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Elaine Yang
Professor Christie Bogle
English 1010
April 22, 2016
Issue exploration essay- Youth Fitness
Regular physically activity in children promotes health and fitness. Compared with those
who are not inactive, physical active youth have higher levels of cardiorespiratory function and
stronger muscles, joints and bones. They also typically have lower body fatness and may have
reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression. Those who are regularly active also have a better
chance of a health adulthood and have lower risks to develop heart disease, hypertension, type 2
diabetes, or osteoporosis.
Reduction of P.E. at school and overall physical activities in Youth
As we know, the youth obesity becomes a more serious problem in U.S. The statistic
shows nearly one in three children is overweight or obese. (U.S. school, par. 9) Besides the
intake of excess calorie, the reduction of daily physical activity is the other cause. In fact, we
have more opportunities to attend more variety of physical activities than we had; there is better
equipment invented to make physical activities safe. But, people are having more sedentary
lifestyle than we want to be. With advance technology, the electronic devices are very popular,
such as TV, videogames and computers, become necessities in every family. The statistic shows
children now spend more than seven and a half hours a day in front of a screen. (Presidents
council) Also, with the crime increasing, children less likely walk to school or play outside
before dinner. Even in schools, children cant get enough daily physical activities. The statistic
shows only Oregon and the District of Columbia meet the national recommendations for weekly

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time in physical education at both elementary and middle school levels. (Shape of nation 2016)
Most of states allow waivers, exemptions, and substitutions for physical education. It allows
students to have options where or not taking physical education classes.
No Child Left Behind impact on schools
Lets look at the recommendations of daily children physical activities from the experts:

Elementary school children should spend at least 30 minutes a day in PE class; middle
school and high school students should get an average of 45 minutes a day in PE. That is
150 minutes a week for elementary kids and 225 minutes for middle and high school

students. (Shape of nation 2016)

At least half of the PE class time should be spent doing vigorous to moderate intensity

physical activity. (Shape of nation 2016)

Student should do additional vigorous or moderate- intensity activity throughout the day,

including during recess, during classroom breaks. (Presidents council)

There should be other options to be physically active before and after school, including
intramural and extramural sports, active before- and after- school programs and
walking/biking/skateboarding to and from school. (Shape of nation 2016)

Since No Child Left Behind law started running, in the 2007 survey of school administrators, 44
percent reported cutting time from physical education and recess to increase reading and math
instruction. (U.S. schools, par. 21) From the recommendations above, our current physical
education programs have huge defects and need to be improved. Schools should at least make
enough hours in physical education class.
Necessary of extra P.E. hours and P.E. reform

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A voice of increasing physical education classes from parents has been raising recently.
People suggest that children will have more time exercise in schools to make up lack of physical
activities at home. While many states have increased the amount of time students spend in gym
class, the study found that adding 200 more minutes of time to gym class each week did not
produce substantial changes. By adding 200 minutes weekly minutes, the study showed that boys
generally engaged in only 7.5 minutes of more activity per day, while girls only participate in
activity 8 additional minutes each week. (Not Your Fathers PE, par. 17) Even in the average
high school, gym class only keeps students physically active for an average of 16 minutes in 45minute gym class. The excess physical education hours dont create extra benefits to students. It
is clear that physical education class is not effective. The fact is that students are more sedentary
in gym class than they should be; they either waste times waiting for their turns or they dont like
those tradition sports, such as dodge balls that use kids as targets, contests that reward students
who are the strongest. This has led nearly all states to create and pass new bills to reform public
schools fitness education programs.
Recently, the D.C. public school system received a federal grant to introduce students to
more life- time physical activities, (U.S. schools, par. 9) which are interesting and a variety of
sports, such as archery, rock climbing, fly fishing and yoga. In Prince Georges County, high
school students take Your Personal Fitness, which is a required class that students can create
individual plans themselves and pursue outside of school, such as Zumba or walking around the
neighborhood. Hopefully, in the near future, all these efforts can be expended to all of the school
districts, and more students can engage in nicer physical education programs and get benefits
from them.
Concerns over types of sports

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While the physical education reform is going on in school, parents can do something
simple to push children to do physical activities at home. Just start from cutting off TV time, play
Wii instead of videogames and set up play dates with other friends. Making housework fun and
do a friendly competition not only will everyone be out of their chair, but this will also be fun
bonding time for you and your family. Also, parents should participate when children play sports
at home. Research shows that the involvement of parents in physical activity can increase a
childs participation. (10 rules to keep kids active)
There is a debate whether children should play extreme sports, or alternative sports, a
term is not that shocking when people hear the first time. Sports like rock climbing,
snowboarding, inline skating, surfing, skateboarding, extreme skiing, and mountain biking are in
that category. Many parents hesitate to allow their kids to play extreme sports because of sport
injuries. In fact, children can get hurt by playing any sports. Until there is more research, it is
hard to say whether alternative sports are more dangerous than other sports. But with fully
preparation, the chances of getting injured will be reduced dramatically, for examples, getting
approval from the doctor, having adequate equipment and proper training. (Is it Wrong to Let
Children Do Extreme Sport)
Conclusion:
Physical education cant be ignored while children learn math and science. I feel sad
when I hear some schools allow students to waive or substitute physical education classes. Even
they have been used as punishment in some other schools. Fortunately, people are aware of this
problem existed and have started doing improvement of new physical education programs at
school. In addition, more parents are encouraged to participate being active with their kids. I
really like to see more kids doing physical activities regularly and carry on throughout their life.

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Work Cited
"Active Children and Adolescents." Physical Activity Guidelines. Office of Disease Prevention
and Health Promotion. Health.gov. nd. Web.13 Apr. 2016.
Children- Keeping Them Active. Healthy living. Department of Health & Human Services,
State Government of Victoria, Australia. Betterhealth.vic.gov.au. 2015. Web. 13 Apr.
2016.
Lackman, Jon. "Is It Wrong to Let Children Do Extreme Sports?" The New York Times.
Nytimes.com. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
Masters, Maria. Adam Bornstein. 10 Rules to Keep Kids Active. Parenting and Family.
active.com. nd. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
Cawley, John. "Not Your Father's PE - Education Next." RSS. 2006. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
Facts & Statistics- Presidents Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. Resource Center.
Fitness.gov. nd. Web. 15. Apr. 2016
2016 Shape of the Nation. Society of Health and Physical Education. Shapeamerica.org. nd.
Web. 14. Apr. 2016.
Gavin, Mary L. Strength Training and Your Child. For Parents. Kidshealth.org. nd. Web. 15.
Apr. 2016.
Chandler, Michael Alison. "U.S. Schools Develop a Nicer Version of Gym Class." The
Washington Post. Washingtonpost.com. nd. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.