Force Field Analysis Paper

Currently, kids in high schools are becoming fatter, slower, less intelligent and less motivated than past generations. We know that many teenagers would rather be sitting in front of a television than be doing something physically active. Teenagers believe they do not have enough time, opportunity and freedom to engage in physical activities. I believe the first way we can solve this issue is by starting in the high schools themselves, as students are able to receive an adequate among of exercise as well as receive guidance from instructors. In our society, physical education is only mandatory for one year, and I feel if the situation were reversed, fewer kids would be lacking physical exercise and our society of teenagers would be more active. Therefore, I feel that every student should be required to take a Physical Education class every year of high school because it promotes healthy living and makes students more well-rounded physically, mentally, and spiritually. Primarily, in our growing world, obesity is becoming more prevalent, and mandatory Physical Education classes would solve these problems and teach kids better strategies for living healthy lifestyles in both the present and future. In addition, Physical Education gives us more energy and increases our brain function which is known to help us in other subject areas. Finally, physical education is able to give teenagers skills necessary for social function such as valuable skills like communication and

Despite this popular belief, the class of physical education truly is beneficial for students at the elementary level. Most kids like to run around and have a good time, which is exactly what physical education is for. As shown in the graph from “Percentage of Youth Who Were Physically Active, By Number of Days Per Week and Sex,” only about twenty percent of adolescents were active five days per week. By keeping the physical education program, students will participate in five days of physical activity per week, which is a healthy amount. If students play on sports teams instead of physical education, they may only have two or three days of physical activity per week. Additionally, the five days of activity per week could help lower obesity rates which was shown to be nearly twenty percent in adolescents ages twelve to nineteen in the graph “Prevalence of Obesity Among Children and Adolescents Aged 2-19, by Sex and Age: United

In a time of immense technological advancement and competitive nature of college acceptance, the school curriculum seems to be revolved around Mathematics, English, Science and History. However, there is a course that has been forgotten that is crucial to the overall development of a student-- Physical Education. Many school districts in the United States do not require physical education as part of their curriculum. Many studies have correlated positive relationships between academic achievement and physical activity (Coe, 2006, p. 1515). As a health and kinesiology student, it is worrisome that our educational leaders do not understand the importance of physical activity. If our leaders could recognize the benefits of physical activity, maybe our educational curriculum could change. I am determined to persuade you that physical education is crucial for the well being of our children and should still be required in school.

Physical exercise is a necessity in schools because children and young adults need the physical exercise and the endorphin production. “Gym classes provide students with physical exercise on a consistent basis. It is particularly important for the physical well-being of children who do not engage in physical activities

Fitness in most schools is generalized to a class, called Physical Education also know as P.E. and besides recess this class will be the only time these students will exercise majority of their days. More often than not the students who actually participate in P.E. are those who are more “genetically gifted” while others are more reluctant to participate, due to many reasons such as being overweight, lacking of abilities or coordination, fear of being tormented or bullied by fellow classmates. This causes many students to do only the minimum amount of work in order to pass this class. While Physical Education is a required class for all students to take, most did not want to participate in this course. Acknowledging this

The need for quality physical education in elementary schools is an important needed foundation for young children to maintain a future healthy lifestyle. The benefits of having physical education in elementary schools are endless. For example, physical education helps fight childhood obesity, lower the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and promote active children to be active adults. However, the rhetoric surrounding physical education in these schools are

It is clear that childhood obesity is a rising epidemic in the United States, and one without a cure. The focus on this topic needs to be shifted to preventative measures in order to halt the increasing numbers. There are significant health consequences that come along with being overweight or obese, most of which do not show up until later in life, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, sleep apnea, and type II diabetes. On top of the risk of health conditions, carrying excess weight has also been linked to negatively impacting a child’s life psychologically and socially (Cawley, 2013). An extensive number of children are not getting any physical activity outside of school, advocating that physical education programs in schools across the nation need to be implemented to get young children moving. In order to impact the increasing numbers of childhood obesity, physical education classes need to be structured so that moderate to vigorous physical activity is attained for the majority of the class and that children are compliant with the activities in physical education classes. However, a staggering amount of research proves that participation in physical education classes will contribute to lower levels of obesity in children- when conducted at the recommended dosage- by getting children active, by teaching children knowledge of necessary health

“Almost seven in 10 parents say their child’s school does not provide daily physical education even though experts recommend 150 to 225 minutes per school week” (HSPH). Obesity is a major public health crisis among children and adults, and it is one of the leading causes of death. Over the years, childhood obesity has become an increasing and ongoing concern for many parents, in regards to their child’s health and well being. The lack of Physical Education in public schools has decreased over the years, and it is no longer mandatory for a student to take P.E or even some schools have banned P.E classes. U.S public schools have failed to comply with the recommended guidelines in the CDC for public school physical education, which states one should do “30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity on all, or most, days of the week” (CDC). It is sad to see that most public schools can not even take 30 minutes to work out their students and as obesity concerns rise, physical education classes are being cut. It just does not make any sense.

One of the main ways to end child obesity is to bring back physical education. According to nationalacademies.org “nearly half of school administrators (44%) reported cutting significant time from physical education and recess” (Institute of Medicine). Since kids spend the majority of the day in school it would only make sense to include some sort of physical exercise at some point in their day. The removal of physical education has a detrimental impact on kids, branding in them that physical education simply is not as important as their academic education. The

There was a study done in Mississippi with elementary and middle school students, whose aim was to find associations between health-related physical fitness and academic achievement using standardized Language Arts and Math scores (Blom, Alvarez, Zhang, Kolbo, 2011). Besides the standardized test scores, objective measures of fitness were used, along with attendance records, discipline records and socio-demographic information of the area. The participants included 2,992 Mississippi public school children in grades 3-6. The results indicated a strong positive correlation between fitness and standardized test scores in Language Arts and Math. The more fit students had higher test scores and fewer absences overall. The study also revealed that students with the lowest number

Physical activity in school used to be a big part of school, but as time marched on physical activity became less and less important to school boards even some schools went as far as removing physical education completely. Today it is required that schools have physical education, but as childhood obesity rates have shown, that is not enough. Childhood obesity has skyrocketed lately and it has shown to have an effect on children academically as well as their health. With children spending a huge portion of their childhood in school, school has a great opportunity to help children stay healthy as well as get an education. “A research project called PAAC with 24 elementary schools showed that adding sessions of physical activity to a school curriculum could have long term benefits both academic and health.(Source 1)” “One school took a survey of children playing active video games and traditional recess, it showed that the children who played the active video games showed an improvement in math scores.(Source 1)” “Among 5,316 students in grades K through fifth grade, the frequency and duration of P.E. class were positively associated with standardized test performance among girls but not boys.(Source 1)” “When

As a person over 40 who is pursuing a career as Physical Education Teacher, I was a little intimated by the Fitnessgram test. I am a person is currently overweight in the process of getting back in shape. Even though, I am not in the best of shape currently, it is important that I have a better understanding of how to improve the overall fitness of my students and myself. As this paper goes on, I will discuss my results in aerobic capacity, muscle strength, muscle endurance, flexibility and body mass index. After I have discussed my results, the paper will end with my personal fitness plans.

For PDSA cycle I chose to use data notebooks during the Fitnessgram testing. I chose these because they are engaging, interactive, and they promote sharing, trusting, teambuilding, reflection, and coaching. (Pitas, 2000) In physical education I am always looking for ways for students to reflect on their exercise habits in and set goals for their future. I want to educate students to be healthy for a lifetime and what better way than for them to tract their own exercise and reflect on how it’s working. They would be sharing their beliefs with me along with their goals. They would trust me to help them achieve their goals as well as their personal information on how they want to portray

Lorenz, Kent A, et al. “Does Fitness Make the Grade? The Relationship between Elementary Students, Physical Fitness and Academic Grades.” Health Education Journal, vol. 76, no. 3, 21 Oct. 2016, pp. 302–312., doi:10.1177/0017896916672898.

Sedentary living is one of the biggest obstacles public education is facing right now. In fact, according to Nilofer Merchant, a board member for both public and private boards, and a professor at Stanford University, “Sitting is the smoking of our generation” (Merchant). To combat this issue, gym class has been implemented nationwide. Gym class is one of those courses every student must take at some point, but never enjoys. For a while now, students and parents alike have argued against the course, but is it more beneficial than they may realize? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Children and adolescents should do 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of physical activity each day,” something many children are unable to achieve otherwise (Centers). From its educational aspects, about both the individual student and about healthy living, to its required exercise components, gym class should continue to be mandatory for all students.