Vote Mandatory P.E.

I have a confession. If you sit nearby me in class and check your Facebook, I’m glancing at your screen.

I know it might make me seem like a creeper, but honestly, if you think others aren’t doing it from the privacy of their own homes, you’re sorely mistaken.

And hey, I’m just as unfocused as you are.

I feel like I’m always working, never playing.

And that’s a bad thing –  because all work and no play makes me a slow learner.
New research supports the importance of play in one’s education.

Noting the links between recess and classroom behavior among about 11,000 children, a study published this month in “Pediatrics” asserted that those who had more than 15 minutes of recess a day showed better behavior in class than those who had little or none.

And though these findings were obtained through a study of 8- and 9-year-olds, I’d like to think that the implications are the same for college students.

Honestly, is there that big of a difference between a third grader and a 13th grader? I mean, we both like PB&Js and can be easily satisfied with video games.

I know that mandatory P.E. is dreaded in many high schools, and quite frankly, if it weren’t for “participation points” I probably wouldn’t have done so well. I also understand that organized, team sports aren’t for everyone.

But I must admit that gym served a purpose.

A Harvard study released last month concluded that physical fitness leads to stronger academic performance.

And when it comes to finding ways to improve grades, I tend to trust those Harvard researchers.

And so, in this season of new possibilities, with IU Student Association tickets promising to change my life in B-town, I’m proposing it: mandatory college P.E.

It wouldn’t be your high school class – no ropes to climb or laps to run, and no awkward moments spent in group stretching.

It would be something you like – perhaps ballroom dance or karate, if the traditional sports aren’t for you.

And, most importantly, it would get you moving.

I know that HPER classes already exist and that many students take advantage of their diverse offerings.

I also understand that the SRSC is regularly used by self-motivated students.

But there are many who shun HPER classes because of full course loads or as a result of conditioned resentment to school-sponsored sport.

And there are also those who would never enter the gym without some sort of coercive requirement (myself included).

Physical education, as I propose, would encompass a mandatory HPER class at the freshman level – a class that would not be counted against one’s 17 credit hour limit and be designed to introduce students to a movement-based, activity-oriented class.

The results would be astounding.

Such massive endorphin release would unleash positive energy throughout this campus.

Business students would froth at the networking opportunities present in these courses.

And we’d all develop a taste for the extra clarity and focus that comes with regular physical activity.