How long should the school day be?

[Bateluer]

whats the point of 9hrs of school if you give no homework to reinforce the teaching, and PE is useless

Like hell it is. Thats probably the best thing said in this thread so far. Morning mandatory exercise would be a fantastic thing for every school. 4 years of it should be required to graduate high school.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Like hell it is. Thats probably the best thing said in this thread so far. Morning mandatory exercise would be a fantastic thing for every school. 4 years of it should be required to graduate high school.

In my experience PE was 100% worthless.

 

[xanis]

whats the point of 9hrs of school if you give no homework to reinforce the teaching, and PE is useless

...need we say any more?

 

[dan4patriots]

Like hell it is. Thats probably the best thing said in this thread so far. Morning mandatory exercise would be a fantastic thing for every school. 4 years of it should be required to graduate high school.

like hell it is important, i agree that exercise is important but it shouldnt be imposed and most definitely not a requirement for graduation

 

[HeXen]

In my experience PE was 100% worthless.

do you not see how many fat kids there are? exercise and i think health education should be mandatory from 1st grade to 12th. Waaay too many unhealthy, unfit indivduals out there.
nothing is more important than your health.

 

[Bateluer]

In my experience PE was 100% worthless.

And what did you do for PE exactly?

The PE I'm referring to here, and I assume the poster was as well, is a structured exercise program designed for cardio vascular and muscle fitness. Doesn't need to be Iron Man or Mr Universe level exercise, but kids need exercise. Beyond just the physical fitness, which is worth it by itself, it'll benefit them by increasing alertness, morale, etc during the normal day.

With the massive rise in obesity, PE is needed more desperately than science and math.

 

[Chaotic42]

whats the point of 9hrs of school if you give no homework to reinforce the teaching, and PE is useless

Notice I said "no homework" and not "no assignments". Also, as far as PE being useless, I'm curious about how 30 minutes of moderate (at least) physical activity each day for five days per week is useless.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

And what did you do for PE exactly?

The PE I'm referring to here, and I assume the poster was as well, is a structured exercise program designed for cardio vascular and muscle fitness. Doesn't need to be Iron Man or Mr Universe level exercise, but kids need exercise. Beyond just the physical fitness, which is worth it by itself, it'll benefit them by increasing alertness, morale, etc during the normal day.

With the massive rise in obesity, PE is needed more desperately than science and math.

That's not the school's problem IMO and PE won't give you skill you need to make a living unlike science and math.

 

[dan4patriots]

do you not see how many fat kids there are? exercise and i think health education should be mandatory from 1st grade to 12th. Waaay too many unhealthy, unfit indivduals out there.
nothing is more important than your health.

yes there is an "epidemic" of fatties but you shouldnt impose it on students , let parents be parents

 

[dan4patriots]

And what did you do for PE exactly?

The PE I'm referring to here, and I assume the poster was as well, is a structured exercise program designed for cardio vascular and muscle fitness. Doesn't need to be Iron Man or Mr Universe level exercise, but kids need exercise. Beyond just the physical fitness, which is worth it by itself, it'll benefit them by increasing alertness, morale, etc during the normal day.

With the massive rise in obesity, PE is needed more desperately than science and math.

no science/math are more important, pe isnt going to help us solve our energy problems and such

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Requirements for graduation have always been lame. I was a slacker and accumulated enough credits to graduate two people. 8 to 10 hours of school seem about right. PE, shop and, home ec/life skills should all be included for each year.

 

[dan4patriots]

Notice I said "no homework" and not "no assignments". Also, as far as PE being useless, I'm curious about how 30 minutes of moderate (at least) physical activity each day for five days per week is useless.

homework and assignments are the same thing, i agree exercise is important but a whole class dedicated to it is useless, leave PE for afterschool

 

[bhanson]

Requirements for graduation have always been lame. I was a slacker and accumulated enough credits to graduate two people. 8 to 10 hours of school seem about right. PE, shop and, home ec/life skills should all be included for each year.

I actually agree with you on something.

 

[Chaotic42]

no science/math are more important, pe isnt going to help us solve our energy problems and such

No, but regular exercise has tremendous health benefits, including mental sharpness and helping depression. That aside, a healthier population will have lower medical costs leading to more available funds for other things, such as energy research.

 

[dan4patriots]

No, but regular exercise has tremendous health benefits, including mental sharpness and helping depression. That aside, a healthier population will have lower medical costs leading to more available funds for other things, such as energy research.

agreed exercise is good for health and it does make you feel more alert afterwards, yes medical costs would be lower but there is no guarantee those funds saved on med care would be directed to research instead of pork

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I actually agree with you on something.

You can't be wrong all the time.

 

[waggy]

a long school day is not going to solve the issues. Its culture more then anything.


those saying PE is worthless are idiots (or fat and didn't do anything in it anyway). PE is great not just for the body. Having a way to release the energy little kids have is needed. Doing so helps most focus.

Requirements for graduation have always been lame. I was a slacker and accumulated enough credits to graduate two people. 8 to 10 hours of school seem about right. PE, shop and, home ec/life skills should all be included for each year.

I agree students should have PE, shope and home ec. I would love to see more of those class's offered. not every person is geared for so much math and science they push.

 

[Bateluer]

That's not the school's problem IMO and PE won't give you skill you need to make a living unlike science and math.

Its a documented fact that healthy, fit people take fewer sick days, are more productive, happier, etc than obese people. Its a MAJOR indirect benefit that shouldn't be denied. If you have a problem with the school managing it, even though the parents have proven themselves incompetent and ineffective, invite the parents for after hours PE in the school facilities. However, they should be denied exercising at the same time as their children.

agreed exercise is good for health and it does make you feel more alert afterwards, yes medical costs would be lower but there is no guarantee those funds saved on med care would be directed to research instead of pork

Hard to quantity the amount of money that PE would save, but it'd almost certainly be pissed down the drain in other ways. But, government waste is another topic for discussion.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I wonder if gym teachers have changed any? When I was a 'yout,' they all seemed to hate kids. One of my favorites liked to whip bare legs with the braided plastic lanyard he hung his whistle on. If he weren't long dead, I'd probably have to hunt him down and kill him.
I think that might be why so many appear to think PE is useless.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

\I agree students should have PE, shope and home ec. I would love to see more of those class's offered. not every person is geared for so much math and science they push.

So why force the people who are capable of taking math and science classes to waste their time with those classes?

 

[waggy]

So why force the people who are capable of taking math and science classes to waste their time with those classes?

because while you may be happy being a fat sloth we shouldn't have to pay for it. PE helps keep kids in healthy shape.

the others are usually electives.

 

[shortylickens]

I wonder if gym teachers have changed any? When I was a 'yout,' they all seemed to hate kids. One of my favorites liked to whip bare legs with the braided plastic lanyard he hung his whistle on. If he weren't long dead, I'd probably have to hunt him down and kill him.
I think that might be why so many appear to think PE is useless.

If those phy ed teachers were worth a damn they'd be professional coaches.
In fact I wonder if the main reason they are so angry is because deep down inside they know they are not winning at life. In itself thats not so bad but the problem is they take out their rage on the kids which in turn means they will be angry losers who hate to exercise, and lord knows America has too many of them already!

 

[HeXen]

That's not the school's problem IMO and PE won't give you skill you need to make a living unlike science and math.

maintaining physical fitness is a skill. your not born with knowledge of proper fitness and discipline.
Your health is far more important than your knowledge of math or science, those do you no good layed up in a hospital, coffin or even attached to a sofa.

lack of PE creates ignorance of fitness, leading to fat, diseased kids who will further burden the health industry.
good health makes you feel good and in turn leads to happier, more productive people.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

because while you may be happy being a fat sloth we shouldn't have to pay for it. PE helps keep kids in healthy shape.

the others are usually electives.

I'm hardly fat, i simply remember the massive amount of time wasted in High School and fail to see the point in making the day longer to waste even more time.

i honestly think the opposite needs to be done, we need more interesting science and technical electives to encourage kids to go into those fields. I was lucky enough to go to a HS that offered good engineering electives. I suppose some of them would be along the lines of shop but more useful since they taught you CAD and following design requirements in addition to how to build your project.

Math and Science can help your health, how will you be able to pay for that stay in the hospital if you can't get a job with insurance?

 

[SandEagle]

this is similar to my why is work hours 40 hours thread. but kids should be in school 16 hours a day imo. the number of deaths from choking on legos would decrease dramatically