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[A] Twelve years ago, Lawler recalls, a member of the staff brought in an article about the decline in children's health: “We said, ‘We have these kids five days a week. We should be able to do something.’” At that time, Lawler and his staff had a basketball court, a playing field---and a student body that dreaded the twice-yearly 1-mile run to measure fitness. So they eliminated the semiannual curse, requiring instead that every student run every week. "You wouldn't believe the line outside the nurse's office with kids and their medical excuses," says Lawler. But slowly the kids got over it---and into it.
[B] Just as attitudes about PE and fitness are shifting, however, even the most enlightened teachers are finding themselves obstructed in their efforts. More and more schools are cutting back or eliminating PE instruction entirely. Illinois is the only state in the nation that requires daily physical education for grades K-12. But even in Illinois, schools can get waivers to replace PE with activities like band or choir. Only 8 percent of U.S. elementary schools 6.4 percent of middle schools, and 5.8 percent of high schools provide daily physical education for the entire school year. A quarter of all school children don't get PE classes at all. Indeed, one study indicates that today's grandparents are more active than their grandchildren--a fact almost certainly tied to the doubling of overweight children over the past 20 years.
[C] The Naperville schools have fitness centers, complete with stationary bikes and a climbing wall, in-line skates, heart-rate monitors for every kid, and--perhaps most important--a coaching staff with a shared epiphany about the links between childhood obesity and physical education.
[D] But the real value may be in showing all children, including those without athletic talent, the value of fitness.
[E] Welcome to the "new PE'---and not a minute too soon for any kid who has been picked last, Consigned to right field, or left dangling halfway up the climbing rope. The idea is to get away from the jock culture---fastest, strongest, most athletic---and instead start all kids on a road to lifelong fitness. And that starts with no humiliation. The Naperville, Ill., district, where Lawler teaches, has been highlighted in a government-funded book, Active Youth, as a model in promoting physical activity for children.
[F] There's no doubt that schools are squeezed for time and money. Parents want electives like foreign languages and music as well as AP courses, which count heavily in college admissions. In addition, teachers are struggling to boost scores on national tests, all at a time when school districts are faced with tight budgets. Gym class often little more than dodge ball to begin with--is typically the first subject to get the budget ax. Even recess, a poor substitute for true health education, can be pulled out of the day's mix. One California parent said teachers would count field-trip time---walking to a community center, for example---as part of required physical education time.
[G] Even so, it wasn't until four years ago that Lawler realized he was pushing some kids too hard. It was the heart monitors that changed his thinking. It turns out the kids were already working at their maximum aerobic capacity, even many of the apparent slackers, but he couldn't determine that just by watching them. He'd try to motivate them to work harder. After the monitors showed indisputably that they were working hard, he made several changes in the program, including switching from a mile run to a 13-minute run. The kids now know that distance and speed don't matter. Whether they're walking, running, in-line skating, playing soccer, or using the fitness center, what matters is that they're in motion long enough to keep their heat rate "in the zone"---the 145 to 166 beats per minute a 12-year-old needs to give the heart a good workout.
[E]→1.[ ]→2.[ ]→3.[ ]→4.[ ]→5.[ ]→[D] (Key: CAGBF) |
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发表于 2016-8-9 08:15:23