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DEL.ICIO.USLawmakers should stay out of fat fight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Students at Nesbit Elementary School hop off the bus and head to the track.
Every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday morning, a group of 50 or so walk or run as many laps as they can before class. Nesbit also has a rockclimbing club that meets twice a week. These are just two of the ways the school tries to instill healthy habits. Even recess has moved beyond free play.
“We have teacher-directed activities,” Principal Cecilia Garcia said. “There’s a lot of organized games, and when you play, it’s a wonderful time to learn social skills and problem-solving.”
We’re the richest country in the world. We’re not the healthiest by a long shot. In the South, especially, we take the cake and eat it, too. The Trust for America’s Health issued a 2005 report that ranked Georgia 12th in its number of obese adults.
Our children play lead roles in the fat epidemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that, nationally, 16 percent of 6- to 19-year-olds are overweight. That’s triple the proportion 20 years ago. Caloric intake apparently has ballooned. Physical activity has bottomed out.
The Georgia Legislature has laced up forthe obesity fight. Lawmakers are considering the Student Health and Fitness Act. The original measure would have forced schools to give elementary students at least 150 minutes of weekly P.E. and middle school students 225 minutes a week. It was revised. Fine arts and music teachers told legislators the provision would infringe on their programs.
Now, House Bill 474 would require school systems to submit a report on their physical education and health courses. They also would have to estimate how much it would cost to implement weekly P.E. standards.
In principle, House Bill 474 sounds great. In theory, it’s got more holes than a box of Krispy Kremes.
Our schools consist of a captive audience.Because of that, there’s a tendency to promote social change on campus. But schools can’t do it all — at least not in a six-hour day.
Yet they continue to get saddled with legislative mandates that pile on added responsibilities but have little to do with reading, writing and arithmetic. Thatlawmakers want to address the fat epidemic is noble. But I’d rather see bills crafted that help Johnny read or Susie become a scientist.
Principals and school boards don’t need a legislature to fight fat. They can schedule exercise activities any time they want to.
Like at Nesbit, my son’s school. The campus recently hosted a family program that dealt with healthy diets. Parents got to take part in a P.E. class with their kids.
The running club is in its second year. Another day has been added in which students have to run without walking at all.
“We just started it today,” Jerry Tew, the P.E. instructor, told me Wednesday. “They have to run at least two laps — a half mile. Those who are coming are improving their endurance. It’s not where it needs to be.” It’s getting better.
Comments
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By oldteacher
March 9, 2006 08:24 AM | Link to this
I do think that some type of physical activity for every student every day is important. However, there just isn’t enough time in the school day, or money to hire extra PE teachers.
By Lisa
March 9, 2006 09:01 AM | Link to this
Schools can do it in a six hour day. I had 8 periods during my six hour day - one was for lunch. I had P E two to three times a week all the way from kindergarten through 12th grade. The lowest final grade I got in math was a 97. I am an avid reader. And while I was in school, I played violin. It can and has been done in New York State for ages.
Bringing it forward, I look at my fellow employees who didn’t have PE classes, and in their forties, they are so out of shape while I have middle school boys tell me I’m a fine looking woman. Why? Perhaps it’s because I still physical active after 13 years of having physical education drill into my brain. People look at me like I’m a freak when I tell them I enjoy walking 3 or more miles a day. I enjoy biking, hiking, and many sports. They were all introduced to me in PE.
By oldteacher
March 9, 2006 09:13 AM | Link to this
I guess schools could do it in a 6 hour day. What subject do you suggest that we give up? Reading? Language Arts? Math? Science? Social Studies? Music? Art? Technology? Can’t give up anything that is tested on the CRCT.
By weathers
March 9, 2006 09:19 AM | Link to this
Senator Carter is from Tifton. The Tifton middle schools only have one exploratory class per grade for 75 minutes. Many of their students do not receive PE at all for the entire year. I am sure this is one reason why he introduced this bill because the local board of education doesn’t deem real classroom issues as their top priority. They are too busy worrying about the high school football team rather than what parents are asking for in their schools.
By Brad
March 9, 2006 09:49 AM | Link to this
It is not the school system or government responsibility to keep our kids physically fit. We have created lazy kids by making it too easy to stay inside and not enjoy play outdoors. The advent of video games, easy internet access, and thousands of channels have made all of our kids become indoor creatures. The best of intentions are sometimes more problems than the solution we are seeking.
By Bruce Wilcox
March 9, 2006 11:17 AM | Link to this
What is the average attention span of a student? I know it isn’t six hours, I know that just switching classrooms and subjects without a break doesn’t rejuvenate the mind. I know that walking from classroom to classroom or worse yet a trailer is not considered a physical activity.
Like Lisa I had P.E. all though school, plus we even fit in Drivers Education. We turned out just fine and a little more healthy than the children we see today.
If this state can fit Bible studies to a six hour day, like a Bill in the legislature is attempting now, we certainly can fit in P.E.. Even the Bible says your body is a temple and a temple is a terrible thing to waste.
By Daphne
March 9, 2006 11:57 AM | Link to this
While we are blaming video games, fast food and all the easy targets for why our children are obese lets not forget that the world our children live in is much different than the one many of us grew up in. My mother stayed at home with us and every morning (that we were not off to school) she sent us outside. We checked in at lunch and we had to be home when the sun was going down. The biggest fear in those days was the big kid that lived down the road. (He didnt have guns or knives - he was just a big scary kid) We played all day. Walked to the park. Built go karts. Dug up the back yard. Probably got into a little trouble here and there. Lots of fresh air and exercise. Big kids watched out for little ones. We had little fear.Our mothers checked up on us. And that was our childhood. As for my children. There isn’t a day in their young lives that I would consider letting them walk to a park on a too busy street (remember no sidewalks in most of the suburbs here)Once they get to the park there has to be supervision (sit in the park for awhile and you will see why you wouldn’t want your young ones there alone) I make sure my children are active and busy with sports. (that I pay for and are expensive but completely worth it)I don’t mind watching my children play and get their exercise. I consider that time I spend supervising their play as precious.But there are time constraints that working families face as well. There is no question that our children have other choices for their time as well. As parents we must help them to find a good \ healthy balance. Our children live in a much different world than we did. If I let my children run around unsupervised as our mothers did I would likely be considered a bad parent. Not to mention that child molesters are looking for unsupervised children to prey on. I love what Nesbitt is doing. More of our schools should follow suit. It sounds easy and it probably costs nothing but a little time and effort. Getting their energy out like that in the morning must also make for better behaved students too!!!!
By meme
March 9, 2006 12:07 PM | Link to this
Daphne, I think that you have hit the nail on the head. Lots of scarey things in this world today were not even dreamed of when I was a kid. PE for every kids every day would be a wonderful addition to the school curriculum. Our school has 2 connections classes (middle school) and so it won’t be as difficult for us to offer it as it might be for other systems. The problem is that a number of PE teachers that will need to be added. Our kids are in school for 7 hours with a 30 minute lunch time. And I have decided that most of my 6th graders have about a 15 minute attention span - on a good day. LOL
By Lisa
March 9, 2006 12:07 PM | Link to this
Old Teacher,
We had 8 periods in a day; nothing was left out. We had math, English, science, social studies, lunch, PE, and two electives.
When I was in middle School, we were in split session with the high school going in the morning, and middle school in the afternoon. Between 12:30 and 5, we fit it all in.
By oldteacher
March 9, 2006 12:11 PM | Link to this
Well, Lisa, one of the problems too is that certain subjects must have a longer amount of time. I think maybe this is just a system rule but in our middle school LA classes must be 90 minutes long. I think that science is also a 90 minute class here. If all the classes were the same 50 minutes (like they were in the early 70’s when I first stated teaching) we could get everything in one day, including PE for everyone.
By Lisa
March 9, 2006 12:19 PM | Link to this
Then the questions would be why do those classes have to be so long. One of my school friends is a nuclear engineer - he only had 50 minutes of science. I took 50 minutes of science and don’t use it as an accountant. LA doesn’t have to be that long - we have Microsoft Word with grammar check. With kids using computers instead of type writers to do papers - all they have to do is press that grammar button and fix it up.
By Becca
March 9, 2006 12:49 PM | Link to this
Wow! Maybe you should go to the DOE website and check out what is required in LA. Writing a paper and using grammar check is an extremely small part of Language Arts.
By Bruce Wilcox
March 9, 2006 12:54 PM | Link to this
meme that’s the answer I was looking for, a 15 minute attention span isn’t really that far out of line, even in adults. Any lecture lasting longer you will start to lose them.
The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports was started back in the 50’s by Ike when he found out that European students were more fit than ours. I remember President Kennedy’s “President’s Challenge” where you had to preform a certain number of sit-ups and push-up’s, run a distance, plus a few other tests to receive a certificate from the President. A certificate that you didn’t want to leave school without it.
By meme
March 9, 2006 01:08 PM | Link to this
Bruce, smart middle school teachers don’t lecture. You lose them after 15 seconds that way. LOL
By Lisa
March 9, 2006 01:13 PM | Link to this
Becca,
I have looked through my daughter’s Lit book. When we were in school - there was American Lit and English Lit. Stuff like Beowoulff was taught in English Lit. Now, there’s a Ancient Lit class also. Why do you need three classes when the stuff was covered in 2. Plus, in our American Lit class, we had to memorize prefixes, suffixes, and root words for the SAT’s. We got it all done. Georgia schools could do it to, if people would stop coming up with excuses.
By Becca
March 9, 2006 01:20 PM | Link to this
Obviously nothing I can say will satisfy you. I am too depressed to argue today.
By Daphne
March 9, 2006 01:31 PM | Link to this
Lisa must be much younger than I or have a better memory! I dont remember how long our classes were but I do remember that everything was covered and we had PE everyday from the 4th grade thru High School.We covered all the sports. No specialties. You could still participate in band and yearbook and journalism etc and when you were a senior you could elect to take dance instead of PE if you had passed all 3 years. Is it that we have too much “required requirements” for the basics? Do our children really need more time than we did? I want my children to have time for band and spanish AND PE. Art classes and other electives are just as important for children. It builds their self esteem, give them outlets for creativity. We are so busy testing our children we forget that the other activities are important too…..
By Bruce Wilcox
March 9, 2006 01:38 PM | Link to this
Thanks meme for the smile. I was a training officer and state fire instructor dealing with adults and I know 15 minutes is all you have. After 15 minutes we switched over to hands-on training otherwise they would revolt!
By Becca
March 9, 2006 01:46 PM | Link to this
I think some of us are talking apples and oranges. I am talking middle school and some of you are talking high school. By high school, I agree that not as much time needs to be spent on basic stuff in high school.
By LC
March 10, 2006 08:16 AM | Link to this
Let’s cut down on the snacks our kids get. Bring a snack to school, get a snack after the game, get a snack at Scouts. I didn’t have all of those snack opportunities growing up. Too many empty calories makes for obese kids.
By Kathleen
March 10, 2006 08:18 AM | Link to this
My son is in 5th grade. He is attending a private, catholic school in Gwinnett. He had been in public school for grades 2-4. This year he is learning and being challenged academically more than he ever was in public school and they have manage to have PE everyday except Monday when they have a weekly school mass. They also offer art, foreign language (which he never had in public school) and science labs; not every day, but 1 to 3 times/week.
By Lilburn Parent
March 10, 2006 09:58 AM | Link to this
@Daphne: We must be about the same age…LOL
I read you comments and INSTANTLY… had flashbacks.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for the smile!
I am in 100% agreement with your comments.
By nan
March 10, 2006 10:15 AM | Link to this
Is it just coincidence that when we had PE (way back then - lol), there seemed to be less behavioral and criminal incidents at school?
I truly believe that every child from Kindergarten thru high school needs that physical activity to expend some energy that they have. They are KIDS! Kids need to run around and play. This teaches them how to interact with others and problem solve. They even have Outside Rec time in prison.
By oldteacher
March 10, 2006 02:08 PM | Link to this
I think some of you might be surprised at how many of our kids in PreK and K are also overweight. Eating right needs to start early.