If there was ever an organization that needed a weapon of “mass destruction” dropped on its’ head, it’s the LAUSD. The LAUSD needs to be immediately destroyed and every area needs to establish their own school district, so they can more effectively manage their schools. The LAUSD has way too many schools and students to be effectively or efficiently managed. I hold NO hope of the existing LAUSD to make any real improvements.

There is an advantage to being a “defeated old-guard left”, back in my Junior High days all the boys were forced to run a 2-1/2 mile course around the school. Our P.E. Teacher (and wrestling coach) would run along side and give anybody lagging behind, a swift kick in the ass. We also did calisthenics, good ole fashion Jumping Jacks, push-ups and etc. The only “equipment” required are tennis shoes and gym shorts. And any kid who did not cooperate was taken to the P.E. teacher’s office and hit across the ass with a “swat” paddle (a piece of wood with holes drilled into it).

And us “defeated old-guard left” did not have video games, computers, large screen T.V. for entertainment, so we had to go outside and play. You played baseball in an empty lot, chased your dog around, or rode your bicycle.

Everybody knows about the need to exercise and burn the calories you consumed. But I believe the food we eat today must contain too many growth hormones. If you look at the kids of small/short immigrants, for example the kids of Japanese, Chinese and Central Americas, you will notice how their kids are usually much bigger than their parents. So it might also be the food we consume not just the lack of exercise. When you are in France or Japan you quickly notice that they have less over-weight people than we do (is it their food?). And the French are known to enjoy a good long meal. I also notice that people in the mid-west who consume more dairy products, seem to be fatter (sorry to the skinny folks in the mid-west).

While a government can’t force a fat kid to exercise it can regulate what chemicals can be used to stimulate growth in the food we eat.

Right! Exactly! Sums it up in a nutshell. In addition, at certain ages/with psychological make-ups, team sports are resisted – competition is either too threatening, or too intense.

*Equipment for individual sports is expensive by definition – every kid has to be outfitted,
*if all kids are to participate for a ‘reasonable’ amount of time, there need to be enough ’stations’ – meaning more dedicated space,
*for some types of activities, safety (reducing liability) requires more than one teacher to be present
*and, individual skill development requires a certain amount of one-on-one instruction; an efficiency problem.

In the end you have to ask, What’s the goal? Weight management? Cardiovascular fitness? Skill acquisition? Get the kids out of the classroom teacher’s hair? These are not, and should not necessarily be, mutually exclusive. However, when you’re faced with 40 kids, 40 minutes, limited space, a limited equipment budget, etc. you might be better off targeting a single achievable goal, than an array of related goals.

And, much past the elementary grades, does the native talent of the student matter? You wouldn’t place someone with inadequate preparation in math in an AP calculus class. Likewise, I wouldn’t be inclined to ask someone who has really poor hand-eye coordination to play baseball/softball just because it’s an activity schools are able to provide relatively easily.

Anymore, I tend to think schools would be better off targeting cardiovascular fitness and outfit a space with a mix of elliptical trainers, treadmills, and stationary bikes. Kids can rotate every 10 minutes. Bo-ring! But, likely more effective than what many schools have now. Beyond that, intramurals, and competitive teams for those invested, or *have the money* to play. At least it would give a kid a certain baseline level of raw physical conditioning on which a kid could build. Beats an empty space, which many PE programs could only charitably be called.

LINK: Cross-dressing day sparks school exodus

A public school’s “gender-bender” cross-dressing event, where boys were supposed to dress as girls and girls as boys, has prompted at least dozens, perhaps hundreds, of students to flee the tax-supported institutions in Iowa.

“The mother of a seventh-grade student … was alarmed when she heard that on the last day of the school’s ‘Spirit Week,’ students were being encouraged to dress like the opposite sex. Perhaps even more disturbingly, parents were given virtually no advance notice from the school and found out about the event after flyers were posted throughout the campus,” PJI reported.

The principal, Adam Clark, had said he wanted to encourage students to be “free thinkers,” but the “overall message wasn’t coming across clear.”

See what liberals have done to our schools? We certainly don’t need any more imput or suggestions from them.

Let’s worry about healthy minds before we worry about healthy bodies.