Why Physical Education is an Important Part of the School Curriculum

– Why Physical Education is an Important –

The school curriculum comprises all kinds of topics and subjects meant to give kids the foundation they need to learn, forge a future for themselves, and use those skills and knowledge for the rest of their lives.

And while much of the focus is on the topics they learn, another aspect of the school curriculum that is also very important is physical education.

Sure, it may seem like for the junior grades gym class is nothing more than filler in the day, but in reality, it’s actually very important for kids.

Let’s inspect just why physical education is so important to build into the school curriculum.

A Chance to Exert Physical Energy Allows Kids to Focus Better

Staying focused and on-task all day long at school can try for the most studious of kids.

It’s just a long time to be sitting in a desk, focused, paying attention, and absorbing all the information. This is the first area that physical education can help with.

By giving kids a chance to get that energy out, move around, and be active, they will actually be able to focus much better. They will head back to class feeling refreshed, refocused, and ready to learn.

An Excellent Stress Reliever

Your child doesn’t have to be in high school to experience stress, anxiety, and worries at school.

Many kids feel pressure to do well, get those top grades, and then there is the stress caused by outside factors in which school has no part of. 

Physical activity is an excellent way to relieve stress, worries, and anxiety, giving kids that mental break they need.

When you work out and burn energy, it releases the feel-good hormones in your brain, which can then combat the negative feelings.

Not only that but it helps kids breathe more efficiently as they draw in extra air to the lungs during the activity. This extra air in the lungs means more oxygen in the brain, which causes the brain to relax.

Help Maintain Personal Health and Well-Being

Then there is the very basic benefit that physical activity helps kids to maintain their optimal level of physical health. In general kids aged 6-17 need at least 60 minutes of physical activity each and every day.

That activity should be at a moderate to vigorous level of intensity. Being able to fit that in during the school day is ideal.

Let’s not forget that all that physical activity also targets their strength, endurance, flexibility, gross motor skills, and balance. Again, these are all important things for kids’ health.

As scholastics points out, children are getting much more screen time than previous generations, so motivating them to be active, and then stay interested can be tricky but it is a necessary process.

At the end of the day, physical education is no filler in the curriculum, rather it is an important aspect of a child’s health and well-being.

CSN Team.