Legally Fit?

Laws are created, amended, passed, vetoed and so on across our country all the time.  For example, the Teenage and Adult Driver Responsibility Act (TADRA), enacted on July 1, 1997, has strict specifications for obtaining a driving permit and license.  This legislation was enacted in an attempted to allow teenage drivers to safely gain driving experience thereby reducing the number of accidents they are involved in.  I think we can all agree that it is a good idea to keep our little friends on the kindergarten hall from driving to school every morning! 

The Georgia General Assembly is currently considering a bill, Senate Bill 474 (SB 474), that would directly impact you.  This bill is known as the “Student Health and Fitness Act”.  It would require that each student in elementary school participate in 150 minutes of Physical Education a week, which is the equivalent of 30 minutes a day.  This legislation is intended to help prevent childhood obesity.  To read SB 474 just go here.  I’ve highlighted some of the parts I thought you might find interesting.     

As a democratic society, we have the right and obligation to voice our thoughts about these matters.  I have contacted members of the Georgia House of Representatives and Georgia Senate to express my opinions, but I’m interested in knowing what you think. Remember that you currently have P.E. two times a week for 45 minutes (or 90 minutes a week).  We are 60 minutes below what the legislation proposes.  Consider the possibility of having P.E. everyday for 30 minutes. Does that sound good to you?  What if having 30 minutes of P.E. a day meant that you would no longer have Art, Music and Computer Lab?  Does that change your opinion?  Do you think 30 minutes would be enough time to use the pedometers, heart rate monitors and other cool equipment we have? You are all such smart boys and girls that I cannot wait to hear what you have to say.  And maybe after you share your ideas with me I will tell you my opinion on the subject!

::UPDATE::

I spoke with a Georgia State Senator on Friday about SB 474.  He is a member of the group that wrote and proposed this legislation.  In our conversation he assured me that including the additional P.E. time would not result in the elimination of Art, Music or Computer Lab.  I thought that was great news and something that you all needed to know!             

Comments

[Mrs. Meeler]

I certainly agree that physical education and physical activity is an essential element in K-12 education. Is it more important than reading and math or art and music? Tough question, huh? Health and fitness is very important to each individual no matter the age. Without health and fitness, we can't do the other things we enjoy. Do we, as a society need more exercise? Absolutely! I think that is the major goal of the Bill Ms. Roper posted about. However, we cannot accomplish all the many neccessities for creating well-rounded educated citizens at school. There is simply not enough time in the school day. Some efforts must be made at home in order produce and accomplish the goals set forth. While I applaud the efforts of our senators and agree with the desired outcomes, I am not sure if it is feasible. How will we fit in everything else required under the "No Child Left Behind" act, etc., etc.? How will all the classes fit inside the gym at the same time? Will we get more money to hire another P.E. teacher and to build a bigger gym? These are things that must be considered before the bill is passed. What are some alternatives to getting students more active that may be more feasible?

[Ricardo]

I really think that we should not take away art,music,and technology cause I like having to have these specials.

[Rebekah]

No,I think Art and Music is so important in a childs life.So I'm agents this.

[Alicia]

No I think art,music and lab are so important to us because we can learn new things in art,music and lab.

[Luis]

I think its cool

[Angel]

Some people say they don
want to have P.E. every day but people have the rights to not go to P.E. every day but it is good to exersise

[araceli]

I think we should have P.E every day only so we could get alot
of exersice and to get alot of
foots and hands and we should still keep the athor specials to.

[christina]

No because without art and music I would go home and probaly cry. I would have no creative things to do in school.

[Kali]

I think that having P.E every day would be AWESOME! But if that meant that we couldn't have art,music,and cumputerlabI don't thik it would. Because alot of people like all of are specials. So why do we have to have just one?

[erica]

I would love to go to P.E each day but if I can't go to Art,Music,or the computer lab that would be CRAZY!See if I wanted to be a artist then who would teach me how to draw?I was supposed to learn that in school not when I get oulder.What if I wanted to have a music career & I didn't know how to play music than what am I going to do?What if I wanted to work in costomer service & I didn't know how to use the computer.So I think that we need our fitness but we need more than that also.

[gianna]

I would want to go to p.e. every day but we need to practice on art,music and computerlab. So we can get much better on painting and singing and using the computer.

[lisa]

I think was a good blog. I love to write.

[jake]

I dont want P.E. every day, I would get tired of it. I also love oter things like art.

[derrick]

I agree with both sides I don't.

[maira]

I think having P.E everyday is bad becuase we would get bored of it.And they would get tired of having us every single day.
And then they would have to get a perfesional P.E teachers.And we need to learn other things instead of just P.E.

[david daniel]

I still whant to have p.e because it fun and you earn feet every 10,000 steps you get.and i still like the idea

[brineisha hill]

Hi I like the idea what you guys are doing.I still won't the 10,000 steps the grades get.

[Marisela]

I think having exersise for 30 min. is fine. But if I have P.E will be fun for the first few days, but it might get kind of boring. A lot of other schools don't get art or music like we do and I think we're lucky. My dad saw a cermacial about that and he pays us $35 to walk 30 min. on the tredmill everyday! It might sound tireing but it is very fun andit helps me stay in shape!

[Theresa]

I do not like this idea. If we had P.E. every day, then our bodies would hurt. We would need to practice art, music, and computer lab. We students might become artists, composers and or singers, writers, or racers and if we get awards someday we would want to thank all of our teachers. And P.E. may become boring sometimes.

[Debra Holmes]

I am in favor of adding more PE because I see many overweight students in my remedial classes. They seem tired, listless and uninterested in learning. I think there is a connection between a child's energy level and his weight. I think that a child with low energy is a child who will perform poorly on academics as well. Even though adding PE may seem to reduce academic time, I think the children would perform better in the long run.

[Bernadette Henning]

It is certainly true that most Americans are overweight including our children. However, some of this responsibility has to be shouldered by the parents. Teachers and schools cannot be everything to everybody. While I agree that PE is very beneficial so are all the other Specials that we have like art, music, and computer lessons. There is simply not enough time to increase the amount of PE. As a teacher of reading, math, language arts, and social studies there is hardly enough teaching time now for all the subjects so we certainly cannot allow time to be taken from this area. Please do not increase PE time for our students. Somehow we must get parents to learn how to better parent so the schools can spend more time on the educational process. Yes, we must educate the whole child but we do not want to 'jump on a band wagon'and get our priorities out of order. Let's keep things in balance and not over accentuate any one area.

[Darryl]

i like this. it is great.

[Junhan]

I like this idea.

[Landy]

I do like this idea,but what if some of us don't want to go to pe every day.

[Sandy]

I like this idea.