When I was growing up we had "PE" but it really was just another hour that the sports teams could practice. Those of us who did not participate in the sports programs had to run laps for most of the time. During football season we ran around the track. Then we were free to play football or football related games.

In basket ball season we ran laps around the gym and when we were done, we sat in the bleachers while everyone else practiced basketball.

In baseball season, we ran laps around the baseball field and when were were done, we sat in the bleachers while everyone else practiced baseball.

Notice a trend?

The only time that everyone had to run laps, was when it was track season.

That is why I hated PE/Gym class. They did not care about you if you were not playing sports.

But back to the Wii topic, I think it is a dumb idea. There has been some research by students in Canada that shows that playing the Wii is not as good as other excercise.

If they really want to get kids interested in PE again, they need to change the way it is run. They don't let kids play tag anymore because kids could feel "picked on". You can't play dodgeball, becasue of possible injuries and lawsuits. You can't do anything, with out someone feeling injured either physically or emotionally and suing.

Just let the kids freaking play like kids.

Gimmick raising. LOL

Sad to say the gimmick is what has saved it..not so much the flash games the gimmick is used on....as for real games I can see a hand full of them but.....gaaaaaaa....where is the games? 0-o

I know some schools in the US are using dance dance revolution, but I really don't see the wii being an effective workout to justify using it in a gym class.

I agree with Chard. It was school PE which killed my interest in sport, although more to do with the fact that we spent too long on football (which I can't stand) than any lack of motivation.

Still- there's more to exercise than sport, as the legs of anybody who walks to school/work every day will tell you.

The only downside I see to this initiative, though, is that it may illegitemize non-physical games even more than they already are. Remember Wii was meant to be a new way to play games- not a combi games and workout machine.

/b

lol

QUOTE
"Pupils would be far better doing serious competitive sports and games than this sort of thing.
"

this sort of thing.... ? what... exercising? wow you make perfect sense. nice one on showing your ignorance to new technology and trends.

What i like about this is that it isnt always the jocks beating up on the nerds anymore (something that always made me HATE Phys ed) , infact it may be the other way round! good idea!

I, like many of you, also suffered this lack of interest in sport through the activity that we had to do in PE, the attitude of some of the sports teachers, and the praise that was bestowed upon those with great sporting ability who were the main focus of our PE/Games sessions. I however may have had slightly different Pysical Education than the rest, seeing as I attented a private school for most of my school years. This gave me a great resentment towards sport as it was more highly praised than academia or talents in music (or drama), at which I was better yet not recognized for. Having to play Hockey since primary school to 4th year was horrific and discouraging.

Now, as much as I love the Wii, I think you cannot rely on it to movitvate or encourage school kids. If kids want to play Wii Fit at home, leave them to it, I think that's a great idea and I think it will be very successful. But not in a school environment. Instead, I think there should be a greater range of activities that can be carried out instead of one general direction of sport. In the school I mentioned before, I held great resentment towards PE up untill 5th year when there were a number of different activities to take (I myself took dance which was great fun, it was really dance aerobics and we were all equally as crap and comfortable with it). Had this only been avaliable to me since 1st year, rather than compulsory hockey (or rugby depending on your gender), I'm positive I'd have more enthusiasm for sport or physical activity at all. We need variety, not a novelty distraction such as the Wii.

nonathletic* lol, obviously if you're athletic you're likely good at sports

as far as wii not being that energetic it really depends on the game. some you can sit down n move your hand about a cm,

but i challenge ANYONE to play boxing on wii sports at the higher levels and not be completely knackered after 15 minutes. its crazy!

I had a semester-long "Individual Sports" PE class that I signed up for back in High School. The description in the booklet they handed out with all the next-year class descriptions siad we'd do stuff like Golf, Cycling, track, etc, and that sounded like something more my style (aside from the fact that I had never properly learned how to ride a bike; still haven't, but I digress), and going in I was confident I'd never have to mess around with football, basketball, or hockey, all of which I despised, and should have belonged in the domain the "Team Sports" class, anyway.

We spent what seemed like half the semester playing basketball. I protested to the coach, saying plain and simple that basketball is a team sport and not an individual sport. His reply was that though we played on teams, we still had to play as individuals, and were being graded as individuals. Ugh. I think we might've played Tennis at some point, but Basketball is what I remember.

I get my own exercise nowadays, primarily by walking a lot. I walk 15-20 minutes to class, and 15-20 minutes back at the end of the day. When I go shopping, I park in the back of the parking lot (Nice side effect: The back of the lot is usually mostly empty, so finding my car is easy). When I'm bored or have a lot on my mind, I go for a walk around the neighborhood.

I really do feel sorry for kids and teens. They say that if your overweight your gonna DIE but your not im sorry ive been overweight my whole life and i loved sports baseball was my life for a lot of years. I never had my feelings hurt because i was fat because i knew that fat guys could do great things. Babe Ruth for instance he was my hero growing up so was the Fridge both big guy heros. So in the end dont despair my fellow fat guys we can do great things.

@ BreadCultist

You threw Javelins while jumping on a trampoline?????

O_O

Well thats just plain awesome, I just wish I weren't leaving high school this year, if I had this in my PE class it would suck 10 times less. How many times do I have to learn the rules of foot ball anyway? Don't even like the sport...

The point of PE is not to have fun, it's for fat kids to lose weight.

Damn it, why couldn't they have started this when I was in school? All those hours spent in the nurses office due to dodgeball wounds could have been avoided.

@Tyler Baumbarger

They've basically banned dodgeball and any sport more exciting than ping pong in gym, because it's too "dangerous" in my school...psh, i loved that stuff

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