Post by Peter LawrencePost by VandarPost by Peter LawrencePost by CheriPost by VandarThere is no lesson to be gained by forcing kids to take showers in school.
None whatsoever. There are other places to show authority, and not
while some shy kid is standing naked in a public shower.
Taking a shower after P.E. should have nothing to do about a show of
authority and everything to do with developing good hygienes.
If that were true, schools would require students to brush their teeth
after lunch.
They should. They should also require that students wash their hands
before they eat lunch. Poor hygienes leads to sickness and poor health.
Post by VandarThe root problem is that "Physical Education" has nothing to do with
education. Having kids play volleyball or run around a track for 40
minutes teaches them *nothing*.
It helps them stay fit. And with government (read taxpayers) poised to
spend more and more money on healthcare, it's important that the
population as a whole stay as fit and healthy as possible.
School is supposed to be about learning. PE does not teach, thus they do
not learn from it. Around here, teaching kids how to stay fit and
healthy is done in a class called "Health".
PE is a waste of time and resources. Having it be required for
graduation is beyond stupid.
Post by Peter LawrencePost by VandarPost by Peter LawrenceIf installing private showers makes the kids more comfortable,
there's nothing wrong with that, especially in today's world where a
fellow kid could take an inappropriate photo with a cell phone.
With state already way over budget, upgrading showers is never going
to happen. What they should do is eliminate the showers altogether,
thereby saving money on the water bill.
They could save even more money by just eliminating PE. Here in NY,
you don't graduate without passing 4 years of gym, which is one of
dumbest policies in the history of education.
Actually, I think it's great that New York state requires four years of
gym. I think all states should requires high school seniors to pass a
fitness exam besides an educational exit exam before they receive their
high school diploma. Of course, students with physical disabilities
would be exempt (or at least have a modified test appropriate for their
physical disability).
My daughter tells me that they recently switched to a credit based
system. Kids must earn a certain number of credits to graduate, with a
set number of credits required in certain classes. Only one credit of
Health is required, while 4 credits of PE are required (6 credits of
math and science and 8 credits of social studies and english).
In this tech age, I see a huge problem with requiring less math and
science than SS and Eng. At minimum, they should be equalized at the
expense of "PE".
As an added bonus, since they implemented this new system, graduation
rates have markedly dropped.