Is Co-Ed PE Fair?

(Image via Washington Middle School)

(Image via Washington Middle School)

Matthew Lowther, Writer

Is PE being more unfair to students and a distraction from school? Last year Neil Armstrong Middle School’s PE classes switched from the separation of gender to Co-Ed. There was a mixed response to this change. The reason for it was meant to be so people who identify as non-binary would feel less out of place in their PE class. Although there is nothing wrong with trying to help other people feel more like they belong, it may be a bit more of a problem with not people trying to fit in with other people but themselves. With a change in times it may be time to make all PE co-ed, but is that best for someone’s physical health and school education.

The reason male and female PE classes were separate is because of the physical differences between males and females, which is that males, biologically, tend to be stronger than females; and females tend to be more flexible and have more stamina then males. A big reason why people hate PE isn’t just that they have to exercise, but they have to exercise with other people. For a lot of people it is really challenging to run the track when there is someone who can do a lap in one minute and thirty seconds when you can only go in two minutes and fifty seconds, which has something to do with training and how much you work for your goal, but when someone is genetically able to lift thirty more pounds then you or is able to do the splits when you can’t even touch your toes it can be discouraging.

When people start to get to this age distractions become a problem, although it might push people to try harder and show off, it could also make them less motivated by being distracted by the opposite sex. Since obesity and heart disease are big problems in America it would be best to try and get people to stay active and motivated at almost all times and try and limit the number of times people are sitting around talking without being active. Although it would be nice to have a break from the standard school setting of having to sit and do work, but PE is is still a break from having to sit and you get to exercise and work out too.

Even though in theory it makes a lot of sense for boys and girls to have physical education together, as they do have the rest of classes together and it would make people feel more comfortable, think about how it will affect people’s opinions on both how they feel on their physical ability and how they think about PE in general. Although a lot of people would rather classes be fun talking time, the real point of PE class is to exercise and be physically healthy, although it does have different standards, it’s like Math, English, or any other core classes, you work and try and eliminate distractions. School is school, and work is work.