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Written by Dylan Salsgiver Photography by Ava Fischer 4/29/2019
Optional PE Class?
Optional PE Class?
Opinions vary on whether students who participate in a school sport should be required to partake in gym class during the season in which their sport takes place.
Since the 1940’s and 1950’s, one thing that has remained consistent across the country in high schools is that sports are a major component of students’ everyday lives.
Most students around the nation compete in multiple sports that proceed year round. With little time outside of school to do homework, study, and work on enhancing skills in all the required courses, the question is, Should students be obligated to have a PE class during the season of which their sport takes place?
With this kind of topic, opinions varied greatly with many different reasonings. Whether students believe that gym should stay within the curriculum or if it should be changed to an elective course, both points are more than valid and bring fair arguments to the controversy.
I walked the halls of Cranberry High School to survey students on what they believe should become of gym class. The statistics were quite shocking. Of those interviewed, seventy-one percent of students believe that gym should stay a part of the mandatory curriculum. The biggest reason for this was best stated by Malliah Schreck, a senior at CHS. Schreck shared, “Yes it should because it provides another opportunity to be healthy and can help you excel in the sport that you’re participating in. You also learn how to take care of your body and stay fit, which is very beneficial.’’
According to the survey, many students believe PE classes are beneficial to the entire student body and should be kept within the everyday school schedule. However, some students still believe that participating in gym during a sport season should be a choice.
“I don’t think you should have to do gym while in a sport season. It’s another chance to see an injury. You also spend hours exercising every night and a study hall instead of gym would be nice to give us more time to work or study for tests,” said by a senior at CHS when explaining her thoughts about gym during a sports season.
No student should expect optional gym classes in the near future at Cranberry High School. Not every student-athlete may be happy, but the student body could continuously encourage individuals to see the benefits of obligatory PE classes. Also, with this topic in mind, perhaps PE teachers could take the student-athlete concerns into consideration when planning units.
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