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Comment by Jtsummers | Hacker News Reader

Speaking specifically of college, I'm unfamiliar with current K-12 requirements in the US. Physical education is no longer required at most universities. Not even one or two semesters. It is offered. But so is going outside for a jog, or dropping to the floor and doing push-ups and sit-ups. The issue is one of motivation. If students (really, people) aren't feeling motivated to be active then they won't. Attaching a grade and a graduation requirement to it gives them an immediate motivator.

The hope, then, is that this pattern of physical activity remains with them throughout their life. Ideally also paired with courses on nutrition and diet.

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Considering that gym class was hell on Earth for some of us fat people and we greatly looked forward to the liberation of college, I think the idea of mandatory PE is horrible.

PE is usually taught in a manner that's great if you're already fit, and atrocious if you're fat. It's hard on the joints and exemplifies how much weaker/slower/less valuable to society you are compared to the fit kids.

I know this because I WAS fat. Horribly so. I lost nearly 100 pounds in my mid 20's by doing something simple - ignoring the exercises I hated (running, any team sports, etc.) and doing what I loved (swimming and cycling, which no PE class had offered). Instead of agonizing knee pain I experienced the joy of cycling, and instead of being a dripping sweaty pig I was in a nice cool pool, where body heat was transferred away easily.

I also quit eating the poison that some call food on a college campus. Remember that at this time people thought margarine was comparatively healthy!

(Note - I use the word "fat" because I think it's an accurate descriptor. It has unfortunately taken on a lot of emotional overtones. But let's be honest, the simplest word that describes the experience I had is "fat").

High school and middle school PE were fucking miserable for me. I wasn't fat, but I was slow and in a group with very fit (naturally or by practice) guys. I was also uncoordinated as I had a massive growth spurt and, being extremely near sighted, wasn't active in any typical sport so my coordination lagged behind for years.

College PE is different. It's not (usually) a general class. You typically pick which one you want. Weight lifting, running, cycling, golf, swimming, etc. This means you're working on a physical activity that you enjoy or have some moderate interest in, unless you truly despise moving and can't even find one thing in the list that interests you (and somehow never fits into your schedule over the 4 years of college).

And all those options were at a cheap, no-name state school.

EDIT: As well, you typically end up setting your own goals within the constraints of the course. Usually an A requires: Be fitter/healthier/faster/stronger than when you started.

Where I studied, there were indeed groups of choices, but they had to take you for some reason (either be fast to apply or have good fit already). Most people were raked into general class, where it was as bad as in school, under the fear of dropping you out, since it was a required course.

Seriously makes me want to bulldoze the stadium (bonus points for frags) and set a few extra dorms on top.

> You typically pick which one you want

Typically being the key word. IIRC, at my college, the choices were baseball, weights, basketball and track.

Well, this feels obvious, but let's say the required PE classes have skilled professors that can adjust a PE program to your fitness level? Would your opinion change then?

No. It should not be mandatory. It would make sense for some fields (kinesiology perhaps) but on the whole it's ridiculous to force it on students.

> PE is usually taught in a manner that's great if you're already fit, and atrocious if you're fat.

I remember going through the Presidential Fitness Challenge, and saying "how am I supposed to just stretch further? It hurts!" If, instead, gym class (at least, by the time one gets to high school) was more about finding ways each person liked to exercise, it would be a much greater force for health. I recently decided I just don't like to run, and I'm not really going to try to force myself to anymore.

some schools let you pick which type....mine had dance to weight lifting and maybe swimming.

I can see a bunch of college students angry and complaining that their college feels like high school and that their money/time is wasted in such classes.

As they should, if you're looking for fitness you can get a personal trainer and then some for that kind of money. And focus on self-improvement instead of checking some box to graduate. We're talking about adults here, after all.

No, we're talking about students, and institutions intended to prepare them for the world after graduation. Fitness is a critical element of mental and physical well-being. Consequently, it's entirely reasonable to place physical education within the scope of a university.

Fitness is a critical element of mental and physical well-being

I disagree. It may contribute, but it's not critical. I haven't intentionally exercised in decades and my well-being is fine.

Fitness doesn't require intentional exercise.

Probably. Students will complain about everything.

I ran and did judo so required PE classes would've just been annoying on top of that. This is purely anecdotal but I knew pretty much what I wanted to take so required courses just ended up getting in the way for me. At a certain point you have to trust college students to be able to decide how they themselves want to live

I hear the same arguments about engineering students forced to take political science, or liberal arts students forced to take x number of laboratory credits. Arguably, health is more important that a journalist's ability to use calculus.

Though considering the HN consensus on science reporting, journalists knowing calculus and statistics would be a good thing.

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