Class has started at Madison Junior High School. A few kids are playing a video game. Others are dancing. Some are even climbing the walls.
Has their teacher lost control? No, it's simply another action-packed day in gym class. "The kids love it," Phil Lawler, director of Madison's physical-education (P.E.) program, told TFK.
But the Madison school gym, in Naperville, Illinois, is up to more than fun and games. Students are taking a new P.E. class that lets them try in-line skating, video games, rock climbing, yoga and more to help them develop lifelong fitness habits.
The programs have devoted fans. Grundy Center Elementary School, in Grundy Center, Iowa, also offers the new P.E. class. Fifth-grader Kelly Sevcik says, "It's just plain fun."
A Whole New Game
Madison's P.E. 4 Life Academy is a state-of-the-art fitness center. It
has stationary bikes that hook up to virtual-reality racing games. It
also has treadmills, kid-size weight-lifting equipment, a rock-climbing
wall and the video game Dance Dance Revolution.
Madison and Grundy's fitness center are two of four academies run by
P.E. 4 Life, a group that promotes kids' fitness. P.E. 4 Life plans to
open similar academies in every state by August 2011. The goal is to get
other local educators to visit and learn from the model programs.
The new P.E. promotes individual fitness over group sports. In soccer or basketball games, many less athletic kids are left sitting on the sidelines. In the new gym, kids learn how to lift weights, build endurance and increase flexibility.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that, at most, 8% of the nation's schools have P.E. every day. Studies show that kids don't get enough exercise outside of school either.
Many educators say that schools must help reverse this troubling trend. Nearly one in three U.S. schoolchildren is overweight, and one in seven kids is obese, or seriously overweight. Obesity can lead to heart disease and diabetes.
A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine warns that, at this rate, obesity will likely shorten the average life span of today's younger generation by two to five years. This would be the first time in modern history that kids could have shorter and less healthful lives than their parents.
Playing Hard is Hard Work
A report last month in a pediatric medical journal shows that the new
P.E. makes a difference. In a study of 50 overweight kids, researchers
at the University of Wisconsin at Madison saw more fitness improvement
in those who hiked, biked or skied during gym class than in those who
played traditional group sports.
Researchers are also studying how exercise affects learning. There is growing evidence that P.E. is good for kids' minds as well as their bodies. Madison's Phil Lawler says that healthy kids are better students. Sixth-grader Matthew Churik sees his point. P.E. helps "use up my energy," Matthew says. "It's easier to pay attention."
Revolution
Gym classes from Pennsylvania to California are stepping to a healthy
new beat. The popular foot-controlled video game Dance Dance Revolution
(DDR) is earning rave reviews among a growing number of P.E. teachers.
Last month, Cram Elementary School, in Redlands, California, added DDR
to its gym classes. Nutritionist Ernie Medina helped the school work the
game into its gym routine. Following the video directions with your feet
is good exercise, but it's also fun. "It's not like we're forcing them
to run a mile around the track," Medina told TFK. Twenty schools in West
Virginia are now using DDR. Last year, a study funded by the U.S.
Department of Education found that the game might also help kids who
have reading disorders. More research will be needed, but the activity
may strengthen brain-cell networks involved in reading and paying
attention.