Importance of Physical Education in Schools

The optimal physical education program will foster a lifetime commitment to physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle. Ultimately, improved coordinated school health programs, of which physical education is a central component, will augment other prevention efforts and help to reverse the growing epidemic of childhood obesity which threatens to undo decades of progress in the fight against cardiovascular and other diseases. Effective efforts made now will help children avoid a lifetime of chronic disease and disability.

Before further discussion of the importance of physical education, there first needs to a formal definition of what physical education is and what type of teachings occur in such a class. Definition of Physical Education

People are often mistaken in defining physical education as they often assume that physical education is sport education. Simply put, physical education is defined as a process of education through physical activity. The goal is the development of individuals acquired through experience of motion. In a broader context, physical education is defined as a process of learning through physical activities designed to improve physical fitness, develop motor skills, knowledge and behavior of healthy and active living, sportsmanship, and emotional intelligence.

Thus, Physical Education is not only aimed at physical development but also includes the development of the individual as a whole. With Physical Education students will acquire a variety of expressions which are closely related with the personal impressions of fun as well as various expressions of a creative, innovative, and skilled, have the physical fitness, healthy habits and have the knowledge and understanding of human motion. What is taught in Physical Education?

The health and physical education programs should be designed to teach students the skills, knowledge, and attitudes essential to live a healthy lifestyle and select healthy and safe behaviors. Physical education is unique as it provides students with opportunities to learn motor skills, develop fitness, and gain understanding about the importance of physical activity. Students should be provided an individualized, developmentally appropriate, and personally challenging instructional program that will advance the knowledge, confidence, skills, and motivation needed to engage in a lifelong, healthy, active lifestyle. There are many branches to physical education, and it does not just deal with the teaching of a sport of any kind whether basketball or track, etc. Some major topics include nutrition and health, which entails the teaching of proper eating habits.

Sport science, which is the teachings of the rules and play of a specific sport and the necessary equipment that sport requires. Anatomy and physiology, which looks into the human body for e.g. skeletal, muscular, nervous, circulatory, and respiratory systems. Exercise physiology e.g. components of health related fitness; fitness guideline such as frequency, intensity, time/duration and type/mode; principles of exercise such as specificity, overload, and progression; roles of the body systems in exercise; short and long-term effects of physical training, nutrition as related to effects of physical training and nutrition as related to exercise, fitness, and metabolic response to exercise. Other topics include movement concepts such as body awareness and effects of substance abuse on body performance, health, and behavior. Importance of Physical Education

Fitness

Obesity is a very common problem faced, which if not taken care of in time, can lead to many lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Engaging in physical activities help to burn calories and lose fat. Regular exercising builds muscles makes the immune system strong and improves upon stamina. This increases the fitness levels and keeps various diseases and health conditions in check. It Builds Self Esteem

Students who are active in physical activities like basketball, volleyball, martial arts and running just to name a few are more confident with themselves according to most social school studies. It’s probably because of the self-discipline and dedication to excel in a sport that brings out the best in students. In school, the physical education program introduces these sport activities to students allowing them to make choices to which sport areas they want to get involved in. Life Lessons

By participating in various sports, a student gets to learn so many things about life. A student wins some games and loses some; this makes him understand that winning and losing are a part of life and should be accepted with grace. When a student participates in team games, he learns that co-operating with others is very important if goals are to be achieved. Likewise, sports can teach so many life lessons to students and thus, help them evolve mentally. Hygiene

Physical education classes lay great emphasis on maintaining hygiene. They teach students how to remain clean and germ-free at all times. Sex education is sometimes part of this curriculum too. The safe practices taught in these classes, and if the lessons are followed throughout a persons’ life, will save them from many diseases. Stress Management

Often times, students, particularly in their adolescent years, face various kinds of pressure and experience stress and anxiety. Participation in physical activities can act as a stress buster for them. Research has shown that when a person exercises, the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone which increases blood sugar, get reduced. Moreover, a person who exercises every day is able to sleep better, thus giving enough time to his body to repair and restore. This proves that by making an exercise routine, a student can remain stress-free, relaxed and concentrate more on his studies and other important things. Productivity

Researches show that students who participate in physical activities have high energy levels and are more alert than those who led sedentary lifestyles. Due to these very reasons, the productivity of such students in various spheres of life, including their studies, improves considerably.

As can be seen, physical education contributes so much towards making a child grow into a healthy, intelligent, confident, and level-headed adult. It can be rightly said that it’s not just for individual growth, but for the improvement of the whole society, physical education should be made an important part of the school curriculum. Academic Performance

Though a lack of attention on PE is often justified as an opportunity to spend more time in the classroom, studies show that physical activity contributes to improved academic performance. Regular activity during the school day is strongly associated with higher concentration levels as well as more directed, composed behavior. A statewide policy in North Carolina required that children from kindergarten to eighth grade participate in 30 minutes of physical activity each day. A survey of school representatives from 106 of the state’s school districts reported that the most recognizable benefit of the mandate was “improved academic focus.” Importance of Physical Education as it relates to Swimming

In an article about “How to Learn” by Swim Smooth written in 2009, it speaks about the brain in two parts, our conscious and our subconscious. When we perform a familiar movement pattern such as walking or riding a bike, we perform the movements on auto-pilot. The same goes for swimming stroke. Freestyle is such a complex set of movements that nearly every action is controlled by our subconscious. It may be thought that you are concentrating

very hard on your stroke but in reality, you can only make small changes through pure ‘conscious thought power’ or concentration. The subconscious mind is very fast, can do complicated things in a fraction of a second, and can react before you have time to think. The conscious mind on the other hand is very much slower and could never react or co-ordinate things this quickly. It can only co-ordinate one thing at a time and often very clumsily.

With proper physical education, a swim coach can teach about the muscle groups used in each different form of swim stroke, the proper nutrition required in order to keep the body fit for doing swimming on a regular basis and give proper instruction on swimming techniques so that as the individual practices and it starts to move from conscious thought to subconscious forms of movement, the actions being carried out are correct and precise. It can also be of benefit where the physical education is concerned because with technique again, focus will be made on single aspects of a stroke and gradually everything at once in order to give the body a full feel and more susceptible to get it done correctly than a person teaching themselves and trying to do everything at once.

Since the conscious mind can only do one thing at a time, focus should only be on one part of the swimming technique at a time and the subconscious gets a feel for things most quickly by doing the action. Many swimmers believe they have to concentrate very hard when they swim, or their stroke technique will ‘fall apart’. They’re vastly over-estimating the influence of their conscious mind as they’re swimming! If they mentally switched off, they would swim almost identically – sometimes better because they’d be more relaxed.

Disadvantages of a lack of Physical Education

Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that require energy expenditure. Physical inactivity (lack of physical activity) has been identified as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality (6% of deaths globally). Moreover, physical inactivity is estimated to be the main cause for approximately 21–25% of breast and colon cancers, 27% of diabetes and approximately 30% of ischemic heart disease burden. Being inactive increases the risk of developing depression or dementia, according to studies presented at a conference of the British

Nutrition Foundation. According to Nannette Mutrie of the University of Strathclyde, researchers are coming to understand how important physical activity is for psychological health. She said that recent research suggests that exercise can be successfully used to treat depression.

Conversely, people who do live inactive lifestyles are twice as likely to become depressed. “It’s only recently that people have begun to see the link between physical activity and mental health,” Mutrie said. “It’s important for increasing people’s self-esteem, general mood, coping with stress and even sleeping better. And we now have very strong evidence that physical activity can prevent depression.” As it relates to the theory aspect of physical education, a person wanting to be in better shape would not know the proper steps to take in order to make it happen. They would be ignorant about how the body works and how to eat healthy and so thought exercise is carried out often, may not see the results for all the work put in. Technique and precision is necessary for anyone to become good at whatever sport or activity they take part in and this can be more easily achieved if guidance through physical education is given. Conclusion

In conclusion, physical education is very important as it helps with teaching of a healthy lifestyle, keeps the body active and promotes long life. Lack of physical education too has its disadvantages as it can promote various diseases, lead to obesity and more susceptible to mental issues such as depression or dementia. When relating to swimming specifically, physical education can help better with technique and necessary stretches and eating habits required to more develop on that skill.

References

American Diabetes Association (2008). Physical Education in Schools – Both Quality and Quantity are Important. Retrieved from http://www.everydaychoices.org/082008/PE%20in%20Schools%20Statement%20ACS%20ADA%20AHA%205.27.08%20_final_.pdf

Greenlaw, E. (2012). What Do You Know About PE for Kids? Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/parenting/raising-fit-kids/move/parents-pe-questions

Datka, A. (2011). What Are the Benefits of Physical Education in School? Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/529108-what-are-the-benefits-of-physical-education-in-school/ Dogra, A. (2011). Importance of Physical Education in Schools. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/importance-of-physical-education-in-schools.html

Newspaper Articles

Blair, L. (2003, May 11). Could PE fight the fat attack? Jamaica Gleaner Burke, D. (2012, September 3). The importance of play. Jamaica Observer Book Source

Ayers, S. & Sariscsany, M. (2011). The Physical Best Teachers Guide: Physical Education For Lifelong Fitness, Third Edition. United States