Importance of Physical Education in

Schools
Introduction
Physical education plays a vital role in students development and
growth. According to recent medical studies, physical well being of a student
is directly related to his or her performance whether in class or in the office.
The optimal physical education program will foster a lifetime commitment to
physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle. Ultimately, improved
coordinated school health programs, of which physical education is a central
component, will augment other prevention efforts and help to reverse the
growing epidemic of childhood obesity which threatens to undo decades of
progress in the fight against cardiovascular and other diseases. Effective
efforts made now will help children avoid a lifetime of chronic disease and
disability. Before further discussion of the importance of physical education,
there first needs to a formal definition of what physical education is and what
type of teachings occur in such a class. Definition of Physical Education
People are often mistaken in defining physical education as they often
assume that physical education is sport education. Simply put, physical
education is defined as a process of education through physical activity. The
goal is the development of individuals acquired through experience of motion.
In a broader context, physical education is defined as a process of learning
through physical activities designed to improve physical fitness, develop
motor skills, knowledge and behavior of healthy and active living,
sportsmanship, and emotional intelligence.
Thus, Physical Education is not only aimed at physical development but
also includes the development of the individual as a whole. With Physical
Education students will acquire a variety of expressions which are closely
related with the personal impressions of fun as well as various expressions of
a creative, innovative, and skilled, have the physical fitness, healthy habits
and have the knowledge and understanding of human motion. What is taught
in Physical Education?
The health and physical education programs should be designed to teach
students the skills, knowledge and attitudes essential to live a healthy
lifestyle and select healthy and safe behaviors. Physical education is unique
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as it provides students with opportunities to learn motor skills, develop

fitness, and gain understanding about the importance of physical activity.
Students should be provided an individualized, developmentally appropriate,
and personally challenging instructional program that will advance the
knowledge, confidence, skills, and motivation needed to engage in a lifelong,
healthy, active lifestyle. There are many branches to physical education and
it does not just deal with the teaching of a sport of any kind whether
basketball or track, etc. Some major topics include nutrition and health,
which entails the teaching of proper eating habits.
Sport science, which is the teachings of the rules and play of a specific
sport and the necessary equipment that sport requires. Anatomy and
physiology, which looks into the human body for e.g. skeletal, muscular,
nervous, circulatory, and respiratory systems. Exercise physiology e.g.
components of health related fitness; fitness guideline such as frequency,
intensity, time/duration and type/mode; principles of exercise such as
specificity, overload, and progression; roles of the body systems in exercise;
short and long-term effects of physical training, nutrition as related to effects
of physical training and nutrition as related to exercise, fitness, and
metabolic response to exercise. Other topics include movement concepts
such as body awareness and effects of substance abuse on body
performance, health and behavior.

Importance of Physical Education

Obesity is a very common problem faced, which if not taken care of in
time, can lead to many lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, cancer and
diabetes. Engaging in physical activities help to burn calories and lose fat.
Regular exercising builds muscles, makes the immune system strong and
improves upon stamina. This increases the fitness levels and keeps various
diseases and health conditions in check. It Builds Self Esteem
Students who are active in physical activities like basketball, volleyball,
martial arts and running just to name a few are more confident with
themselves according to most social school studies. Its probably because of
the self discipline and dedication to excel in a sport that brings out the best
in students. In school, the physical education program introduces these sport
activities to students allowing them to make choices to which sport areas
they want to get involved in. Life Lessons

By participating in various sports, a student gets to learn so many things

about life. A student wins some games and loses some; this makes him
understand that winning and losing are a part of life and should be accepted
with grace. When a student participates in team games, he learns that cooperating with others is very important if goals are to be achieved. Likewise,
sports can teach so many life lessons to students and thus, help them evolve
mentally. Hygiene
Physical education classes lay great emphasis on maintaining hygiene.
They teach students how to remain clean and germ-free at all times. Sex
education is sometimes part of this curriculum too. The safe practices taught
in these classes, and if the lessons are followed throughout a persons life,
will save them from many diseases. Stress Management
Often times, students, particularly in their adolescent years, face various
kinds of pressure and experience stress and anxiety. Participation in physical
activities can act as a stress buster for them. Research has shown that when
a person exercises, the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone which increases
blood sugar, get reduced. Moreover, a person who exercises every day is
able to sleep better, thus giving enough time to his body to repair and
restore. This proves that by making an exercise routine, a student can remain
stress-free, relaxed and concentrate more on his studies and other important
things. Productivity
Researches show that students who participate in physical activities have
high energy levels and are more alert than those who led sedentary
lifestyles. Due to these very reasons, the productivity of such students in
various spheres of life, including their studies, improves considerably.
As can be seen, physical education contributes so much towards making a
child grow into a healthy, intelligent, confident and level-headed adult. It can
be rightly said that its not just for individual growth, but for the improvement
of the whole society, physical education should be made an important part of
the school curriculum. Academic Performance
Though a lack of attention on PE is often justified as an opportunity to
spend more time in the classroom, studies show that physical activity
contributes to improved academic performance. Regular activity during the
school day is strongly associated with higher concentration levels as well as
more directed, composed behavior. A statewide policy in North Carolina
required that children from kindergarten to eighth grade participate in 30
minutes of physical activity each day. A survey of school representatives from
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106 of the states school districts reported that the most recognizable benefit
of the mandate was improved academic focus. Importance of Physical
Education as it relates to Swimming
In an article about How to Learn by Swim Smooth written in 2009, it
speaks about the brain in two parts, our conscious and our subconscious.
When we perform a familiar movement pattern such as walking or riding a
bike we perform the movements on auto-pilot. The same goes for swimming
stroke. Freestyle is such a complex set of movements that nearly every
action is controlled by our subconscious. It may be thought that you are
concentrating
very hard on your stroke but in reality you can only make small changes
through pure conscious thought power or concentration. The subconscious
mind is very fast, can do complicated things in a fraction of a second, and
can react before you have time to think. The conscious mind on the other
hand is very much slower and could never react or co-ordinate things this
quickly. It can only co-ordinate one thing at a time and often very clumsily.
With proper physical education, a swim coach can teach about the muscle
groups used in each different form of swim stroke, the proper nutrition
required in order to keep the body fit for doing swimming on a regular basis
and give proper instruction on swimming techniques so that as the individual
practices and it starts to move from conscious thought to subconscious forms
of movement, the actions being carried out are correct and precise. It can
also be of benefit where the physical education is concerned because with
technique again, focus will be made on single aspects of a stroke and
gradually everything at once in order to give the body a full feel and more
susceptible to get it done correctly than a person teaching themselves and
trying to do everything at once.
Since the conscious mind can only do one thing at a time, focus should
only be on one part of the swimming technique at a time and the
subconscious gets a feel for things most quickly by doing the action. Many
swimmers believe they have to concentrate very hard when they swim or
their stroke technique will fall apart. Theyre vastly over-estimating the
influence of their conscious mind as theyre swimming! If they mentally
switched off they would swim almost identically sometimes better because
theyd be more relaxed.

Disadvantages of a lack of Physical Education

Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by

skeletal muscles that require energy expenditure. Physical inactivity (lack of
physical activity) has been identified as the fourth leading risk factor for
global mortality (6% of deaths globally). Moreover, physical inactivity is
estimated to be the main cause for approximately 2125% of breast and
colon cancers, 27% of diabetes and approximately 30% of ischemic heart
disease burden. Being inactive increases the risk of developing depression or
dementia, according to studies presented at a conference of the British
Nutrition Foundation. According to Nannette Mutrie of the University of
Strathclyde, researchers are coming to understand how important physical
activity is for psychological health. She said that recent research suggests
that exercise can be successfully used to treat depression.
Conversely, people who do live inactive lifestyles are twice as likely to
become depressed. Its only recently that people have begun to see the link
between physical activity and mental health, Mutrie said. Its important for
increasing peoples self esteem, general mood, coping with stress and even
sleeping better. And we now have very strong evidence that physical activity
can prevent depression. As it relates to the theory aspect of physical
education, a person wanting to be in better shape would not know the proper
steps to take in order to make it happen. They would be ignorant about how
the body works and how to eat healthy and so thought exercise is carried out
often, may not see the results for all the work put in. Technique and precision
is necessary for anyone to become good at whatever sport or activity they
take part in and this can be more easily achieved if guidance through
physical education is given. Conclusion
In conclusion, physical education is very important as it helps with
teaching of a healthy lifestyle, keeps the body active and promotes long life.
Lack of physical education too has its disadvantages as it can promote
various diseases, lead to obesity and more susceptible to mental issues such
as depression or dementia. When relating to swimming specifically, physical
education can help better with technique and necessary stretches and eating
habits required to more develop on that skill.

Source : http://studymoose.com/importance-of-physical-education-in-schoolsessay
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