Necessities are prioritized differently based on culture and self-beliefs all around the world. Many factors shape a person’s essential thoughts, such as age, gender, and religious beliefs. However, one thing that all humans have is a body, and that body needs to be taken care of until the day it is no longer fueled. Being active does not mean having the largest muscles or running the fastest marathon time. Staying physically active can simply mean caring for your body properly, which fuels your mind, as well. Having a required amount of exercise per week is something that is often over-looked, especially with students learning from seven in the morning until three in the afternoon. Every person can remember their gym class in elementary school, all the fun games and playing again their classmates. Winning tug-o-war or an original game created by their teacher to get everyone involved. What if I was to tell you that this might not be a memory for the next generation of kids? The only thing students will remember about school is the pressure from academic classes and the load of homework given at such a young age. Physical education is dwindling in K-12 curriculums because of school funds and unknowledgeable people on this subject. Cutting out this essential class to replace with another educational-based class will only hurt the student, physically and mentally.  There is no benefit of removing gym from the curriculum, so why debate any longer? Physical education will teach lifelong lessons on how to stay active, creating healthy lifestyles for students now and the future. This must stay a part of a child’s everyday routine.

Physical Education has many goals in mind while keeping the students comfortable in an educational setting.  According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, physical education is “the instruction in the development and care of the body ranging from simple callisthenic exercises to a course of study providing training in hygiene, gymnastics, and the performance and management of athletic games” (1). Staying active and taking care of the body is extremely important, especially at a young age. Physical education incorporates four major components of fitness, including muscular strength and endurance, cardiovascular strength and endurance, flexibility, and body composition. A successful gym class will integrate these aspects into different activities and games. Full participation in these provided activities increases the child’s heart-rate and helps them get out of the desk they have been sitting in all day. 

Eliminating physical education from a school’s curriculum could potentially be eliminating physical activity from a child’s life completely. For a family who cannot afford recreational sports or a gym membership for their child living in an urban city, gym class may be the only form of physical activity they can enjoy. Poorer demographics such as inner cities may not have the money to even provide athletic programs for younger children. Gym helps these children release energy and open their minds to new experiences. Along with the physical side to the subject, health is just as important to learn. This class gives instruction and knowledge to students who do not receive the same at home. Physical education must stay in all school curriculums to provide a safe and comfortable place to engage in physical activity. 

Most people hear the word “exercise” and automatically relate it to weight-loss. Although there are many obvious benefits from physical activity such as losing weight or staying healthy, many benefits lay deeper than the surface.  The diet of an individual can predict and determine the future health being – healthy or unhealthy. However, having the required amount of physical activity a day can essentially reverse the harmful effects of a bad diet. A diet high in fat increases the chances of having learning disabilities because the fat lowers hippocampal levels in the brain. However, a study was completed that shows exercise can reverse these hippocampal levels to create a more balanced student. Monteli explains, “Animal groups were exposed to the HF [high fat] diet for 2 months with and without access to voluntary wheel running. Exercise reversed the decrease in BDNF and its downstream effectors on plasticity…” (1). Many parents will complain that physical education is a waste of time because their children do not have good diets anyway. This does not mean exercise will not do anything. In fact, it is proven that it will. 

Other than turning a diet around, physical education can help prevent diseases in the future. Research shows that exercise can change your current state and your future state. Even though some diseases are genetic, the risk of other diseases may be lowered or prevented by executing the daily amount of exercise recommended.  According to an abundance of neurobiological mechanisms, exercise strongly effects Parkinson’s disease. This disease decreases motor control, changes daily behaviors, and results in diminishing cognition. It is one of the most prevalent diseases in the world where you brain is immensely effected; between 4.5-9 out of 100,000 individuals inherit it. However, physical activity is proven to decrease the bad luck. Monteiro describes based on multiple studies constructed, “…exercise has been shown to be an important ally in the prevention and treatment of PD, since it has a neuroprotective effect, and people with better fitness levels show a reduced risk of developing PD” (538). Although not all students love participating in sports, staying active in a gym class daily could enhance their adulthood health.

In addition to Parkinson’s Disease, risk for many other diseases can be reduced, as well. Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in the United States, which includes heart disease and strokes.  Studies prove that with just 150 minutes of aerobic activity a week, the chances of having cardiovascular disease will be reduced. Type 2 diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome are two other diseases that can be lessened just by regular physical activity. Lastly, adult women who are active generally have a lower risk of breast cancer and adult men who are active have a lower risk of colon cancer compared to those who are not. Keeping physical education as a daily class for students is essential because it could potentially make a student’s future healthier.

Childhood obesity is a major problem, especially in the United States of America. With about 17% of 12-19 year olds (12.7 individuals) being obese, this dilemma needs to be solved (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Obesity 1). Children eat too much sugar, fat, and salt, creating unbalanced diets. With fast food being the cheapest meal, many poorer families resort to these meals every day to feed their families. Although the world will probably never be fully healthy, physical education helps reduce the number of obese children. By cutting this subject out, the amount of obese children in America will increase.     

Not only are physical affects present, but exercise also effects the brain. Staying active is proven to enhance reaction time. From a study done in the 1970’s, older adults who regularly participated in physical activity show faster psychomotor skills during reaction-time tests. Although these participants were not at the age of students, this is still important to staying active at a young age. Habits follow a person throughout life, whether they are good or bad. Encouraging children at a young age to regularly participate in physical activity and giving them the knowledge on why it is important will give them an understanding and an idea to stay active throughout their lives. In addition to reaction times, academic performance also increased. For the parents that believe having a gym class in school is distracting and a waste of time, this is proven wrong: “the implications of these findings are important for promoting better physical health, without the loss of other educational benefits, in school-age children” (Hillman 59).  Standardized test scores are overall higher for children who stay active than for those who do not. These cognitive effects are just as essential to a child’s health as physical effects are.  

Moods are a big part of daily decisions, which reflect on day-to-day interactions and situations. Keeping a positive, open mind can make a bad situation bearable, compared to always looking at unpleasant situations negatively. Studies show that just walking daily can heighten moods and aid humans to a more positive outlook. Edmunds supports this claim, “…they found that exercise interventions increased feelings of activation (how energized a person feels) and pleasant feelings. People who experienced lower energy and more unpleasant feelings at baseline showed greater increases in these factors” (15). Many people assume that high exercise levels are needed to provide a healthy lifestyle. However, lower exercise levels and higher exercise frequencies are proven to help moods more. Participating in physical activity at the individual’s own pace inflates their mood compared to training with a more skilled athlete. Keeping physical education in the curriculum encourages physical activity, even if it is just walking the whole gym class. This helps improve the mood of young children and keep them positively thinking throughout the school day. 

Being a middle or high school student comes along with confidence issues, always wanting to be the best or fit in. Constant physical activity can give a person a sense of accomplishment, which associates greatly with self-esteem: The greatest gains in self-esteem occurred for people who initially had low self-esteem, those whose fitness increased during the intervention, and those who were active on more days per week” (Edmunds 19). Setting achievable goals during physical activity will help the confidence levels of children increase. A knowledgeable physical education teacher knows how to appropriately adapt activities for all age levels. When students can succeed in gym class, this gives them a sense of accomplishment and pride. 

 Depression and anxiety in young children are unfortunately becoming more prevalent by the day. With the rates of prescriptions for antidepressants rapidly increasing over the last few years, children are feeling lonely more commonly. As for depression, studies prove that a high dose of exercise will help with depression: “physical activity can be an alternative treatment approach for depression. It can be used as a stand-alone treatment approach or in combination with medication and/or psychological therapy” (Edmunds 20). Keeping children happy and at a good mental state is important for their health and academic performance. Anxiety, too, can be commonly seen through adolescents and teenagers. Although being anxious every once in a while is completely normal, this mental disorder can spark at a young age. Anxiety is commonly seen alongside depression, even though they are completely different. Despite their differences, exercise can be used as a treatment for anxiety, as well. Many of the more intense anxiety types such as panic attacks or post-traumatic stress disorder are still being researched, but clinical anxiety is proven to be seen less in people who are more active. These disorders are becoming more prevalent in today’s society at a younger age. Keeping physical education in the school’s curriculum can help decrease the number of students diagnosed with clinical anxiety. 

Many arguments are always made against physical education, trying to rid the subject from the curriculum. Studies show that students dislike the class and see no value in playing games for a whole period, therefore saying it should be removed. However, does every student like mathematics? Since they do not, should we cut it out of the curriculum? Additionally, kids are not actually getting the full amount of exercise from physical education class because they are faking play and injuries. On top of that, students feel excluded due to the lack of athleticism or embarrassment from their peers. These situations would never happen in a classroom with a qualified and trained teacher. Physical education teachers know how to include everyone and make students feel comfortable in a gym setting. Lastly, Parents are so focused on their children’s academics that they feel as though gym is not important.  However, health should be just as important to parents. Students think the games are monotonous and repetitive, not wanting to try to improve in athletics. They believe that excelling in sports is not important compared to achieving academic goals (Carlson 470). There are a variety of skills gained through sports, like teamwork and cooperation skills that can be taken outside of sports. Learning to play on a team young can help students mature by carrying these skills out of the gymnasium. Many jobs are team dependent, meaning working as a team is necessary to complete the job successfully. Parents and students must soon understand that physical education has lessons far beyond playing a soccer game in the classroom. 

 A student learns most of their lifelong lessons throughout their years in school, whether it is by achieving goals or making valuable mistakes. Lessons can vary - some being academic and some being social. However, one category that people look past is their health, and how these lessons could arguably be the most important. Stressing over calculus problems in high school will only help someone going into a mathematical field. Staying healthy will be with an individual throughout their whole life. Knowing how to maintain physical and mental health will be valuable until death (Zientarski). Taking care of your body is a valuable lesson taught through physical education. Creating habits at a young age to maintain a healthy lifestyle is learned in gym class. With parents dismissing this subject, children will not learn these skills for later in life.

Physical education is essential for a child in a school’s curriculum. By teaching healthy lessons, students are more inclined to carry them throughout their lives. Exercise is a main part of physical education, which has physical and mental effects. Multiple studies have been done to prove the importance of physical activity for the young, the elderly, and everyone in-between. With the regulated amount of exercise daily, many factors of an individual are influenced. Weight gain and mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression are not as prevalent, while moods are enhanced. Diseases prone to adults such as Parkinson’s disease and cardiovascular disease are proven to be less common in individuals who are more active than those who are not. Many parents do not understand the importance of physical education, for they believe it is a waste of a class. Students sometimes feel excluded or alienated in gym class. However, with an educated physical educator, this should not be the case. Many skills are derived from gym class such as cooperation and acceptance. Not only those lessons, but some that will last a lifetime. Knowing how to take care of the body you were given is essential. Unfortunately, cutting physical education out of the curriculum is still a circulating idea. Schools do not have the budget for gym, and this is the class parents complain most about. Educating the public about this problem is what I intend to do. Having a healthy and active nation is important, and by looking at the current situation of unhealthy Americans, we can understand the need for change. We must keep physical education in the curriculum to aid these children to healthy and successful lifestyles. 
