I believe the most overlooked subject in all of schooling is
Physical Education and a lot of people might laugh when they hear that, they
might even think it sounds absurd, but hear me out on this one. Let’s say you
have a student who is very smart in math and science and they go on to get
their PhD’s. Let’s further say this particular individual goes on to become
quite literally a rocket scientist. But this same person dies at the age of 40
from a massive heart attack. What good did math or science do at that point?
Now I’m not trying to say that math and science aren’t important school
subjects, because they are very important. All I’m trying to show, is very
simply that Physical Education can be just as important as any other subject in
school, but unfortunately a lot of people dismiss PE as "Oh well it’s just gym
class, who really cares?"
But PE is
very important because it can teach some extremely valuable lessons. If PE is
taught properly it should help teach and promote healthy life habits. And if
these life habits stick with the individual the rest of their life... then it can
quite literally add years to your life. It’s scientifically proven that if a person
is exercising, staying in shape, and eating healthy they can add years to their
life. It’s also possible for PE to help improve the quality of your life. Very
simply put, if your body feels good, you feel good. It’s also been proven that
exercise can help reduce stress.
Another
overlooked aspect of physical education is what it can do for a person
mentally. It’s very possible for PE to help build a students confidence. If a
student is building their athleticism and increasing their hand-to-eye coordination,
footwork, speed, agility, balance, stamina, core strength, and timing then they
will start trusting in their body’s ability. When this same student begins to
trust and believe in themselves then this will start to build, improve and
teach confidence. PE can also teach leadership skills, increase productivity,
teach discipline and respect, and again it’s very healthy.
Allow me to
make one more argument on the behalf of physical education. If you become a
doctor then math and science will be very essential in your profession, but
will history be vital? If you are a history professor then history will
obviously be critical but will science be crucial for improving in your field
of expertise? All I’m trying to show is that we don’t know what we will become
when we grow up and even if we did know what we wanted to become we could still
very easily change our minds some time in the future. Because of this unknowing,
we have to learn the basics of everything before we begin focusing on a more
particular field. For instance I took calculus in school but I don’t ever break
out calculus equations any more. I’m sure some people use calculus in their
jobs often, but a lot of other people don’t use it at all. But PE is the one
subject that everyone can use regardless of what you grow up to be. Regardless
of your career choice PE can teach you things that can stick with you the rest
of your life regardless of your career decisions. So if you do stop using
calculus equations, or not need to know what battle took place 500 years ago,
or not need to have the element table memorized, we can all still know how to
exercise and how to have fun doing it.
So PE can
potentially add years to your life, it can enhance the quality of your life, it
can build confidence, it can lower stress, it can teach leadership skills, it
can be used by anyone in any profession, and it has a lot of other benefits
that we could go on and on about. But my point very simply is, Physical
Education is a VERY important school subject and I don’t think any one should
overlook it as, "just gym class." Instead look at physical education as a tool
to help grow mentally and physically. One of the best things about physical
education is, it can be practiced by the entire family and help build unity and
comradery within the homeschool family.
Written by
Master Jason Purcell
Master martial artist &
Adjunct Professor of Physical Education at Seattle Pacific University
|
