Why Do We Need Physical Education

I can remember in High School hearing a majority of the students complaining about P.E. "Why do we need gym? I think it's stupid, It has nothing to do with what I'm going to do with the rest of my life." Generally the people who I caught saying this were either a little overweight, or the girly girls. I will not ever understand why people say they do not need Physical Education in their everyday activities. Physical Education is not only about teaching students how to play sports, but teaching them how to lead a healthy life style. These days more and more children are becoming obese. This is because of the latest technology that we have in this world today. Don't get me wrong I love technology and I have no clue how I would live without most of it. But I'm talking about PlayStation,Game Cubes, Game Boys, Nintendo 64, computers, television. All of these are distractions which inhibit today's children from going outside and being active. They would rather sit in front of television or a type of game cube and play it all day. Some parents do let their kids play these things all day. When they do this, they are usually snacking also. This is not healthy for our young generation, because if they do not learn to lead a healthy life style then they will not have such a healthy future. But since we cannot go around and tell every child that they need to stop playing games 24/7 or sitting in front of a TV, Physical Education in the school setting is the best way to make sure that children now a days are getting their needed exercise. Some parents are good about getting their children outside, but others seem to not understand the importance of being outside and active. I'm not talking about running the mile of running outside, but playing games outside with the neighbors. Hide and seek, hopscotch,soccer, tag, and more games like these. Our role as Physical Educators is to show our students how important it is to be active. But we not only have this problem in grades 7-12 but even in college. At my community college I would always hear students complaining about having to take two physical education classes the whole two years they were there. That is terrible, it's like they are asking them to give up 2 years of their college careers for it.