Making kids play team sports in PE is neither healthy nor educational, uses as an example: dodgeball, probably the most sociopathic "team sport" of them all.
If we assume that the purpose of schooling and education is to prepare the students for real life, eliminating team sports is an awful idea. Working on a team with people who are better than you at what you're trying to accomplish is very relevant to real life. And the author is blaming her loneliness as an adult on not being good at team sports in primary school? Come on. The article she cites to support that does say that slightly more than half of the girls asked disliked their experiences in gym class. BUT, there is no mention of problems in working in teams. One interesting thing the article does mention that I think plays a major part is the girls being afraid to be viewed as less feminine if they are good at sports or if they sweat. This is a much deeper societal problem that is showing up in the gym class environment, but exists everywhere. So no, I would argue that team sports are actually vital to the curriculum and doing away with them would lead to much more harm than good with respect to the futures of the students.
It is healthy for kids to play team sports. I recall that when I was not particularly good at some athletic endeavor, for example sprinting in a relay race, I would try to make up for it with a positive attitude or other such team building attributes. Being a part of a team isn't all about being the person that scores the goals/points or finishes first, it's about learning to support people on your team even when they can't hit the backboard. When I was a kid we all read the play "Our Town" in class and we all had roles to play/read. Some kids were better readers than others, I'm sure some of the poorer readers didn't look forward to these exercises. Should that also be removed from the curriculum? Challenge breeds character, the key is having an in tune educator at the helm of these team endeavors. Oh, and don't let the kids "pick" the teams, that's just cruel. But to eliminate team activities from school is a horrible idea.
I was going to make a similar post, but you kind of made it for me. I went to an extremely (for lack of a better word) ghetto high school. The population was mostly kids from projects and the poorest areas of my city. There were tons of kids who couldn't read, and I'm not saying couldn't read well, I really mean COULD NOT read at all. According to this slate article, because reading in class probably made them feel bad and inferior, that we should get rid of reading in school. It's silly for this guy to say we should get rid of physical education because he was that one kid who didn't enjoy it. I was never the biggest fan of it, but he was the one putting the pressure on himself and feeling insecure. Sorry, but that's part of life, just like the kids in my school whose parents never taught them to read. They probably enjoy reading a lot less than this author enjoyed PE... and guess what, being bad in PE isn't going to effect your future job prospects and earning potential, not being able to read will. The author of this article can cry me a river. There are far bigger victims in the educational system than being the last one picked in dodgeball, and the first one out.Some kids were better readers than others, I'm sure some of the poorer readers didn't look forward to these exercises. Should that also be removed from the curriculum?
The author of this article can cry me a river. There are far bigger victims in the educational system than being the last one picked in dodgeball, and the first one out.
Well said.
I completely agree with thenewgreen. Team sports in school allow children to learn how to work and interact with each other to reach a common goal (winning in this case). It also shows how a team-based strategy can be used. Even in dodgeball, I can remember people throwing one ball up in the air then throwing another harder when somebody went for the easy one. It teaches you how to strategize, if you're paying attention.
I can remember people throwing one ball up in the air then throwing another harder when somebody went for the easy one.
-A good move, I'll have to remember that one. It really does teach you strategies for life/business. I never had a problem with the sports we played in an organized fashion, but there were some pretty horrible things that went on during our recess time. I guess I actually had good gym teachers.
You know, for a country that calls itself "The United States" its citizens seem hell-bent on doing anything that remotely involves unity. The idea that the ideal is to be as individual as possible has been cited as a possible contributor toward unhappiness and feelings of isolation. As others have mentioned in this thread, team sports can be valuable teaching tools for soft skills like working together and supporting each other. One thing that strikes me is the seriousness with which Americans tend to take sport at any level. That attitude is divisive as it's, "us" against "them" and "you're" letting "us" down if you're not great at sports. Furthermore, in gym class it really seems like public schools tend to use them most often as a way of burning off kid's extra energy when really it could be a true physical education. According to the theory of multiple intelligences, the kinesthetic intelligence is extremely powerful and in my own teaching, I have found this to be true. If applied properly, physical education encompasses much more than dodgeball. It may help to develop spatial cognition, gross and fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, etc. The real reform, in my eyes, needs to come at a fundamental level. Educators need to teach students how disparate seeming subjects actually tie in to one another so that the art student understands and appreciates the need for math and science and vice versa.
the way played dodge ball was it was not a team sport.
roughly this very roughly there were not safety rules. and people did not trade out once hit they simply joined the outer circle. at the end it was one kid in the middle with the whole class throwing balls at him. such fun.
That's not a "team sports" issue, that's a "horrendous teacher" issue.
the last kid was always a great athlete and essentially the winner .... we also used to play smear the queer #muckle without any thought that queer meant gay.
later my mom made us call it smash the potato. and zombie tag where anyone who was tagged became it leaving the fastest kid running from every other kid on the playground. did I go to Ayn Rand academy for tots?
We also played "smear the queer" without any knowledge of what " queer" was referring to. What ended up happening is that whoever had the ball would throw it intentionally to whomever they wanted "smeared". The problem arises when everyone dislikes the same person, who is usually the slowest or physically weakest or the "oddball". -not cool. This was playground stuff though and was never in a gym class. The kids playing didn't have to. Mean things happened. I have a good amount if guilt from my behavior in middle school as well as a good amount of emotional scars. It's a difficult time.
I think a competitive smear the queer or better muckle league would be cool as hell.
the winner would be the one that held the ball the longest. the ultimate free-market game.
22 players everyone pays 20 bucks to play 20 minute game.
players get 10 dollars for every minute they can hold on to the ball. played on a an arena football pitch.
them is all the rules.