Schools Still Don’t Appreciate the Benefits of P.E.
By Ken Reed
The pile of research that shows that regular cardiovascular-based physical education improves students’ academic performance, as well as their physical and mental health, is as high as the Washington Monument. Yet, D.C. schools are basically ignoring a physical education and activity requirement established by the city.
D.C. K-5 students are only getting 91 of the required 150 minutes of P.E. and physical activity per week, while students in grades six through eight only received 137 of the mandated 225 minutes, according to the 2018 Healthy Schools Act Report.
“To put it bluntly, following the Healthy Schools Act is not a priority for [D.C. Public Schools] or individual charter schools, and they’ve ignored the law,” said Joe Weeden, an outgoing State Board of Education member.
The state superintendent’s office said schools want to comply with the P.E. requirements but find it challenging to balance academic subjects and physical activity. The ironic part of schools’ avoidance of PE is that regular P.E. has been consistently shown to improve academic performance. It’s simply not an either/or situation. If you want better academic performance, add more physical activity to the school day.
D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh, who wrote the Healthy Schools Act, which includes the P.E./physical activity requirements, said, “These goals weren’t just aspirational. We know academic performance improves with physical activity, and we want children to develop a practice in their life of physical activity.”
Dr. Wendy Suzuki, a neuroscientist, gave a popular TED talk on the powerful benefits of exercise on the brain last year.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
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Episode #29 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Honorable Tom McMillen Visits League of Fans’ Sports Forum – McMillen is a former All-American basketball player, Olympian, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Congressman. We discuss the state of college athletics today.
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world. We discuss problems in youth sports today.
Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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