The problem of low physical activity of children and adolescents has never been so acute as today. It aggravates due to many factors, in particular students’ interest in computer games and social networking. Their parents were spending much time playing outdoor games. But a current younger generation spends this time at the computer.
The lack of motor activity is so great that 2-3 physical education lessons per week may seem like a drop in the ocean. It is believed that such sports training is not capable of affecting the physical development of young people. The question arises: why do we need physical education in school? Maybe it is better to exclude this subject from a curriculum?
Such a radical approach cannot be considered reasonable. It is equivalent to offering a guillotine as a remedy for headache. It is worth not discarding physical education but making it bring maximum benefit and become an integral part of students’ lifestyle.
The role of physical education in students’ development
role of physical education in students
To be healthy and strong, a growing body should move a lot, preferably in the open air. Such activity provides a good blood circulation, a sufficient oxygen supply to all organs, contributes to forming muscles and relieves stress.
A natural physical activity peculiar to children is sharply limited with the beginning of school life. Instead of outdoor games in the open air, students have to sit at lessons in stuffy classrooms and then do homework for a long time.
Active movement on breaks between classes and weekends is supposed to compensate for the harm of a long stay in a static posture. In addition, a student can use a Pro-Papers service instead of writing essay at home and get an opportunity to spend more time on sports. However, modern realities show that most young people stay inactive in their free time and prefer passive leisure.
The first reason for forming bad habits is insufficient parental control. Unfortunately, not all moms and dads understand how strongly teenagers’ physical development depends on regular physical activity. It is more preferable for some adults to see their child at home at the computer instead of worrying about one’s safety when one plays soccer or volleyball in a yard, swims in a pool or attends martial arts classes. In addition, not everyone has ability and desire to pay for a sports section.
A poor diet leading to obesity is also a big problem. Overweight students are usually inactive, and this hinders their physical development.
But not only parents are to blame for adverse trends. Sports equipment in some gyms leaves much to be desired. In addition, physical education is treated without due respect by a school staff. Professors believing that this subject is unimportant compared with chemistry or math form wrong life philosophy in teenagers’ minds.
However, activity on which human health directly depends cannot be unimportant and secondary. Very few people will benefit from knowing integrals or chemical formulas after graduation, but awareness of the need for regular physical activity and healthy lifestyle will help to make any person’s life healthier, longer and more fruitful.
Many habits directing person’s actions throughout all one’s life are formed in a teenage period. Therefore, it is important to pay maximum attention to students’ physical development. To do this, physical education lessons should be brought to a new level that will meet current society’s needs.
Outdated teaching techniques
bad teaching techniques
One of the main problems of teaching physical education in school is using outdated programs and methods. Despite limited time allotted for this discipline, students are required to meet high enough standards, which few can do. Apparently, it is assumed that young people should train on their own at home and in extracurricular sections in order to improve their athletic performance. But such an approach is a utopia, especially considering teenagers’ enthusiasm for computers and the Internet.
Physical education should be aimed not at assessing students’ physical development but stimulating this development. Requiring untrained young people to meet high standards does not bring any benefit. It can only cause harm to health, even tragic incidents.
An individual approach to each student, taking into account one’s physical development level could be a solution to this problem. Lessons should not cause overstrain and negative emotions. Positive dynamics can be expected only under these conditions. It is senseless to compare students with each other. It is much better to compare each person’s achievements with one’s past results. Then motivation will grow, and young people will engage in sports even without teacher’s supervision, in their free time, not associating physical exercises with heavy work and embarrassment for low performance.
Considering lacking time allotted for physical education, it is worth attracting teenagers to optional classes. Not all families can afford sports sections. In addition, sports activities aimed at achieving the highest results are not always beneficial to health. History knows many cases when young people were traumatized in pursuit of medals and cups. Optional school classes without marks and unworkable standards could make a significant contribution to strengthening teenagers’ health.
Parental overprotection
parents overprotecting during physical education
There can be different reasons why parents want to get an exemption from physical education lessons for their child: from concern for one’s health to unwillingness to spoil a certificate with a low mark. But poor physical development and health problems preventing teenagers from enjoying sports lay at the heart of each of these reasons.
In fact, physical education is even more necessary for such students than for those who do not have any contraindications. Systematic motor activity and proper nutrition can work wonders, especially for teenagers because their bodies undergo formation processes going to influence the whole further life.
Instead of avoiding physical load, it is better to agree with a teacher on an individual training program and turn sports into an integral part of a student’s life. If parents show perseverance and make efforts in this direction, by the moment of graduation, a teenager who was previously lagging behind in sports will have good health and excellent physical form.
All the above is especially true for parents of obese teenagers. It is clear that moms and dads want to protect students with excess weight from classmates’ ridicule, but this can be a disservice for a young person. Obese adolescents need regular sports training, active games at physical education lessons more than anyone else. Being overweight is a great damage to health and self-esteem. Therefore, parents should try to correct this mistake with the help of sports, changing lifestyle and eating habits.
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