TL;DR:
- Playing and moving around have loads of benefits for physical and mental health.
- Are we sucking the fun out of sport when we focus on competing?
- How can we use physical education to address the social-emotional wellbeing of students?
Exercise and the Outdoors
Exercise and time outdoors in nature are shown over and over again to be beneficial for physical and mental health. Being exposed to a variety of fitness activities, ways of being active, and the valuable life lessons of trying, improving, working together are all important for young children.
Taking Out the Fun
Why are we twisting all we know about physical development so that younger and younger students are specializing in one sport, being cut from teams, and being put under immense pressure without tools to handle the stress? This can turn children off because the sport is no longer fun.
At an elementary level, how do we support all students to be physically healthy?
With all the pandemic focus on the mental health issues in children, we should invest in quality, accessible physical education programs at the elementary level.
Why are we in such a rush to go back and do everything the same as pre-pandemic? It is an opportunity to rethink how we have always done things and to shake things up. Click To TweetPhysical Health & Education: Invest in PE
When I say quality, I mean a program that offers a variety of developmentally appropriate activities that build fundamental movement skills, body awareness, strength, and flexibility. We need programs that are fun and that open students’ eyes to what being healthy means. These programs promote a growth mindset and good sportsmanship.
I am not a PE teacher. However, I am lucky to work in a school with an amazing, knowledgeable physical education teacher. As an adult, I struggle to enjoy physical activity. A lot of this stems from my early experiences that caused shame, humiliation, and the feeling I wasn’t good enough. So while I am not a PE teacher, I do feel strongly about encouraging all kids to find something they love to do.
Physical Health & Education: Play
Our school facilitated sports intramural-style during the pandemic. My classroom is right next to our gym and my young students got to try a lunchtime basketball program. They were so excited and loved it so much. Sadly, when back to normal, there is only the time and space for the older kids to have teams and to compete. I wish it weren’t so.
Why are we in such a rush to go back and do everything the same as pre-pandemic? It is an opportunity to rethink how we have always done things and to shake things up.
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Physical Health & Education: How They Affect Mental Health
Addressing the mental health of students as we continue through this pandemic and for many years to come has to be a thoughtful and multi-pronged approach. Programs that teach students about feelings, coping strategies, friendships, and assertiveness are all necessary. However, physical activity needs to be part of the approach. That means having a good, hard look at how sport has become a business and how old coaching techniques and mentalities need to change. We can’t say we are helping mental health if the humiliation and winning is everything mentalities continue. We can’t create more mental health problems with something that is supposed to be good for us.
I hope to have provided some food for thought and for you to look at what your school district does. I hope it starts conversations about what is really best for the kids based on sound, scientific knowledge of child development and physical literacy.
About Catherine Moffatt
Catherine has been teaching for almost twenty years. She has taught Kindergarten and Grade 3, and has been a teacher-librarian. She currently teaches Grade 2 part-time and is also the primary coordinator at her school. One of her favorite parts of teaching is to share her love of books with her students. Outside school, she is a busy mom of two amazing kids. She lives in Richmond BC with her husband, kids, and two pet guinea pigs.
