Give school athletes a pass on gym

The role of physical education is primarily to provide students with a way to exercise and stay healthy. High school students who do sports, however, are already getting a sufficient amount of exercise to keep them fit and healthy. With most high school athletes having at least two hours of practice a day, they are getting more than the recommended hour of exercise.

Having athletes participate in physical education is unnecessary and could even result in muscle strains or other injuries. Because of the significant difference in the physical education offered to high school students and those in the younger grades, athletes are not getting anything from gym classes that they could not get from their sport. By putting these ideas into consideration, student athletes could benefit and grow in their sport while getting the right amount of exercise.

When people already exhaust their body with a sport, gym class is unnecessary and could be detrimental to their health. It could contribute to dehydration, exhaustion and a number of injuries. Those athletes might be on varsity and if they get injured, the entire season could be in jeopardy. According to syndicated health columnist Dr. Paul Donohue, overtraining is as harmful as no training. During my cross-country season, for example, I developed a non-displaced stress fracture (a small break) in the foot. Without taking physical education, I was out for half of my first season on varsity. If I had taken gym class in the beginning of the injury, it would have become much worse and would have added to my recovery time.

In elementary school, students are first introduced to different sports and types of exercise. They can test different ones while they learn essential lessons in teamwork and self-worth. For these reasons, gym is vital to an elementary school student.

In middle school, the same lessons are applied except a student may be leaning towards a specific sport or activity. They are still learning about health and how to properly take care of their body.

At Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School, gym class becomes a little bit more repetitive and redundant. Health class is also not required for grades 10 through 12. Students become more independent and can choose whether they want to make an effort to be healthy or not. Gym class becomes useful only if a student needs the exercise and is willing to make an effort. Students who play sports are already taking that step toward physical fitness. Gym class would not be giving them any sustenance that they don't already get from their chosen sport.

It could be argued that gym is a part of school curriculum. It is a grade and is worked into your schedule. This might take time to work out and would conflict if someone decided to quit a sport.

Because of this, dropping gym could be something offered only to seniors who have played a sport for one or two years already. They have the commitment to playing a sport and can balance education and athletics. This way, there would not be anyone taking a sport for the sole purpose of getting out of gym. This privilege would be for the athletes that can handle it. An athlete could be in line for a scholarship from the sport they are in. Getting injured in physical education could ruin that and possibly change their future.

Emalee Peterson of West Yarmouth is a junior at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School.

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