Friday, June 12, 2009

Grumpy old man?

Yesterday afternoon: A nice 6k run with Greg around West Lake. We avoided the sun and had the pleasure of different scenery.

This morning: I went to the track for a tempo run which ended up being so-so. I ran for 20:00 straight, didn't check for splits, excepting for the first lap, then ended up running slower than desired . Hmmmm. Then ran 4 X 200m.

I'm not getting hung up on the relatively poor work out, just going to move on.

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I may be accused of old fartism here, but I'm going to risk it. While at the track this morning, a class of grade eights were "running" during P.E. I say running with quotes, because in actuality, only two or three of the kids were actually running. The furthest they had to go at any one time was 700m, and 95% of them walked. They spent 60% of their time sitting on the benches. I mentioned to the P.E. instructor that it looked like he had some difficulty motivating the kids to run, and he said, "well, unfortunately it's reflected in their grades". Guess what, the kids don't care! Something more needs to be done. (Ideas? Leave a comment.) It was a sorry display, and I couldn't help but say this very thing to a young woman who had been running with her children in a stroller. She heartily agreed and said she had to bite her tongue as they were also eating and littering during their "exercise".

As for the general level of physical fitness in society, times have changed. Or have they? I think so. My grade eight P.E. class would never have gotten away with this. Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio?

7 comments:

Jordan said...

That's a shame, really. By your assessment, would you say that the teacher is at fault (at least partially) or is it a symptom of something much bigger/worse?

Funny side comment: to approve this comment, the box below asks to me to re-type the word "cryste." Seems Google's ok with a little accidental blasphemy ;)

Anonymous said...

MOST CHRONIC Diseases are preventable, or at the very least controllable!
Obesity is on the rise and it starts with behaviour established/approved/allowed at a young age. I partially blame the school, the teacher but really - lets look at what we do in society aka the parents, the school board, professionals, people at large (pun intended).
THIS means YOU Lawrence - its your generation's fault! (tongue-in-cheek of course)

The consumption of junk food is in the billions a year in N. America. The use of big fat heavy vehicles spewing out pollution is drowning us, all the while taking away the opportunity to ride or run or even walk to work or school...

Where do we start: One person at a time. I ride every day to work that I can, you set a great example for your kids by eating well and exercising and including them in those decisions...
We need to fundamentally change policy and society rules about what is acceptable!

It starts with education, Self-Management and taking responsibility.

Great Post

Brendan B.

ps - You stil might be a little bit of a curmudgeon though

Anonymous said...

i'll kick those kids into shape.... we'll start with some wii!

Jill said...

Well, I have to say I was one of those slacker kids in P.E--look at me now!! hahah

"Teacher, leave those kids alone!" -Pink Floyd

Lawrence said...

I wonder if it makes a difference that P.E. is now mixed between genders? In grade 8, I had an all boys class and Sarah tells me she had an all girls class in Vancouver.

Jill said...

"Girls just wanna have fun!" --Cyndi Lauper

gt said...

Lawerence, I totally agree with your "old fartism". Why would you play a game and not keep score?
Why doesn't somebody(us ) say something to parents who let thier kids get away with everything? There are far to many kids in this counrty who have never heard the word "No". Don't be this kind of lazy parent! Encourage competition and it's ok to "push" a little. The boys should exercise only with other boys and girls with girls, at least then there will be a little more preasure to compete against one another. I truely believe that the parents are at fault 60%, the kids 30%, and the teachers 10%. If us parents teach our kids to work hard at everything and then lead by example, then our kids will (hopefully) pick up on that. We should not expect our teachers to be our kids motivators, that our(us parents) job. I think that teachers will only encourage kids(in sports) who they think they can have success with and go through the motions with the rest. Your kid has to want to work hard in PE before a teacher can have success with him/her. That, again, is our job, not their's.