Agreed. When I started elementary school in 1996 and finished it in 2001... when I came in, we had 2 half-hour recesses, and when I left, we only had 2 15-minute recesses. It wouldn't surprise me if it's only one 15-minute recess now. It's just wrong. Kids are kids. They need to play.

Yes they do!

I took Angie to school and picked her up a couple of days this week since my truck needed a new battery. She teaches at a large middle school....

it just kills me to see all the overweight kids....some are hugs and others just pudgy...but you can just see where they are headed.

I don't want to sound like a jerk here but when I was in school there just wasn't that many overweight kids around school...there was some for sure, there always has been.

My highschool girlfriend was no skin and bones....I was 6' 150-55 pounds soaking wet...she was 5'4" and weighd 135...36DD....people made remarks from time to time...I knew she was a bit chunky....her entire family was built the same...

In today's world I'm thinking that is not that bad.

Wouldn't it be great if PE was evaluated simply in terms of effort and enthusiasm rather than ability? And if a wide range of fun activities were offered so kids could sample a bunch of different things and choosing activities that perhaps very few will be skilled with (levelling the "incompitance factor" so to speak? If teams were chosen by the teacher and balanced to avoid the embarrassment of being picked last or having one strong team and 3 crappy ones playing each other (and I don't mean by a random number system: I mean by having a teacher balance the teams by actually thinking about who is on each team)? And if PE was mandatory through high school and was also part of secondary education?

To me, the key is integrating the concept of physical movement as being fun and good for you, rather than a humilitation for those of us who weren't athletically gifted. Of course, there are some basics you have to monitor but changing from a competitive to a cooperative PE class attitude might be helpful.

I had some extra time in one of my classes yesterday so I let the kids have a 10 min recess. They were super excited!