Having The Freedom To Choose The Sports Done in P.E.

I take the position that middle school students should be allowed to choose the sports we do in P.E. While kids get the required amount of physical exercise with the variety of sports given to us, middle school students are not enjoying P.E. classes because of the sports they don’t enjoy or are struggling in. The UWCSEA P.E. department should allow the freedom for middle school students to choose their own sports units in the P.E curriculum, because firstly, middle school students are starting to not enjoy P.E classes, and are pushing themselves to do things they don’t want to. Secondly, students’ self esteem is becoming lower because of how uncomfortable they feel when they’re doing the sports they’re not good at.

One critical reason middle school students should be allowed to choose their P.E curriculum is because students are starting to not enjoy P.E classes, and P.E classes are meant to be fun. Penelope Trunk, author of the article “Forced Gym Hates Exercise”, says: “Kids who don’t have any gym yearn for exercise during the day and they generally know what they like, team sports or individual sports, rigorous or methodical... Kids who are forced to do a certain type of exercise generally dislike exercise in the same way that kids who are forced to learn a certain way that’s not appropriate to them start to hate learning.” (Trunk, 2013). This is important to notice because that quote summarizes what I feel like in P.E. class. I don’t usually like the way we are being forced to learn the sports that we don’t take any sort of interest in, and I find myself become quite tense. I think the author’s intention was to tell P.E. coaches and parents that kids that have to follow the system of P.E. units get tired of doing forced sports. A study conducted by the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) interviewed 1,500 kids and found that over half (51 percent) of girls are “put off physical activity by their experiences of school sport and P.E. lessons.” (Alamy, 2012). This is significant because 51 percent is a lot of girls that don’t like sports just because of their experiences, which is saddening because kids should be able to enjoy sports without any obstacles in the way.

Another crucial reason middle school students should have the right to pick the sports they do in the P.E. curriculum is because kids’ self esteem is decreasing because of how unconfident kids are feeling when doing sports they’re not good at or not fond of. I have personal experience. I really find myself engaged in some sports that we do, such as basketball or badminton. They are really fun, interesting sports which I wouldn’t mind doing in P.E. classes. I feel I strive in these sports and really like them. However, I feel that P.E. units I have such as touch rugby and volleyball are really challenging for my abilities, and I dread P.E. and feel uncomfortable when attempting to do the sports. Furthermore, I know some people like my classmate Piper, that really like touch rugby and volleyball, and some people that despise basketball and badminton. This is important to notice because I feel this can relate to everyone, even outside of the P.E. subject. You can be really talented at humanities, but struggle in maths. It’s exactly the same for P.E. units. Also, Sarah Harris, contributor to the Mail Online, found a research at that was conducted at the University of Bedfordshire in the UK. They found that almost half of middle school teachers (42 per cent) say that their students don’t enjoy PE lessons, and that thirty-nine per cent of children across the UK have a negative attitude towards being physically active by the age of 16, according to a survey of 400 middle school teachers. This shows that many middle school students’ interest in P.E. is decreasing, because it says that by the age of 16, the children have lost their attention towards P.E. At this age, children are going through adolescence and while we’re going through this transition, we start to make many decisions that usually stick through to the end of adolescence. P.E. is a subject in school that shouldn’t be ignored, and is crucial to our health, but with people losing interest in it, it’s not gonna benefit their mental health (e.g. feeling better about your body) if children are not interested at such a young age.

I do agree that their is no need to change the system of the current P.E. units. In the survey I conducted within my mentor class, most if not all the respondents generally said they didn’t mind the P.E. sports we had in school, and 12.5% of the peers said no to changing the sports curriculum. The P.E. units we’ve been having have been quite successful throughout many years and there have been no complaints. Also, I do understand how painful organizing everyone into these sports would be, let alone organizing middle school students into different P.E. classes. But don’t we want all kids to be comfortable, confident and contented when they’re playing sports? Isn’t that what sports are meant to be doing? Offering this opportunity to select what sports we can do would help achieve this goal.

Middle school students should be able to have the rights to choose the sports they want to do. I take the position that while middle school students stay fairly fit with the P.E. units given to us, we are having to follow the system of sports that some kids aren’t eager to do. The UWCSEA P.E. department should provide the rights for middle school students to choose their own sports units in the curriculum.

I do understand that it’s gonna be very chaotic to organize the sports for 620 students. Also, most kids still like the P.E. units. However, there are kids still struggling out there. I’m proposing an idea which can help solve this issue. We can treat P.E. class as a health society; kids who are keen athletes can have the opportunity to sign up for hardcore sports, and other kids who are less eager to do tough sports can choose ones they want to do so they feel better about themselves.

Gymnastics in Physical Education

Gymnastics is a highly valued sport, which teaches kids a lot of different skills and qualities that they won't learn participating in any other sport. This is why I think that gymnastics should be apart of the middle school PE curriculum. Just by adding gymnastics as one unit of PE in middle school, can encourage kids to be more healthy. Gymnastics helps to improve children's flexibility, strength, stamina, coordination, balance, power, agility, focus, grace and control. These skills can be applied and transferred to any sport across the board and even into children's academics. Even practiced at a low level in PE, it will still encourage children and teach them these skills.

PE in schools are very different for different kinds of children, some strive in PE while others suffer and feel embarrassed. Physical Education, usually isn't a level playing field, with some very seasoned, experienced athletes in one class along with other children who might not even participate in sports. That's why gymnastics is a great starting point, some children who may be amazing at sports like basketball, football, rugby, swimming etc. won't be as great in gymnastics, but that's okay it will teach them new skills and all the children will feel like they are progressing their skills at even pace. Gymnastics is very different to other sports, just because you are amazing at football and basketball, doesn't mean you'll be amazing at gymnastics, but it will help you to improve certain areas that could be applied to any sport.

Gymnastics is an intricate sport, which requires development of a lot different skills and qualities. According to fitness health revolution, “The raw physical strength, flexibility, power, agility, coordination, grace, balance and control required in gymnastics are impressive”(Health Fitness Revolution, 2015) This is significant, because most of these skills like strength, power, agility, coordination, grace and control are transferable to other sports. Football for example requires power, agility, control, grace and coordination, gymnastics is a great sport to teach these skills required for other sports. Why shouldn't it be taught in middle school PE? Let's take basketball for another example, basketball required strength, power, agility, coordination and control. These are all skills that can be learned during gymnastics.

Gymnastics is a sport that requires a lot of strength and it encourages kids to be healthy and work hard. Although gymnastics is very difficult, it encourages kids to work hard on becoming better and improving. According to Suzanne Allen “Five components of fitness for gymnastics include body composition, flexibility, muscular strength, muscular endurance and cardiorespiratory endurance.” (Allen, 2004) This is important, because it shows the how gymnastics does require strength and although it isn't the easiest sport, it can contribute to children's body composition to help boost their strength for other sports that they may participate in.

Although Some may argue that PE teachers are not qualified to teach gymnastics, it is taught to junior schoolers with bodies that are more fragile and weaker, so why can't it be taught to middles schoolers just as easily. This school has a very versatile, all rounded gymnastics program which teaches a huge amount of children how to do gymnastics. So why not give a taste of what this school has to offer. Why should we shut out the gymnastics program, when it can be shared with everyone, not just junior schoolers. In a poll taken from the 7-8 mentor class, 60% of the students said that they would like to try gymnastics in PE. So why can’t PE teachers be taught the correct qualifications, and carry gymnastics on into middle school PE.

Gymnastics is also a fun and unique sport, which is unlike no other, it has a huge combination of components in which other sports don't acquire. It also can be an extremely difficult sport, which can also be very rewarding. Middle schoolers should not miss the unique experience of learning gymnastics, and involving gymnastics in the middle school PE curriculum, will help them experience this. According to gymnastics zone, “Science finally has some facts to prove what we have all known for some time – Gymnastics is the most difficult sport on the planet for women (and men), both mentally and physically” (Gymnastics Zone, 2011) This is very important, because gymnastics is very difficult, making it a great learning experience. From personal experience, I know that gymnastics can be hard, but I am glad that I joined the sport. The reason that I joined gymnastics was that after my first gymnastics unit in PE, I was amazed. I was only in grade 4, but I was hooked I was instantly in love with the sport, and that has lasted with me until today being in grade 7 and still doing gymnastics at level 5.

In conclusion, Gymnastics is an amazing sport containing so many skills and qualities, that has to be taught in the middle school PE curriculum. More kids need access to try gymnastics and PE is the perfect way to give them that opportunity. Gymnastics should be encouraged because it teaches so many skills that can be transferred to other sports. Also gymnastics is extremely fun, interesting and unique and middle schoolers should be allowed to opportunity to experience that part of them sport.

"Science Shows Gymnastics Is the Most Difficult Sport in the World - Gymnastics Zone." Gymnastics Zone. N.p., 22 Nov. 2011. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.
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"Five Components of Fitness in Gymnastics." Five Components of Fitness in Gymnastics. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.

More Sporting Opportunities for the Youth

I feel the same as you that during sporting events teens can loose self esteem and possibly injure themselves but one might argue that more sporting events and opportunities should be available to kids around the world because it gives Teens across the world a chance to achieve sporting greatness, sports events can help bond friendships and a player can gain confidence from participating in sporting events.

While Sports competitions can damage teenagers self esteem and possibly injure them more sporting opportunities and events should be available to teens because A player can gain confidence from participating in competitive sporting events, Teenagers across the globe look to achieve athletic or sporting greatness and competitions can also help bond teams and friendships within the team.

Sporting events are only available for the top athletes in certain sporting clubs. Sporting committees and owners of Youth sport teams should create competitions to help less skillful players develop Teamwork, Dealing with defeat and skills that are needed to make a good teammate not the best player.

Firstly, Teenagers across the globe look to achieve athletic or sporting greatness. Giving Teens more sporting events to participate in will increase the chance of coaches scouting them. They will also train more often which will help them increase their skill level. A article By an unknown source on the website www.topuniversities.com says “By participating in a competition organised by a company, university or other organization, you have a new opportunity to show your talent and apply your skills. In turn, the rewards of student competitions, whether tangible or otherwise, can help you achieve your educational and professional goals. You might win an internship that leads to the job of your dreams, some money that would help you buy course books, or even help to start your own business.” This is really important because it shows how people with experience and practice can achieve greatness in an area of interest. Although this is in a school perspective this shows that participating in competitions can help develop someone's skills as well as show them off which can really help outside scouts to pick players especially if they have experience.

Another reason is that competitions can also help bond teams and friendships within the team. This can help the team play better as they will also feel a lot more comfortable around each other. An article by Cherie Burbach from http://friendship.about.com/ says “If you're looking for friends, joining a sports team is a great way to connect with people. There are several reasons for this. First, you and your team are all working together and playing by the same set of rules. You need to trust each other (will he make the play, will she have my back when I miss) and as you get to know one another you play off each other's strengths.” This is saying how being in a sports team can help build trust with friends/team mates as well learn that they will always have your back.

Lastly, A player can gain confidence from participating in competitive sporting events.An article from Richard Bailey says “Over the years that followed my "discovery" of running, my self-confidence grew, and feeding off the accomplishments I achieved in sports - setting new personal bests, winning a little local race, surviving the setbacks of injuries and marathons gone wrong - I discovered a capacity within myself that I never knew I had. I wasn't just physically stronger than I expected, I thought of myself as a different person, as someone with more potential, broader horizons, bigger possibilities. I saw that I could push myself and take risks, not just in sports, but elsewhere, too. The competition in sports, as in life, was not with someone else, it was with myself. To "compete" was to discover my own potential to do better, to hold my own self to a higher standard, to expect more of myself--and deliver” This shows how from years of running he built up his self esteem and this helped him in places outside of sports and helped him push himself, take risks until he reached his full potential.

Owners of Youth sports teams and sports committees should take immediate action to include the less skillful player and offer more opportunities to help get players recognised to hopefully help them pursue their dream sometime. Opening more youth academies and more local and international sporting events for teams to bond and for young talents to be recognised in the community.

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