Dear Editor,

I’m writing in response to Leo Montoya’s “We need four years of PE,” to disagree with his statement that PE causes students to be healthier.

Four years of PE will not cure obesity in students. Studies have shown that exercise alone will not decrease obesity, but smaller portions, fewer calories and more nutritious foods will help children be more healthy.

There is also no evidence showing that PE reduces the amount of alcohol and drugs students use. If they want to do drugs and drink alcohol, they’re going to do it. Students don’t need PE to reduce illicit activities; they need more education about them.

Even if PE were a requirement for all four years of high school, it would not make that big of a difference in a teenager’s weight. During my experience in PE, we did not really do anything to help us lose weight. Yes, on occasion we would run the mile to be timed, or do fitness testing (push-ups, sit-ups and the pacer), but because teachers cannot grade someone on how fast they can run the mile, kids can get away with walking the whole thing—as long as they get under 20 minutes (which was the requirement for girls to receive a passing grade for the mile during my PE class). The rest of the time is spent playing games such as soccer, which usually only the athletic kids or more social kids play, or the ones who aren’t afraid to get into the game. During my class, the kids who weren’t athletic, or didn’t care about the game, just stood around and pretended like they were playing defense.

Also, the kids who don’t dress out in the required PE uniform either get to sit down and write a one page paper all class, or they can walk around the gym at their own pace (which is usually slow) and sit out during all the games. These kids can still manage to pass PE without doing most of the physical activity.

The last reason PE should not be required all four years is because of the kids who aren’t interested in sports. Not everyone is interested in the same thing, so usually the athletic kids are the ones getting the ball during soccer, basketball or handball, or the ones who have friends in the class, leaving the “outcast” kids to pretty much just stand around.

I think that Physical Education should be a requirement for freshmen, but then an elective for the other classes. This way, kids are getting at least one year of PE, but they can choose whether or not they want to stick with it. However, if PE is required for freshmen, then expectations and requirements of the students should be raised, so that the students are actually getting physical activity and not just standing around, which could lead to a decrease in obesity. If having a required year of actual physical activity proves to lower obesity in American teenagers, then maybe a second year should be required.

PE should not be required for all four years, but it should be an elective for sophomores, juniors and seniors and it should actually be about what it stands for: physical activity.

Allison Willner