Just submitted the following letter
to the editor to The Atlantic, in response to
Making grants without requiring high-quality
evidence-based strategies, as Texas Fitness Now did, often does not end
well--especially when combined with “bad PE” at a number of schools. But
contradicting the stereotypes, Desy, Peterson &
Brockman showed that “gym” is actually the favorite subject of many
middle-schoolers. So beware the unintended collateral damage:
continuing to slash PE (& recess) risks further demotivating
large numbers of students, many of whom are already at-risk. “No PE”
may be even more of a threat to student engagement & success than “bad PE.”
And we should not look at this issue in
isolation. How can we keep cutting physical education, as we enter
our 5th decade of a deadly serious chronic
disease epidemic now affecting the majority of Americans—especially when so
much disease is caused by inactivity & unhealthy nutrition, starting in
childhood?
Instead, we need “good PE” as part of the
solution. K-12 school settings with enough quality physical &
health education, recess, nutrition, & other evidence-based whole-child
practices, play an irreplaceable role in developing healthy habits for the next
generation. We do not have a second chance for a 13-year-long
opportunity to reach everyone, at an ideal stage of life for change.
With the right combination of
evidence-based, scalable, effective, affordable & self-funding
strategies—including “good PE” —we have a promising path forward to better
lives for all.
Scott
Turner, MBA, MA, PhD
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