PE Article

Goal: Fitter kids
District trying out different tactics to get students to be more active, eat healthier
By Chris Moran
Found at: http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080207/news_1sz7fitkids.html

This article examined the lack of physical education taking place throughout San Diego County and what is being done about it. The article focuses more on health and how to reverse the current obesity numbers found in our schools today. Healthy eating, exercising, and education on both seem to be the suggested preventative measures. Students should be taught how to live healthy lives by learning about the correct foods to eat and nutrition, as well as the required amount of exercise.
The state of California decided that students should be receiving 100 minutes of physical education a week. The article stresses that it is a difficult task to achieve with the pressures and strain already in place with classroom subjects of math and language arts and the shortage of time in the year. By visiting schools in San Ysidro, the author of the article made a few suggestions on how to achieve the desired physical education without having to disrupt class time. Some schools offer intramural sports for students to participate in. They offer medals for the winning teams as an incentive to play and exercise. One school developed Olympic Games for the entire school to participate in during the year. Another suggestion was having after school programs which incorporated more physical education.
The author seemed to focus in on especially one school’s way of getting students active without direct instruction in physical education. At San Ysidro Middle School, the assistant principal plays appropriate music at lunch twice a week. After filtering and editing popular songs, Elena De La Rosa DJ’s for students, encouraging them to get up and dance. The article features a picture to illustrate the success of this program. Students seem to enjoy having an administrator play their favorite music for them during school and without having to pay to attend a school dance or function. The students receive extra physical activity that is fun for them to do in addition to their physical education program.