Con: Is P.E.’s curriculum helpful to students?

P.E. is a place where students are able to exercise and try out new sports. Some even consider it a time to relax and get some fresh air during a day of classes. However, Gunn’s P.E. classes are insufficient for the needs of students because too many sports are taught and classes do not provide enough time to exercise.

Even with P.E., students aren’t getting enough exercise. According to a study conducted by UCLA in 2018, 80% of teenagers in California fail to exercise for the recommended amount of one hour per day. Gunn’s classes fall short of this number, with students spending around four hours per week in P.E., as opposed to the five needed. As well as not meeting federal recommendations, the hours spent in P.E. are not used efficiently. After transition periods like changing into P.E. clothes, students spend a lot of time standing around and chatting with friends. 

According to P.E. teacher Steve Ames, a goal of the Gunn P.E. curriculum is to teach students ‘physical literacy’, which is the confidence and competence to engage in physical activities. One of the ways the curriculum achieves this is by introducing a wide variety of sports to students. However, too many sports are taught. According to The Little Book of Talent by Daniel Coyle, learners should give eight weeks of time to a new skill. It cites many prominent eight-week training programs. But with the average P.E. unit being just 4 weeks long, students do not have enough time to develop the skills necessary to engage in it outside of school.

Some may say that P.E. gives students a break from rigorous classes. However, P.E.’s purpose is to have students exercise. Done properly, P.E. is exhausting, not fun. If students leave P.E. feeling refreshed and relaxed, they haven’t participated enough. Some people also say that P.E. increases mental health. But the opposite is true, as events such as fitness testing, timed miles and graded skill checks for sports put even more stress on students.

To address some of these problems, teachers could make sure students are always doing an activity instead of wasting time, or focus on a select few sports instead of covering a variety. But, unless serious changes are made, the Gunn P.E. program does not serve the needs of students as too many sports are taught, which leads to not enough time being spent on each sport.