Get Rid of PE and Bullying In Schools

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Sometime this year, probably within the next few months, I am going to get this argument to the California Board of Education, and I hope you all help me by spreading it to your states.

PE should no longer be a compulsory class and bullying should have much harsher offenses.

The proctors and teachers should actually have to pay attention to students to see if bullying is going on. Bullying causes depression, physical pain, and in some cases, death. There have been students that comit suicide over bullying, that kill people over it. It needs to be stopped now, lest any more problems are caused.

Schools aren't supposed to feel like prisons. To us who are bullied, however, they do.

PE is a huge root of bullying. Being left out of activities, being made fun of from the students to the teachers, and almost always left with a feeling of inadaquacy.

If you have anymore to add to this, please, discuss. Talk about your experiences from both bullies and PE, and if you have any suggestions as to how to get the message out further, please, add them.

Bullying needs to be stopped, and PE needs to be abolished, or at least made into an elective, so such incidents that have happened to me and countless others don't happen.

UPDATE: This is from a small, halfassed website the PTA has put together. This is from their "Are You Being Bullied?" section:

"

Are you being bullied?

So you're being bullied, huh? That can feel pretty awful. But, no matter how bad it makes you feel sometimes, you should know you're not alone. That's right ... there are plenty of kids all over the world who go through the same things you do every day. And, even though you may feel helpless sometimes, there are a lot of things you and others can do to help stop the bullying. Give these tips a try.

Always tell an adult. It's hard to talk about serious things with adults sometimes, but they can help put a stop to bullying. Tell an adult that you trust and can talk to—your parents, your teacher, your school counselor, your coach, your neighbor. If you've told a grown-up before and they haven't done anything about it, tell someone else. And if you're afraid to tell an adult that you have been bullied, get another person—like a friend or a sister or brother—to go with you. Having someone else there to support you can make it a lot less scary. Tell the adults exactly what has happened—who did the bullying, where and when it happened, how long it's been happening to you, and how it's making you feel. If you talk with an adult at your school, ask them what they will do to help stop the bullying. It is their job to help keep you safe. Most adults really care about bullying and will do everything they can to help you.

Telling an adult can seem hard. Here are ways some other kids have done this:
Raven
Melanie
Milton

Stay in a group. Kids who bully like to pick on kids who are by themselves a lot— it's easier and they're more likely to get away with their bad behavior. If you spend more time with other kids, you may not be an easy "target" and you'll have others around to help you if you get into a difficult situation!

If it feels safe, try to stand up to the person who is bullying you. If the person who is bullying you thinks you won't do anything about it, they are more likely to keep picking on you. This doesn't mean you should fight back or bully them back. Instead, tell the person bullying you that you don't like it and that they should stop! Keep it simple. You might just say, "Cut it out, Miranda!", and then walk away. If possible, try to talk to them in a calm voice. Kids who bully often like to see that they can make you upset. If you're afraid to talk to the person who is bullying you by yourself, then you might want to ask someone else to be there with you. Kids who bully are more likely to listen, and less likely to bully you, when you're with someone and not alone. If you're not comfortable standing up to someone who has bullied you, that's definitely OK! Just walk away. But be sure to tell an adult.

If you are being bullied on-line, don't reply. This may actually make the bullying worse. Instead, be sure to tell a family member or another adult you trust. If possible, block any more communications from this person. (For example, it might be a good idea only to accept messages from people you know.) Save evidence of the bullying. If you get a nasty e-mail, print it out or save it so that you can show it to an adult.

Join clubs or take part in activities where you'll meet other kids. Sometimes, it can help to join clubs or take part in activities that interest you. Think about joining a sports team, taking an art class, or joining a scouting group, for example. You can meet other kids who share your interests and you might make some good friends!

What NOT to do if you are bullied.

DON'T...


* think it's your fault. Nobody deserves to be bullied!
* fight back or bully a person back. This probably won't make things any better and it might get you into big trouble. Besides, you should try to act better than the person who bullies you.
* keep it to yourself and just hope the bullying will "go away." It's normal to want to try to ignore bullying and hope that it will stop—or hope that the person will start to pick on someone else. But, often, bullying won't stop until adults and other kids get involved. So, be sure to report the bullying.
* skip school or avoid clubs or sports because you're afraid of being bullied. Missing out on school or activities that you enjoy isn't the answer. You have a right to be there!
* think that you're a "tattle tale" if you tell an adult that you've been bullied. Telling is NOT tattling! It's the right thing to do.
* hurt yourself. Some kids who are bullied get so sad and depressed that they may try to hurt themselves because they think there is nothing else they can do. This definitely isn't the answer. Talk with an adult immediately and tell them how you are feeling. They can help stop the bullying."

None of those suggestions work. Telling adults never works because detention doesn't do anything, nor does any consequence. Plus, if you tell an adult, you just get bullied for that. Hanging in a group? Most people who get bullied (at least, this is the case with me) have little or no friends, and in the classes they get bullied in, they usually have no one to hang around with. Plus, the group would probably turn on you in order to avoid themselves getting bullied. Joining a club? How does this help in the school environment? In a classroom? It really doesn't. I mean, sure, you should tell an adult, your parents, but they can't do anything! We shouldn't have to tell anyone, the proctors should have to actually make an attempt to stop bullying themselves! Basically, this entire website is saying only we can stop our own torment, and that's the worst message they can send out. The school should be able to stop it, and they should have to give them much harsher consequences. Mental abuse, I don't think, is covered in the First Ammendment. Or at least it shouldn't be.

UPDATE 2: On a quick Google search, I found a petition to ban PE. Here's one of the replies to the petition:

"I support this petition because yeah LOSER. Only a nerd or a lazy fat **** wouldmake a petition like this. LOSER, LOSER, LOSER."

This is why PE should be cancelled. Because that type of bullying goes on in PE classes every day.

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I actually think that PE should continue because if bulling people has harsher punishments. One should then be wiser on the bulling. That's how I see it.

but as I see your point on the other post you read that's horrible.

Whats wrong with PE?

The schools need very strict consequences for bullies and maybe involve the bullies' parents as well. Then they need to get off their butts and enforce the consequences.

I agree that bullying in general needs to have serious consequences. But I don't see the problem with PE. I've had some awful PE teachers, but also some good ones who were fair, let kids do what they were interested in, and made an effort to include everyone. I think the problem is with some PE teachers/programs, not necessarily PE itself.
Childhood obesity is becoming a pretty big issue, and PE could potentially be instrumental in getting kids interested in excersize, but as it is it's mostly just kids standing around.
I agree that everyone tells kids to "tell an adult", and that does not work. Maybe kids should learn martial arts in PE. Who knows, maybe if everyone knew karate, it could level the playing field? It's a difficult question.

I do not think PE in and of itself is bad but how it is taught. PE should be about getting exercise and encouraging that. I do not see how Dodgeball encourages a child to exercise. I think that is one of the reasons why we have an obesity problem amongst children. They are turned off from activity. Any activity that gets the heart to the optimal rate and keeps it there for 30 minutes should be considered PE.

As far a bullying, that will never change just like so much of the other so called "education reform" does not change anything because the system works as designed. The school system is designed to take children and turn them into mindless cogs who will work in the factories and offices. One way to achive this act is through group mentality. So what if a couple of kids off themselves. They were bad material and could possibly cause a social revolution anyways through different thinking and society cannot have that. If the kids off some of the normal kids, it allows the system to further ostrasize those who are different and encourages those who fit in "the mold". If you want more information about this subject, I suggest you read the works of John Taylor Gatto.

I applaude you for your efforts (and I have made my own efforts to buck the educational system) but as long as the education system is producing its desired results, nothing will change it, either one person or congress (No Child Left Behind is a joke that will not change anything).

They're right, those suggestions don't work.
As for P.E., well 'tag' has been banned because it's too dangerous with the running around.
Couldn't the same be said of P.E.
P.E. and tag - intrexicably, irrversibly linked.
Either neither are too dangerous or both are.
Good luck!
I personally think that this could be said of all the subjects.

Legislation won't change bullying, you're right.

But I'm thinking taking some real action would do something, someting in the means of a very large protest is in order.

However, now that I am being forced to do 3 more semesters of PE, I'm going to appeal to the district, and if that doesn't work, we're bringing the case to the Board of Education.

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Because that's what this country needs, less emphasis on physical activity.

I've said it before in other threads. If you take martial arts, you should get a free pass out of P.E.

Pretty much anything they say it's for, Martial Arts generally does better. And generally with a lot less bullying.

(Generally)

in my opinion I have had teachers that treated it like a weight loss center with weigh ins and pushing for diets and I have had other teachers who had it like structured recess. I didn't mind ball games that much but when its almost every day bouncing a ball or some little kiddy game your not doing much strength wise. im the kind of person that gets strength from weightlifting and machine assisted type of things not arobic and running. plus my last 2 years of school I had these 2 weirdos that I think must been dumb or something because during stretching of the hamstrings, they would grab a place on their body that didn't look right!(sorry about it I know it sounds like it belongs in the mature board!) they are due to retire soon so nobody else has to see it happen during their gym class.

I know I also graduated in 2002 from the school that had these 2 teachers but wanted to say thats what I had. i think it should be more fitness orianted and do the best u can, not be into sports and stuff you will only see jocks do. not everyone is like lance armstrong with the way their muscles work.

I talked with a teacher yesterday concerning all of this and we brainstormed up a plan.

This is the message that I'm bringing to the Board of Education:

"PE classes either need to be totally restructured or turned into electives rather than compulsory classes."

We launch from that message. Sounds good, right?

UPDATE: A couple days ago, I sent an e-mail to the PTA's national office adressing my concerns. I just got this in the inbox:

"Greetings from the national office,



You’ll be glad to know we have forwarded your email to our Public Relations and Programs department; therefore someone should be contacting you shortly.



Sincerely,



Abby Saucedo

Information Center

National PTA

everychild.onevoice."

This means they're listening.

I detect a lot of good coming from this.

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