Physical education classes are declared compulsory in 97% of the world’s countries. Here in the U.S, it employs over 20,000 people.  It’s a standard part of schooling that, when you think about it, feels out of place. But just over 100 years ago, gym class was a rarity. So what changed? And should we have it at all?

Cheddar Explains

The Real Reason We Have Gym Class At All

dodgeball, softball kickball. You know where I'm going with this gym class more formerly known as physical education. Some people love it and others hate it. You're out Doyle rules me, I wasn't too big of a PE fan, but that's also because my memories consisted of ducking incessantly because I have terrible hand, eye coordination just like that. That's why I was physically taken aback when I learned the real reason why we have P. E. In the first place. In fact, the reason gym class was implemented as curricula really doesn't have much to do with health itself. Physical education classes are declared compulsory in 97% of the world's countries Here in the US it employs over 20,000 people. It's a standard part of schooling that when you think about it kind of feels out of place An hour on the Pythagorean theorem three chapters of the scarlet letter, pause for Hula Hooping than a review of the periodic table of elements of course being active is beneficial for both physical and mental health and has been shown to improve academic achievement. But that's not what gym class was originally meant to do, Essential to the health of the pupils games and physical training remain a regular feature of school life in the big cities. Despite physical education making its debut as early as the 1420s, it didn't become a mandatory part of our educational curriculum until the 19th and early 20th centuries. And by the early 1900s, most states in the us required some sort of physical education in schools. So why did we make p compulsory physical health benefits, mental health benefits. Just giving kids downtime. All of these are outcomes of P but not the real reason we implemented it in the first place. So then what changed Colfer steve and power? The power behind the Industrial Revolution. We had gotten into the Industrial Revolution at that point. And you know, people weren't as active as they were more and more americans were moving from the countryside to the cities, swapping intense farm labor for more idle factory jobs. Idol being a relative term. I mean I'm a born and raised new yorker. So I don't claim to know anything about working on a farm. But I think it's safe to say that americans started getting less exercise. And even for those who stayed on farms, new mechanical equipment removed a fair amount of physical demands. So all in all we are becoming less and less fit. Which in the eyes of the american government was fine until yeah, like with every video we produce change with the world wars, young americans weren't fit for combat. And so society responded by using physical education as a way to sort of train future soldiers. So if there was another war they would be ready. So organizations like the Public health service started to train school Children to pass various fitness tests including the physical fitness index and athletic power tests. So basically if you were a school child during and after World War One, you were in gym class. The focus on fitness declined during the Great Depression but quickly sprang up again with World War Two. But it was something after the wars that really raised the backs of american officials. In the 1950s to fitness activists. Dr. Hans, Kraus and Bonnie Pruden administered a physical test to 4000 American Children and 3000 European Children, only 8% of European kids failed, but american Children, 58%. Those results freaked out. Our nation. Specifically President Eisenhower, The Cold War had begun and America's readiness for war was questioned yet again. In response, Eisenhower created the President's Council on Youth Fitness which consisted of organizations and professionals establishing the first ever national survey fitness testing, which shortly after led to the presidential fitness test. Are you getting flashbacks yet this military inspired test, forced Children to do pull ups, sit ups, shuttle runs and this thing for reasons I still don't understand and all that can range from a little intimidating to downright traumatic For your average fifth grader. The test was eventually discontinued in 2012 for being too traumatic and was replaced under Obama with the presidential youth fitness program, a program with a more holistic, comprehensive approach to pee and students. Health instead of endless push ups or these weird things. Kids are measured by body composition, aerobic capacity, flexibility, muscular endurance and muscle strength. And yet though this shift in focus showed signs of change, experts say some schools are still reluctant to let go of the past. So we're still training little soldiers in some places. We are. That's so fascinating. Can you kind of expand on that a little bit? It's unfortunate. But I do a lot of work out in the schools. So when I go into a school I will regularly hear people say when someone is doing something that is you know inappropriate is literally drop and give me 20. And to me that that's still a throwback. I mean that's what you hear in the military. Um we still have squads that students line up and that's a military leftover. We still punished with exercise, that's a military leftover. Oh good hands Niederman take a lap. She adds that this type of P. E. Is the reason why people have such strong reactions to the class itself. So for advocates the challenges, still pushing for a change everywhere. With an emphasis on social and emotional skills. We've seen in some of the research that if students feel cared for and appreciated and accepted by the people in their physical education classes, they're much more likely to participate in physical activity. Think middle school, the years you care so much about what your friends think of you. But if you're not good at P. That it's going to impact how you view physical activity if you can teach those students some of the social skills for how to interact positively with one another, those that activity level and um, lifetime activity level of those students will really increase. Because let's be real, not everyone is fit for the military, but for dodgeball, well, there's at least a better chance of that. I mean, not for me, never gone. My knowledgeable days are behind me. I mean, for the kids.