Why Don't Sports Count for PE Credit?

Most students attending Treasure Mountain Junior High or Park City High School do a sport outside of school, but at the same time still attend a P.E. class. If kids are spending up to six days a weeks - multiple hours a day doing their sport, why doesn’t it count for PE credit? If students can prove that they do a sport many days a week and they get the fitness as well as nutrition component, they shouldn't have to take a PE class. If students can skip PE, they can either do an extra class and get the extra credits, or they can get early release to be able to practice their sport. Physical Education should not be a required class for kids that already spend time outside of school doing the same thing.

Students that take PE at school usually spend eighty minutes doing the activity during each class period. Students that are absent are required to do either an eighty minute PE make-up rubric or a forty minute rubric if there is a health section that interferes. The rubric is a smart idea that encourages kids to get outside and do something if they haven’t been. Although some kids really need the exercise, the others that do sports outside of school shouldn’t have to complete the rubric. The reason is because the rubric says that anything that the student does with a team or a group doesn’t count as time that goes into the make-up. If a student plays a sport like soccer or football, and they miss school for a game, they can’t count it as outside-of-school exercise. They must go and do something else for the amount of time they need for the make-up. This rule is unnecessary and shouldn’t exist. How come running on your own is okay but running in a game for an hour isn’t? Why can’t swimming or skiing be accepted? What’s the difference between the exercise in class and the exercise you get playing or doing a sport with your team?

Most outside of school sports educate kids the same exact way that physical education does. From the exercise portion, to health, they learn all they need to know about a healthy and physical lifestyle that is necessary. In every sport kids are always doing physical activities, usually more than you would do in an actual PE class. So, why would they discount all of the activities you do outside of school when it is usually more than a physical education class? For the health and nutrition portion of the credit, most sports teach you about those things. If there is a sport that doesn’t include that, students could just take a health class to make up for it. In the end, if students do rigorous sports, multiple days a week, outside of school, they should get that part of the credit for PE.

Students have the opportunity to participate in a high school sport for part of their PE credit. First of all, you only get the credits if you participate in it as a junior or senior, and you only get .5 credit for every year you do it. Freshmen and sophomores are doing the same thing as the juniors and seniors and deserve the same credit. Second, if high school sports count for PE credit, why wouldn’t a sport outside of school count? Kids probably benefit more from a sport outside of school, so why is it fair that some kids get credit and some don’t? It’s not. Overall, sports outside of school should count for PE credit like high school sports. Also, freshmen and sophomores should get their credit too. Don’t make the students lives harder, just make it fair.

By Mackenna and Caroline H.