PE, School, and the Failing Olympic Legacy
We have all heard of the importance of Maths, English and Science at school, as well as many other subjects that are taught in the curriculum.
However, more often than not, PE (Physical Education) is overlooked when in reality it is the most important subject that children learn.
Reading, writing and arithmetic are the crucial basics that every child must learn if they want any chance of success in life, but Physical Education is the key to living a long and healthy life.
Without it, there would be no chance to put into practice many of the important things that children learn when they are at school.
A survey that was published at the beginning of 2015 found that four and a half years into the coalition governments time in office the number of hours offered for sport at schools across England had fallen to well below two hours per week.
This was despite the promise that was made to use the 2012 London Olympics to inspire a generation of young people to become, more active and take part in sport on a much greater scale.
When I was at school PE was by far my favourite lesson and I would relish every minute that I was playing football or rugby out on the school playing fields.
I can also remember with great regret how little time each week we were given to play sport which also totalled to less than two hours a week.
After every sports lesson I felt fantastic and that helped me through the rest of the day.
However, it still seems that Physical Education is not treated with the same importance as all the other subjects.
The benefits of PE are clear to see as physical activity improves your physical health which in turn improves mental health and allows people to study with far greater ease.
In life no matter whether you’re a Doctor, Lawyer, Stock Broker, Brick Layer or Electrician everyone must be educated and participate in Physical Education to help lead long, healthy and happy lives.
I have believed for a long time that advocating two hours of PE a week is just not enough and that the way for the problem to be solved is very simple.
I believe that six hours of PE a week is a more realistic timescale and if this was adopted by state schools across England and Wales it would combat many of the issues including the growing childhood obesity crisis that we have in this country.
According to an article in the Daily Mail two months ago, one in five children are obese by the time they begin primary school and by the time they leave that number is one in three.
Not enough exercise is obviously one of the main reasons.
Would it not be prudent then to lengthen the school day by a couple of hours and use that extra time for PE lessons?
However, if this idea proved to be too costly then perhaps replacing subjects like Citizenship, which I believe is a waste of time, with extra sports lessons.
If the situation is not addressed accordingly then the 2012 Olympic legacy will have been a complete waste of time and the increasing child obesity crisis will continue.
Maths, English and Science can only take you so far, but a lack of understanding and participation in Physical Education can result in shortened life.
