physical education students essay

TED xUCLA 2019: Time

Why is physical education a student’s most important subject?

About William

William Edward “Bill” Simon Jr. is a Partner of Simon Quick Advisors, a firm that provides wealth management, investment consulting, and family office services to its clients.

Prior to becoming a partner at Simon Quick Advisors, he was Co-Chairman of William E. Simon & Sons, L.L.C. an investment firm that he co-founded in 1988 with his brother, Peter, and their father, William E. Simon, Sr., former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

Simon earned a BA from Williams College in 1973, and a JD from Boston College in 1982.

Let’s start with a pop quiz. Can you name the only subject in school that promotes physical and emotional health, helps children learn better, and cultivates the character that they need to be productive adults?

I think some people out there got an A. It’s physical education. I believe that physical education should be a core subject, just like math, English, science, and history.

But that’s not the way it works today. All too often, PE is treated as the least important subject versus the most important subject, which is how it should be. Children need to succeed of course in academic subjects, and by the way, exercise helps them do better in academic subjects. But principles of health and fitness, they are vital in the truest sense of that word. Literally, the students’ lives depend upon it.

Think about it. If a student has trouble with math, maybe they won’t be such good budgeters. If a student has trouble confusing an adjective with an adverb, maybe they won’t be a great author. Or maybe they don’t understand the workings of a cell, they may not be a good biologist. But if a student doesn’t understand the principles of health and fitness, they risk chronic disease and an early death.

So my vision is that every school should provide every student with the opportunities that’ll give them a healthy start in life and also with the education and skills that’ll give them a fit lifetime.

Unfortunately in today’s school system there are not adequate resources that are devoted to physical education, whether it’s because of competing priorities or whether it’s because they undervalue physical education. The median annual budget for physical education in schools, for an entire school, is $764 for the whole school, for all children. That boils down literally to pennies per pupil.

Now there’s plenty of money for PE. It’s a matter of priorities. It’s not a matter of resources. My wife Cindy and I 20 years ago tried to address this issue and change the narrative about physical education. We started a program that’s now called UCLA Health Sound Body Sound Mind. As we put physical fitness equipment in schools, we have a curriculum, we have training for physical education teachers. Today we’re in 151 schools. We impact over 185,000 children every year.

We know the problem and the solution. And there’s a lot more to be done, locally, nationally, and even globally. We know that robust physical education helps children become better learners, better versions of themselves, and better people for tomorrow.

Now I know the transformative impact of exercise, both professionally and personally. This is our son Willie. He has autism. He’s 31 years old. He’s thriving in a residential home. He works at Home Depot, as you can see. He paints amazing seascapes.

It wasn’t always that way. For many years he struggled with behavioral issues. My wife and I were concerned about his weight, which had soared to over 220 pounds. That’s a lot for even a six-footer like Willie.

Then six years ago, a wise member of Willie’s care team said, “Let’s have Willie do some exercise.” And he went on a treadmill, in the beginning 20 minutes. Now he’s ramped up to two hours a day. He runs in local races. I’ve tried to run a few with him. I can’t keep up with him. The results have been spectacular.

Willie was diagnosed at the age of three, and for the last 20 years he has been on meds and therapy of some kind. But I’m here to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that the best therapy, the best med he’s ever had, is exercise. (applause)

Now there’s compelling evidence that exercise helps your bodies and brains. First, with respect to academic outcomes, the Institute of Medicine found that reading and math are the subjects that are most impacted by exercise. They also found that reading and math require a good executive function, and they also found that there is a link between a good executive function and exercise. Even moderate exercise seems to help quite a bit.

In Neuroscience Magazine, a study reported that a group of nine-year-olds were given cognitive tasks, and they, in some instances, they walked beforehand. And what happened was there was significant improvement in their performance versus when they didn’t walk beforehand.

In Naperville, Illinois, eighth graders were given a math test. In cases where they had 30 minutes of vigorous exercise, they performed 11 to 22 percent better. It’s clear. Even a moderate amount of exercise goes a long way. So if you had just a slight change in priorities, a slight change in resources, there would be a substantial change in learning by our students.

Dr. John Ratey, a Harvard neuroscientist, explains why this is so. He says exercise releases a cascade of neurochemicals and other growth factors that bolster the brain’s infrastructure. Dr. Ratey said exercise is Miracle-Gro for the brain.

He said there are basically three reasons for this. First, exercise optimizes your mindset, improving your alertness and your motivation. Second, exercise helps cells bind together, which is a way that the brain holds information. And third, exercise actually helps create new nerve cells in the hippocampus, which is the center for learning and memory. Exercise, it turns out, helps the brain structures in many many ways.

Let’s talk about mental health. You saw what happened with our son Willie. The Mayo Clinic did a study where they found that endorphins that are released upon exercise, you know they’re the brain’s neurotransmitters and the feel-good effect, it has an impact on mild cases of depression and anxiety. Turns out that exercise is a low-cost, effective, natural way to deal with life’s stressors.

Think about socially. These days, many of us spend a lot of time on screens, particularly students. There’s a lot of loneliness that scientists are finding right now. Exercise addresses that social aspect, and the maturation by having other people to work out with. So we have found more and more research on covering how exercise helps the body, the mind, and the emotions.

So we should consider as well what happens when there, there is no exercise. Inactivity is dangerous and widespread to the point that Lancet Journal, which is a respected British medical journal, has called inactivity the new smoking.

Now it’s clear that inactivity is a core cause of obesity. There’s others, whether it’s a sedentary lifestyle, whether it’s the undervaluing of physical exercise, whether it’s urban living, whether it’s safety factors. One thing is clear: that the incidence of obesity has exploded. It’s doubled amongst children since the 1980s. During that same period, amongst adolescents it’s tripled.

A third of American children today are overweight. Fourteen million American children are obese. Fourteen million. That is unacceptable.

The impacts of obesity are profoundly disturbing. The World Health Organization characterized several. They said that obese children tend to be bullied at school; they have low self-esteem; they generally underperform in the classroom; and they have poor employment prospects as adults, not to mention that the diseases that they become susceptible to, including hypertension, diabetes 2. These are two ailments that used to be confined to adults. No longer.

Did you know that the Centers for Disease Control reported out that 40 percent of cancers are linked to obesity? 40 percent. Studies have shown that childhood obesity inevitably leads to adult obesity. Sadly it appears that this generation of young people is likely to have a shorter lifespan for the first time than their parents.

Public health visionary Dr. Jonathan Fielding has said, and I paraphrase: “The results are in. Younger people are not working out. They are in danger. It’s a it’s a pathway to chronic disease and early death.” He said, shockingly, 19-year-olds get no more exercise than 60-year-olds. Now ladies and gentlemen, I’m 68. Sixty’s in my rearview mirror. Normally, I’d like to be compared to a 19-year-old, but not today.

And if this picture isn’t scary enough, the financial consequences are quite high. Johns Hopkins researchers submitted a report that basically said if you take all children between the ages of eight and eleven, put them on a program of regular exercise, 25 minutes, three times a week, which by the way is 20 percent of what is the recommended amount, the savings will be 62.3 billion dollars over the course of their lifetimes, whether it be in lost wages or in medical expenses.

So we’re looking at a massive health crisis. What’s the solution? Well clearly one solution is schools. Why is that? Well that’s where the children are. That’s where the purpose is to train and to educate. I call physical education class the low-hanging fruit on the fitness tree. Children deserve to be literate in physical fitness just like they do in English or math. They deserve to understand the roles that nutrition and fitness play.

And it’s not just confined to your bodies. It also has to do with cognitive achievement, mental and emotional health. And again, studies have shown that students who take physical education are more likely to be out, to be active outside of physical education class. That will set a firm foundation for fitness as they go into adulthood.

A special area of concern is low-income schools. Children’s Defense Fund study found that children in low-income neighborhoods are nine times more likely to be overweight. We know that in low-income neighborhoods there’s relatively few safe playspaces, few affordable healthy food options. Organized sports? Very expensive. So it may be realistically that physical education in lower-income neighborhoods is the only realistic chance for those students to get any exercise.

You know I think what strikes me most is that physical education class is the only class that benefits the body, the mind, and the spirit. This is not breaking news. This is ancient wisdom, all the way up to the present, that there is a fundamental connection between body, mind, and spirit. This is a timeless concept that’s being ignored today in the educational establishment.

Exercise teaches, exercise is good for your body, but it also teaches resilience and perseverance and a host of other character traits that are necessary for a life well lived. Physical education class is a practice field where these character traits can be honed and developed.

To have our children reach their highest potential, it’s the adults in the room that need to make the best decisions for them. In the United States, we enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world. Surely there’s a way to provide this gift for our children.

It’s not a matter of resources, it’s a matter of priorities. We did it in the 1960s when our schools rallied around the call of President Kennedy for a fit nation. And we could do it again. President Kennedy said, “Fitness is a vital prerequisite for America’s fullest realization of its potential.” It was then, and it is today.

So let me leave you with a couple of thoughts. It’s well settled in law and in the constitutions of many states that education is a fundamental right. Shouldn’t physical education be a fundamental right? What if physical education was required in every school, in every grade, in every year, for every child? What if physical education was considered the most important subject in school?

If we really care about our children and their future, shouldn’t we do more? I know what our son Willie would say. Thank you.

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126 Physical Education Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Physical education is an important aspect of education that focuses on the development of physical fitness and skills through various physical activities. It helps students understand the importance of leading a healthy and active lifestyle while also promoting teamwork, sportsmanship, and discipline. When it comes to writing essays on physical education, there are a plethora of topics that students can explore. Here are 126 physical education essay topic ideas and examples to help you get started:

The benefits of physical education in schools
The role of physical education in promoting mental health
The impact of physical education on academic performance
The importance of physical education for children with disabilities
The history of physical education in schools
The relationship between physical education and obesity
The benefits of incorporating technology in physical education classes
The role of physical education in promoting lifelong fitness
The importance of physical education for overall well-being
The benefits of team sports in physical education
The impact of physical education on social skills development
The role of physical education in preventing chronic diseases
The benefits of physical education for children'''s cognitive development
The importance of physical education for stress management
The impact of physical education on self-esteem
The benefits of including dance in physical education classes
The role of physical education in promoting healthy lifestyle choices
The importance of physical education for motor skills development
The benefits of outdoor activities in physical education
The impact of physical education on physical literacy
The role of physical education in promoting gender equality in sports
The benefits of physical education for children'''s emotional well-being
The importance of physical education for developing leadership skills
The impact of physical education on academic motivation
The benefits of incorporating mindfulness in physical education classes
The role of physical education in promoting cultural diversity
The importance of physical education for teaching sportsmanship
The benefits of including yoga in physical education classes
The impact of physical education on body image
The role of physical education in promoting inclusivity in sports
The importance of physical education for teaching teamwork
The benefits of physical education for children'''s social development
The impact of physical education on physical fitness levels
The role of physical education in promoting environmental awareness
The benefits of including nutrition education in physical education classes
The importance of physical education for teaching resilience
The impact of physical education on time management skills
The benefits of physical education for children'''s creativity
The role of physical education in promoting healthy competition
The importance of physical education for teaching conflict resolution skills
The benefits of including mindfulness in physical education classes
The impact of physical education on academic achievement
The role of physical education in promoting emotional intelligence
The importance of physical education for teaching goal setting
The benefits of physical education for children'''s self-regulation
The impact of physical education on self-efficacy
The role of physical education in promoting teamwork skills
The importance of physical education for teaching decision-making
The impact of physical education on self-confidence
The role of physical education in promoting creativity
The importance of physical education for developing problem-solving skills
The benefits of physical education for children'''s resilience
The impact of physical education on emotional regulation
The role of physical education in promoting positive body image
The importance of physical education for teaching conflict resolution
The impact of physical education on social skills
The role of physical education in promoting empathy
The importance of physical education for developing leadership qualities
The benefits of physical education for children'''s teamwork skills
The impact of physical education on communication skills
The role of physical education in promoting problem-solving abilities
The importance of physical education for developing resilience

In conclusion, physical education is a crucial component of a well-rounded education that promotes physical fitness, mental health, social skills, and overall well-being. By exploring these physical education essay topics and examples, students can gain a deeper understanding of the importance of physical education and its impact on various aspects of their lives. Whether you choose to focus on the benefits of physical education for cognitive development, social skills, or physical fitness, there are endless possibilities for exploring this important subject in your essays.

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Essay on Physical Education

Students are often asked to write an essay on Physical Education in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Physical Education

What is physical education.

Physical Education, often called PE, is a class in school where students do exercises, play sports, and learn about keeping their bodies healthy. It’s not just about playing games; it’s also about learning the rules of sports, teamwork, and staying active.

Benefits of PE

Activities in pe.

In PE, children play soccer, basketball, and other games. They might run, jump, or learn dances. Sometimes they also learn about healthy food. PE is fun because it’s a break from sitting in the classroom.

Skills from PE

PE teaches skills like how to throw a ball or swim. But it also teaches kids to be fair and to not give up. These lessons are important in life, not just in sports. PE can help kids become good adults.

250 Words Essay on Physical Education

Physical Education, or PE for short, is a subject in school where students get to be active and learn about sports and exercises. It’s not just about playing games; it’s also about understanding how to keep our bodies healthy and strong. In PE, teachers show kids how to move their bodies in different ways and play various sports.

Benefits of Physical Education

PE is very important for many reasons. First, it helps students to stay fit and healthy. When kids run, jump, and play sports, they build stronger muscles and bones. It also helps them to stay at a good weight. Second, PE can make your mind sharper and help you focus better in other classes. Lastly, it teaches teamwork and how to get along with others.

What You Learn in PE

In PE, you learn more than just how to play sports. You learn about the rules of games, how to be safe while playing, and how to respect other players. Teachers also talk about healthy eating and how to take care of your body by getting enough sleep and not eating too much junk food.

Fun and Games

PE is also about having fun. When you play games and sports, you can enjoy yourself while exercising. It’s a time in school when you can laugh with friends and enjoy being active.

500 Words Essay on Physical Education

Physical Education, often called PE, is a subject in school where students learn about staying active and healthy. It’s not just about playing sports or running around; it’s also about learning how to take care of your body. In PE, you get to learn new games, how to work as a team, and understand the importance of exercise.

The Importance of Staying Active

Staying active is very important for everyone, especially for students like you. When you move around and play, your body gets stronger, and you feel better. Exercise helps your muscles grow and keeps your heart healthy. It also makes you feel happy because when you exercise, your body releases something called endorphins, which are like natural happiness boosters.

Learning New Skills

In Physical Education, you learn a lot of new skills that can be useful in life. You learn how to throw, catch, jump, and run properly. These skills are not only for playing sports but also for daily activities. For example, being able to catch something quickly can help you in many situations, like catching a bus or even a piece of fruit falling from a table.

Teamwork and Sportsmanship

Health and fitness knowledge.

PE is not just about playing; it’s also about learning. You learn why eating healthy foods and staying active is good for you. Teachers show you how different exercises can help different parts of your body. For example, jumping rope is good for your heart, and stretching can make you more flexible.

Fun and Enjoyment

Challenges and achievements.

Sometimes PE can be challenging. Maybe you’re learning a new game or trying to get better at something. But when you practice and get better, it feels great. You feel proud of what you can do, and that helps you feel more confident in other parts of life too.

Physical Education is an essential part of school. It helps you stay healthy, learn new skills, work with others, and have fun. It’s not just about being the best at sports; it’s about feeling good and living a healthy life. So next time you have PE, remember it’s helping you in many more ways than you might think!

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Why PE matters for student academics and wellness right now

Please try again

This story about PE teachers was produced by The Hechinger Report , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s newsletter .

Amanda Amtmanis, an elementary physical education instructor in Middletown, Connecticut, handed out cards with QR codes to a class of third graders, and told them to start running.

The kids sprinted off around the baseball field in a light drizzle, but by the end of the first lap, a fifth of a mile, many were winded and walking. They paused to scan the cards, which track their mileage, on their teacher’s iPad and got some encouragement from an electronic coach — “Way to run your socks off!” or “Leave it all on the track!”

A boy in a red Nike shirt surged ahead, telling Amtmanis his goal was to run 5 miles. “Whoa, look at Dominic!” another boy exclaimed.

“We don’t need to compare ourselves to others,” Amtmanis reminded him.

The third graders finished a third lap, alternating running and walking, and were about to start on a scavenger hunt when the rain picked up, forcing them inside. Amtmanis thanked her students for their willingness to adjust — a skill many of them have practiced far more often than running these past 18 months.

The full impact of the pandemic on kids’ health and fitness won’t be known for some time. But it’s already caused at least a short-term spike in childhood obesity Rates of overweight and obesity in 5- through 11-year-olds rose nearly 10 percentage points in the first few months of 2020.

Amtmanis’ “mileage club,” which tracks students’ running, both in and out of school, and rewards them with Pokémon cards when they hit certain targets, is an example of how PE teachers around the country are trying to get kids back in shape.

But inclement weather isn’t the only thing PE teachers are up against as they confront what might be called “physical learning loss.” Physical education as a discipline has long fought to be taken as seriously as its academic counterparts. Even before the pandemic, fewer than half the states set any minimum amount of time for students to participate in physical education, according to the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE), which represents PE and health instructors.

Now, as schools scramble to help kids catch up academically, there are signs that PE is taking a back seat to the core subjects yet again. In some California schools, administrators are shifting instructional minutes from PE to academic subjects — or canceling class altogether so PE teachers can sub for classroom teachers; in others, they’re growing class sizes in the gym, so they can shrink them in the classroom.

Meanwhile, innovative instructors like Amtmanis, who has worked in her district for more than 20 years, are struggling to get their ideas off the ground. Over the summer, the principal of Macdonough Elementary, one of two schools where Amtmanis teaches, approved her request to participate in another running program called The Daily Mile, in which kids walk or run 15 minutes a day during school hours.

Daily running breaks “boost attentiveness, which has positive effects on academics,” Amtmanis argued.

But two weeks into the school year, not a single teacher had bought into the idea.

“The issue is their packed schedule,” Amtmanis said.

Last year, many schools conducted gym class remotely, with students joining in from their bedrooms and living rooms.

The online format presented several challenges. Many students lacked the equipment, space, or parental support to participate fully. And many instructors grappled with how to teach and assess motor skills and teamwork online.

Though instructors found creative ways to keep students moving — substituting rolled-up socks for balls, and “disguising fitness” in scavenger hunts and beat-the-teacher challenges — they still fretted that online gym wasn’t giving students the same benefits as in-person classes.

Compounding their concern was the fact that many students were also missing out on recess and extracurricular sports.

In a March 2021 survey conducted by the Cooper Institute, maker of the popular FitnessGram assessments, close to half the PE teachers and school and district administrators responding said their students were “significantly less” physically active during their schools’ closure than before it.

Schools that reopened last year faced their own set of challenges, including bans on shared equipment that made even a simple game of catch impossible. Schools that were open for in-person learning were also much more likely to cut back on PE instructional time, or eliminate it altogether, the survey found.

The consequences of these reductions in physical activity are hard to quantify, especially since many schools suspended fitness testing during the pandemic and have yet to resume it, but some PE teachers say they’re seeing more kids with locomotor delays and weaker stamina than normal.

“The second graders are like first graders, and some are even like kindergarteners,” said Robin Richardson, an elementary PE instructor in Kentucky. They can jump and hop, she said, but they can’t leap. They’re exhausted after 20 seconds of jumping jacks.

An unusually high number of Richardson’s first graders can’t skip or do windmills. Some lack the spatial awareness that’s essential to group games.

“They don’t know how to move without running into each other,” she said.

Other instructors are seeing an increase in cognitive issues, such as difficulty paying attention or following directions, particularly among kids who remained remote for most or all of last year.

Kyle Bragg, an elementary PE instructor in Arizona, has seen kids sitting with their backs to him, staring off into space when he’s talking. “I say ‘Knees, please,’ so they spin around to face me,” he said.

And some PE teachers say their students’ social-emotional skills have suffered more than their gross motor skills. “They forgot how to share; how to be nice to each other; how to relate to each other,” said Donn Tobin, an elementary PE instructor in New York.

PE has a key role to play in boosting those skills, which affect how kids interact in other classes, said Will Potter, an elementary PE teacher in California.

“We’re uniquely situated to handle the social-emotional needs that came out of the pandemic, in a way classroom teachers are not,” Potter said.

Amtmanis, for her part, worries about her students’ mental health. She sees the little signs of strain daily — the kid who got upset because he couldn’t pick his group, for example, and the one who was distressed that his Mileage Club card had gotten mixed up in the front office.

“Their emotional reserves are low,” she said.

Yet not all instructors are reporting drops in their students’ fitness and skill development. Teachers in some middle- and upper-income districts said they haven’t noticed much of a change at all. In some communities, families seemed to spend more time outdoors.

“We saw the skyrocketing sale of bicycles, we saw families going for walks,” said Dianne Wilson-Graham, executive director of the California Physical Education and Health Project.

But in Title I schools like Macdonough, where more than half the students are low-income, some kids didn’t even have access to a safe place to exercise or play during school closures.

“Not only are they not in soccer leagues, but sometimes they don’t even have a park,” Amtmanis said.

Amtmanis came up with the idea of doing the Daily Mile after spring fitness tests revealed drops in her students’ strength, flexibility and endurance.

But many schools still aren’t sure how much physical learning loss their students have experienced as a result of the pandemic. Most schools pressed pause on fitness testing last year, and some elementary-school instructors are reluctant to restart it. They say the tests aren’t valid with young children, even in ordinary times, and argue the time they take could be better spent on Covid catch-up.

Andjelka Pavlovic, director of research and education for the Cooper Institute, said its tests are scientifically proven to be valid for students who are 10 and up, or roughly starting in fourth grade.

Fitness testing requirements vary by state, county or even district. Some states specify how often students must be tested; others leave it largely to the teacher.

Bragg, the Arizona teacher, said he has put testing “on the backburner” because “right now it’s not at the forefront of what’s important.”

Richardson said she is avoiding testing because she doesn’t want to use up precious instructional time or demoralize her students. “I want my kids to enjoy movement,” she said. If they perform poorly on the tests, “they may not feel as strong.”

In Connecticut, where schools are required to test fourth graders’ fitness annually, Amtmanis approached testing cautiously last year. She didn’t want to embarrass her students, so she made it into a series of games.

Instead of Sit-and-Reach, they had a “flexibility contest,” in which kids broke into teams for tag then had to perform stretches if they were tagged. She measured the distances stretched with curling ribbon, tied the ribbons together, and attached a balloon to the end. The team whose balloon soared the highest won fidget putty.

Pushups became a Bingo game, with the center space representing pushups.

“My goal was to get through it without ever using the words ‘fitness” or ‘testing,’” she said.

As the pandemic drags on, some instructors are taking a similar approach to fitness remediation and acceleration.

Bragg likes a warmup called “ Touch Spots ,” in which first graders listen as the instructor reads off the name of a color, then run and touch a corresponding dot on the floor. It works on reaction time, cardiovascular endurance, spatial awareness and sequencing — but the kids don’t know that.

“Students are having so much fun that they don’t realize how much fitness they are doing,” Bragg said.

Differentiation — tailoring instruction to meet individual students’ needs — has become even more essential, with former remote learners often lagging behind their in-person peers, Bragg said.

When playing catch, for example, he offers his students different sized balls — the smaller ones are more challenging.

Potter, the California teacher, spent the first two weeks of school teaching his students how to connect with their partners, stressing the importance of eye contact and body language.

“When you’re on Zoom, you look at the camera to make eye contact,” he said. “It’s a very different environment.”

Bragg reminds his students how to include kids who are standing on the sidelines, modeling excited body language and tone of voice. Lately, he’s noticed that kids who were remote last year are being excluded from groups.

“Social interaction needs to be practiced, just like how to throw a ball,” he said.

Richardson, the Kentucky PE teacher, is trying to build up her students’ stamina gradually, through progressively longer intervals of exercise.

But she works in a school with pods, so she sees each group of kids for five consecutive days, every third week. The two weeks in between, she has to hope that teachers will provide recess and “movement breaks.” She’s trying to get them to give kids breaks “when they get glassy-eyed and frustrated.”

Recently, Richardson was at a staff training session at which depleted teachers were “popping candy in the back.” When she raised her hand and requested a break in the training, her colleagues cheered. She told them to remember how they felt when their students return to the building.

“I always say, ‘If your bum is numb, your brain is the same,’” she said.

Convincing classroom teachers to set aside more time for movement can be challenging, though. As students return from months of online learning, teachers are under enormous pressure to get them caught up academically.

Kate Cox, an elementary and middle-school PE teacher in California, wishes schools would “realize what they’re missing when they cut PE because of learning loss in other areas.” Physical education is “readying their minds and bodies to be more successful in other areas,” Cox said.

Terri Drain, the president of SHAPE, argued that schools fail students when they treat physical learning loss as less serious than its academic counterpart.

“In the primary grades, children develop fundamental motor skills, such as throwing, catching, running, kicking and jumping,” she said. Unless schools commit to helping kids catch up, “the impacts of this ‘missed learning’ will be lifelong.”

In Connecticut, Amtmanis hasn’t given up on convincing teachers to carve out time for the Daily Mile. She recently sent them a list of suggestions on how to fit 15 minutes of running into the day, including by incorporating it as an active transition between academic blocks.

“While it may seem like there aren’t minutes to spare,” she wrote, “the energizing effect of the active transition should result in more on-task behavior and more efficient working.”

In the meantime, Amtmanis plans to keep using the mileage club to motivate her students to run and to monitor their progress.

“I don’t want to call attention to the fact that not everyone is fit,” she said. “This is an unobtrusive way to keep the data.”

Essay on Physical Education in School for Students in 1000+ Words

In this article, we have published an essay on physical education in school. It includes its meaning, importance, and benefits. Also, how is physical education good for our health?

Table of Contents

Essay on Physical Education in School (1000 Words)

Physical education is essential because it improves the fitness of youngsters, makes them disciplined and active. It helps them to find out teamwork, test their decision-making capabilities too.

Adults spend their whole day in air-cooled offices; they eat food, don’t find time to exercise. It’s getting to be very tough for our generation.

Healthy Habits

It helps students to make good habits from an early age. Running, jogging, weight training, eating, and sleeping on time are a few habits that can help them in the future.

Interpersonal Skills & Team Work

Physical education teaches the way to communicate messages effectively and the way to figure them together.

Stress Buster

Makes you confident.

With improved interpersonal skills, relaxed and calm composure, and healthy habits, one becomes more confident. Physical education plays a notable role during this too.

Alternate Career Opportunity

Health is wealth.

Our current generation is affected by obesity from an early age. They also get spectacles at an old age. Obesity comes with related illnesses too.

Research has proven that children who regularly play different types of sports lead to high self-confidence, which is essential for building a person’s character.

Physical education helps one gain knowledge about the general aspects of physical health. Teenagers face many health-related problems like obesity, anemia, bulimia, and even diabetes, which are rampant amongst teenagers.

It won’t be wrong to mention that children, who learn the importance of health and hygiene at an early age, tend to get older to be responsible and healthy adults who are conscious of the advantages of a healthy lifestyle.

Anti-Depressant

The bottom line.

Habits formed with the assistance of education tend to remain with us for an extended time. We should bring skilled coaches and needed equipment to colleges.

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Physical Education Essay Examples

The validity of performing exercise at a young age.

Exercise is essential for our physical and mental health, especially as teenagers. With everything thrown at us in our adolescent years we need a stable, consistent and safe way to help keep healthy both mentally and physically as well as tools to help remedy stress,...

Benefits of Physical Activity for Children

In the benefits of physical activity essay I will shortly explain the main benefits of exercise for children's physical health and general well-being. Exercise for children can improve their physical health/mental health decreasing pain, negative feelings, depression etc and exercise also affects on mood. Exercise...

The Mind-body Connection: Insights from Physical Education Practice

Physical Education Reflection Essay. With this subject, I always woke up early in the morning to attend this class and learning something excitement. But every time we have a class in Physical Education, I can't deny to everyone that I'm always sleepy because it is...

What I Learned in Physical Education: from Basketball to Yoga

"What I learned in physical education" is the topic of my essay. Making physical education a requirement for both high school and college students can help students like myself become more educated on how important P.E. is and and stay physically fit; P.E. is not...

Examination of an Issue Experience in Physical Education and Health

Health and Physical Education studies offer an opportunity for creative delivery that can help to encourage engagement, and improve students’ performance across other subject areas, including STEM and humanities. This essay about experience in physical education and health examines issues in this sphere and what...

Inculcation of Values: Physical Education in Class

Physical education is being taught nowadays as a subject in primary schools, which focuses on the development of physical fitness and the ability to perform and enjoy day-to-day physical activities with ease. Learners are likely to participate in consistent, safe, enjoyable and engaging movement and...

The Importance of Physical Education for Students

The secret to a long life is being physically active. Young adolescents in our schools, benefit the most from physical activities because it positively affects their health, helps relieve stress, anxiety, and it improves their social assimilation. Physical education classes should be compulsory throughout a...

Impact of Digital Marketing on Yoga in Physical Education

Aim of the study is role of some yoga elements in physical education yoga is one of the indian philosophical system that emphasize the importance of the work with the body to develop healthy behaviour and thoughts. Among all the physical posture, called asanas in...

Health & Physical Education: Drugs in Sport

As the world of sport progresses with the increasing competitive events, the athletic life of many professional athletes is leading them in contact with drug abuse for a number of reasons, including to self-treat, relieve stress, retirement from sport, but most commonly, performance enhancement. Seeks...

Gender Issues in Physical Education

Over the past several years, there has been numerous reports documenting the decline of participation in physical activity among youth. There are various factors that can be in consideration of one or many reasons on why the declining of physical activity is ongoing in this...

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About Physical Education

Physical Education is an education cognitive content and instruction designed to develop motor skills, knowledge, and behaviors for physical activity and physical fitness.

Physical activities range from simple walking to jogging, running, sprinting, hopping, jumping, climbing, throwing, pushing, pulling, kicking, football, netball, hockey, rounders, cricket, racing, and numerous other children's games. Physical education also teaches nutrition, healthy habits, and individuality of needs.

When taught correctly, P.E. class can produce positive effects on students' health, behavior, develop physical skills, academic performance and confidence.

To expose children and teens to a wide variety of exercise and healthy activities. To teach skills to maintain a lifetime of fitness as well as health. To encourage self-reporting and monitoring of exercise. To individualize duration, intensity, and type of activity. To focus feedback on the work, rather than the result. To provide active role models.

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