FAT and out of shape?
Our kids are increasingly more obese, out of shape and unhealthy. There are several reasons for this.
Increasing awareness and supporting programs that can help will improve our children's health show how important they are to us.
Recently, The Californianpublished an article reporting the results of the state-mandated FitnessGram scores. The writer stated that physical fitness scores show little progress had been made at most schools around the county.
As the only state required assessment tool for children's fitness, FitnessGram scores limit the ways in which a student can show improvement from year to year. The test has been strongly opposed by physical education instructors because it is not very valid.
Physical education lobbyists have long tried to create a more valid test that measures strength, flexibility and endurance. But they have run up against a test that has been used for years.
The validity is challenged because all physical education instructors do not administer the test the same way. The FitnessGram is a subjective test that is not written. It is observed as students perform the exercises. This can create a gray area of results, whereas a written test is graded in a black-and-white format with very clear answers.
The validity of the test also is challenged by class size. Is it possible for such a test to be valid if a physical education teacher is relegated to teaching an average class size of 43 students? That teacher has to test and observe each student on six different FitnessGram tests.
If that teacher were to individually test each student with one-on-one observation, it would take several weeks to complete the testing. Instead, a group test is conducted and therefore leaves the test open for inaccurate assessments. Students may not properly execute the test when the teacher is not looking.
As a result, the FitnessGram test should not be used as a sole measure of a student's success and how much the student is learning in his or her physical education class.
Our children's health is a huge concern. We have physical education teachers who are aware of this and strive to better our youth. There needs to be support for what we are trying to achieve and what we are fighting against.
Middle schools within an elementary school district (for example, the Bakersfield City School District) are only required to have 220 minutes of instruction in physical education every two weeks, instead of the customary 440 minutes of classroom instruction. This means physical education instruction is required every other day, instead of every day.
Students also can be legally removed from physical education class for various reasons: choir; band; vision, hearing or scoliosis testing; training for academic competitions; counseling; makeup or placement tests for other subjects, etc. That means less minutes and less exercise.
Physical education also is the "dumping ground" for students when substitutes do not show up at a school site for an absent teacher. Therefore, physical education instructors end up with classes of 80 or more students with no chance of an effective lesson being taught.
Physical education is moving toward a new focus. More and more physical education instructors are not just throwing out the ball. They are teaching our children how to live healthier lives through problem-solving and movement-encouraging activities.
The foundation that is built for physical education in the elementary school setting helps with the success of a healthy child. But many elementary schools do not have a physical education specialist or a teacher who has the proper training, expertise, or time to facilitate physical education activities. Therefore, before a child gets into middle school, he or she may already have developed bad habits that can adversely affect his or her health and motivation to participate in activities that are physically demanding.
Many children arrive in middle school with weight and health problems that could have been tackled with a little more support in the earlier years of life.
With the current emphasis on "No Child Left Behind," all schools are increasingly being scrutinized in how they are dealing with less than favorable results on the California Standards Test. Takeovers of schools due to program improvement status are imminent. More and more teachers are being forced into teaching to "the test," instead of invigorating students' minds with innovative teaching methods that are sometimes taught outside of the textbook.
This process may lead to an increased effort to educate students in the area of English, reading, science and math. It does not take into consideration the other subjects taught. Instead of a teeter-totter balanced to show the importance of all school subjects, some subjects are allowed to fall by the wayside. One of these "not as important" subjects happens to be physical education.
That is why our high schools have lowered the graduation requirements for physical education in recent years. That is why there is very little in the school budget for physical education needs. That is why our children are suffering.
We, as a society, present the example for our children to emulate. If we don't place a high importance on physical education and health, why should our youth? Motivation needs to be something that keeps our kids active and conscious of their health. They do this because they know they will live longer lives, not because they will be rewarded with a piece of candy or a letter grade that is temporary.
Parents play the most important role in reinforcing what we teach at school and making a child's life and education a priority. This means that along with insisting that homework and household duties be done, parents must limit the amount of non-active leisure activities and supplant these activities with exercises. Physical education must share the stage in order to combat the trend of unhealthy, inactive and overweight children we see today.
Shane Duncan is a physical education and health teacher at Sequoia Middle School in Bakersfield.
