Second year of P.E. should be optional

By Isabelle Chiu
Staff Writer

It is mandatory for all high school students to take two years of physical education, and one must be completed freshman year. Students should not be required to take two years of physical education if they pass the California physical fitness test during their freshman year.

California Education Code 51241 requires at least two years of P.E. in order to graduate unless a student is unable to participate due to a disability or illness. If students are fit enough to pass the physical fitness test, it demonstrates that their body is adequately healthy, and in this circumstance, athletic courses should be optional.

Currently, students have the option to do P. E. for two years only if they pass five out of the six sections on the state’s physical fitness test. The sections include aerobic capacity, upper body and abdominal strength, endurance, body composition, trunk lift and flexibility components.

According to California Department of Education’s Physical Education Programs consultant Denise Moore, one of the goals of the fitness test is to assist students in establishing lifetime habits of regular physical activity. By passing the test, students demonstrate they likely exhibit these habits already and, therefore, do not need additional P. E.

In addition, taking P. E. for two or more years might deter students from athletic activity who formerly practiced routine exercise. According to a study done by The Community Guide, a public health resource, forcing students to exercise can cause students to develop a disdain for exercise instead of promoting routine physical activity in the future.

Physical education should clearly not be mandatory when it does the opposite of its goal: promoting a healthy, active lifestyle.

Two years of P.E. can also cause a problem for students who cannot fit the class into their schedule, causing some students to have to take summer school in order to meet the graduation requirement. Condensing P.E. credits over the course of two summers does not encourage regular exercise and further proves that the physical education requirement does not necessarily promote the state’s health goals.

Additionally, students’ schedules should not be limited by this graduation requirement. In scheduling situations, academic courses should be favored over a second physical education course.
One year of P.E. is sufficient if students have already demonstrated that they are fit and, therefore, are living a healthy lifestyle.

California Education Code 51241 should be modified; it is not necessary to take another year of P.E. if a student passes the physical fitness test since the goal of encouraging a healthier lifestyle has already been achieved, and an additional P.E. course could discourage this healthy lifestyle.