Can schools be all things for all people – fitness centers, medical clinics, nurseries, counseling institutes, food service providers, and not to mention -- places of learning?
Yes, they have proven they CAN be all of these things, the question to ask, really, is SHOULD they be all of these things?
I remember this discussion from long ago in my education classes. The arguments are good on both sides, and I still haven’t reached my own conclusion. On one hand, if schools concentrated solely on education they would not be such bloated bureaucracies, they would operate more efficiently, and they would have fewer distractions from their primary function of academics. On the other hand, many students need extra services in order to come to school mentally and physically healthy and fully prepared to learn.
This issue came to mind this week when I read an article that asserted that children need more time in P.E. in school in order to help fight the nationwide obesity epidemic.
According to the Associated Press story written this week, only Illinois and Massachusetts require P.E. classes for all kids in kindergarten through 12th grade. This at a time when youngsters definitely need more activity, as illustrated by the unsettling stats from the Centers for Disease Control that “an estimated 32 percent of American kids ages 2 to 19 are overweight, including 17 percent who are obese.”
This article went on to imply that a mandatory 30-45 minutes of P.E. daily for all students in all grades would reverse the trend of increasing childhood obesity. Is this another societal ill that our schools should be expected to help solve?
In this case I think so. I’m a strong believer in fitness and I know that strenuous activity revitalizes the mind and improves one’s mood. Some educators feel that P.E. takes away from test preparation time and hurts in other ways academically, but I think it’s time well spent and that it even helps students academically.
Something to remember, though, is that students only spend 180 days a year in school. So, even if we have daily P.E. for everyone, what are they doing the other 185 days of the year? Playing video games, texting, watching TV, using the internet, of course.
Reducing obesity, like many other problems, requires a coordinated approach from many angles. YMCA’s, churches, community groups, youth sports leagues and others have to get involved in addition to the schools. Too often, people expect the schools alone to fix everything that’s wrong with our young people today. It’s understandable for us educators to wonder, “Hey, we didn’t break them. Why do we have to fix them?”
Then we must remember, if we don’t, who will?
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