Is there anything children should simply be "made" to do nowadays?

Well, there ya go!

Dodgeball!!! My glasses got broken every time!!!

 

 

Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:

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Who are you to tell people how they should feel about Swim class!! 

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 And if a kid doesn't want to swim, just DRAG her to the pool.

flan

flan327 wrote:

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ed11563 wrote:

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Dodgeball!!! My glasses got broken every time!!!

 

 

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 Oh, don't get me started...

flan

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( Ed is looking for Flan's "start" button... )

ed11563 wrote:

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flan327 wrote:

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ed11563 wrote:

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Dodgeball!!! My glasses got broken every time!!!

 

 

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 Oh, don't get me started...

flan

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( Ed is looking for Flan's "start" button... )

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 Lily played dodgeball with rocks...Those were the good ol' days!

flan

Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:

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Oh, you mean there is an On/off switch so there is the potential for "off"? lol

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 HEIFER!!!!!!

flan

Swimming is important. I hated swim class but not because of swimming but because of having to shower and such afterwards and not having enough time to dry my hair before my next class. Having swimming in the winter was brutal. Swimming should be taught during the last block of the day.

NAOW wrote:

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My school didn't have a pool so I never had to worry about this. I would have hated it lol.

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My school didn't have a pool, either. I would not have wanted to take swimming lessons in high school.

(That said, I do think it's important to know how to swim. Our parents taught us. We could swim by the time we were 3 or 4. And they did send us for swimming lessons taught be the Red Cross, each summer. But, that's when we were in grade school.)

I think it's fine for schools to offer the class, for those who never learned. Or want to improve.

I wouldn't make it mandatory. But, that's just my opinion.

Good grief.

So because SOME (way to throw all girls into the same group of angst) girls might be "uncomfortable" doing something, then we should get rid of it? The school should forget about the hundreds of THOUSANDS of dollars they have invested in the pool? ALL kids have to forego that type of exercise because a few might not like it?

It's the dodgeball argument all over again. We don't give a crap about kids being able to do something fun for exercise--we just don't want to hurt their widdo sef esteems.

Yeah, I get that this or that isn't fun for EVERYONE--but NOTHING is. Some kids don't like soccer, some don't like field hockey, some don't like running, some don't like swimming--if we take out all activities just because a few kids don't like them, then we won't have ANY activities to do in PE.

flan327 wrote:

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ed11563 wrote:

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flan327 wrote:

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ed11563 wrote:

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Dodgeball!!! My glasses got broken every time!!!

 

 

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 Oh, don't get me started...

flan

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( Ed is looking for Flan's "start" button... )

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 Lily played dodgeball with rocks...Those were the good ol' days!

flan

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This is the first I have seen of this thread and I am already in it!

How lovely!  

I would have LOVED a pool in our school and would have LOVED it in gym class.

I do think it could probably do better as an option instead of a mandatory thing though.

In high school once we satisfied the basic needs of gym we no longer had to take it. We had options like shuffle board and golf, or racquet ball and ping pong. My senior year after lunch I was always in the gym or in the arts department. Had to have something to do. Swimming would have been awesome!

Dodge ball is a game. There are those who don't like it. Fine. There are those who don't like other things as well. Sometimes you have to do what you don't like.

As for the swimming thing, I can see how making it a gender specific class could help too.

I'm still wondering why a two piece bathing suit is ok in swimming class. Looks like a one piece would be more appropriate in that situation.

I'm not aware of any school around here that has a pool, but many schools work with the local public/municipal pools to have swimming lessons once a year at minimum. They use actual swimming instructors though, not the PE teacher, and the kids are grouped by skill level. We do a similar system for skating as well.

I don't know what the high schools do though...

I just don't like the writer's rationale for excluding swimming.

Ok, so six girls don't like it.

10 slow kids don't like running.

Half the class doesn't like "climbing the rope".

8 kids don't like soccer.

5 don't like football.

7 don't like dodgeball

5 don't like softball, whiffleball, kickball, or any sort of game with bases.

9 don't like volleyball.

A good half dozen don't like ANY form of physical activity.

Even considering a lot of overlap in those subsets, pretty soon, if the standard for picking activities is that everyone must "like" them--you don't have any activities you can do.

Plus, in what other classes do we base what assignments are given on whether kids "like" them or not? Do we throw out book reports because six kids don't like them? Math worksheets? Assigned reading?

VetteGirl wrote:

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I loved swim class and hated running. I wish they would have stopped making us run!

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Yeah.  I liked flag football, gym hockey, and volleyball--hated anything to do with track.   

We don't base school activities on what any individual kid may like or dislike for whatever reason.

 

This author seems to assume that the reasons these girls don't like swimming somehow "justify" skipping the swimming.  They don't.  They aren't any more valid than any other reason any other kid comes up with for not wanting to do this or that in school. 

-- Edited by huskerbb on Saturday 29th of November 2014 02:25:00 PM

Southern_Belle wrote:

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We didn't have a pool either in any of my schools. I took swimming in preschool (late 60's). It would be cool if the students could choose which physical activity they wanted to do to fulfill the p.e. requirement.
I chose body building in my h.s. I was one of two girls in the class  . There were other classes like jazzercise.

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One PE teacher can't supervise ten different, simultaneous activities, nor can they be expected to be able to teach all those activities.

 

I would be in favor of having sports count for PE credits, though.  I don't know why states don't do that.   

You know, problem with the article is that the girl they are talking about didn't want to swim because she didn't want to mess up her hair. She wasn't uncomfortable in her suit, she wasn't scared of water, she didn't want to mess up her hair. That is unacceptable to me. I'm quite certain the swimming classes were not sprung on them, she should have planned better

Should the teacher have drug her? No. He should have sent her to the principal's office to be disciplined for insubordination.

Since parents often don't teach some things that are vital to know, schools should teach ...

basic swimming, water survival skills

balancing a checking account

creating and staying within a budget

basic, bachelor cooking skills

proper use of an alarm clock

How to get and keep a job, including interview skills

birth control (by age 10 please, and again at age 13)

staying safe using the Internet and camera phones; the dangers of sexting

 

ed11563 wrote:

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Since parents often don't teach some things that are vital to know, schools should teach ...

basic swimming, water survival skills

balancing a checking account

creating and staying within a budget

basic, bachelor cooking skills

proper use of an alarm clock

How to get and keep a job, including interview skills

birth control (by age 10 please, and again at age 13)

staying safe using the Internet and camera phones; the dangers of sexting

 

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The only 3 things on that list I can agree with.  

The rest is up to the parents. They don't teach it? Well that's life.

Schools need to get back to education and leave the "character building" and "life skills" to the parents.

 

I learned how to do a tax return in 8th grade. Just the 1040a form. I know many adults who can't even do a basic return. It isn't rocket science, just read the instructions!

lilyofcourse wrote:

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ed11563 wrote:

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Since parents often don't teach some things that are vital to know, schools should teach ...

basic swimming, water survival skills

balancing a checking account

creating and staying within a budget

basic, bachelor cooking skills

proper use of an alarm clock

How to get and keep a job, including interview skills

birth control (by age 10 please, and again at age 13)

staying safe using the Internet and camera phones; the dangers of sexting

 

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The only 3 things on that list I can agree with.  

The rest is up to the parents. They don't teach it? Well that's life.

Schools need to get back to education and leave the "character building" and "life skills" to the parents.

 

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Too many parents are unable or unwilling ... or just can't be bothered. 

Yes but it becomes your problem via society.