" was never stressed; and nonathletic boys frequently were treated like dirt in a class that met the needs of only the athletically inclined. Traditional mandatory P.E. was (and still is) useless for nonathletic students.

Please do a Google search on "p.e. bullying" and see what you find. (Yes, I'm repeating myself.) For that matter, just do a search of this website on "p.e. bullying" and "jock bullying" and see what you come up with. I've been amazed by the stories of bullying I've heard over the years from nonathletic guys who had had to endure the traditional mandatory "sports only" P.E. They had bitter experiences and many times were treated unjustly.

Many boys' P.E. coaches, in fact, have been prejudiced against nonathletic boys and against those boys who have less than ideal physiques, especially scrawny boys and fat boys. Nonathletic boys who either aren't good at sports or simply have no interest in them have been called sissies (during the 1960s), wimps (during the 1970s), and fags (today). The issue of bullying in school sports has been completely ignored and, I believe, deliberately so. After all, most sports fans don't want the image of school sports to be besmirched in any way. (Witness Penn State.)

I mean, if a bully is placed on a pedestal simply for excelling at a sport and suffers no negative consequences for his misconduct, no matter how dishonorable or egregious (as I noticed as I was growing up), who cares? As I've pointed out (and please forgive me for using a racist epithet now; I'm using it for emphasis, not to condone bigotry), nonathletic boys ("nerds," "geeks," "sissies," "wimps," "fags" -- sarcasm intended, of course) are nonpersons at best in traditional P.E. classes and, generally speaking, are the niggers in the world of school sports. If I'm bitter, so be it. I care deeply about the indignities nonathletic boys in some school districts are being subjected to today.

If a medical doctor has a patient who needs to become physically active for reasons of his health, the doctor doesn't say, "Go play a sport." (Incidentally, some sports entail health risks, interestingly enough.) The doctor will tell his patient to get some exercise. (For example, the best exercise for people who have diabetes is to take a brisk, nonstop walk from 45 minutes to an hour. No mention of sports.)

There is no reason or justification for forcing nonathletic boys to participate in competitive team sports in mandatory P.E. classes -- a situation which is almost always guaranteed to encourage bullying. Coaches who take the traditional approach to mandatory P.E. are not going to be interested in the nonathletic boys, anyway. They will be inclined to have a dismissive, if not abusive, attitude toward them. Why should nonathletic boys be subjected to coaches who are prejudiced against them, viewing them as "effeminate" or unmanly? My wife taught math classes in a public school system for about 11 years. She said any math teacher who treated students who have trouble with math the same way that traditional coaches frequently have treated nonathletic boys would be fired. But somehow mandatory P.E. has always been "different."

I favor the retention of "sports only" P.E. as an elective. I say let the athletic kids play sports; and if you are unwilling to provide genuine fitness programs for the nonathletic kids, stop imposing your intolerance upon them and leave them alone.

I know what doesn't work and what does work for nonathletic boys because I've experienced both in my life. For several years I've been working on a bodybuilding program with a personal trainer at a local health club. The experience has been psychologically therapeutic for me as well as beneficial physically. The physical trainers actually appreciate me because I work hard. My health club is like a community. No one is bullied. I've been treated with respect. Since the members (who are quite a diverse lot, physically speaking) are minding their own business as they pay attention to their own workouts and exercise routines, there is none of the machismo and obnoxious, boring, contemptible "alpha male" behavior that is so often encouraged in school sports.

I still have a long way to go to achieve my goal. (There are no shortcuts in building up one's physique. It's hard work that takes patience.) But I've been amazed by the muscular development I've already achieved at my age. Now, when mandatory "sports only" P.E. became a rather unpleasant, bitter reality in my life, I was weak and scrawny. On the very last day of school when the dreaded daily torment of mandatory P.E. had finally to come to an end, I was -- yep, you guessed it -- weak and scrawny. So much for physical fitness!