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comment by thenewgreen
thenewgreen  ·  3995 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Reform physical education: Gym class shouldn’t require team sports.

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.





AlderaanDuran  ·  3993 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    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?

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.

thenewgreen  ·  3986 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    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.