YES! There are many reasons for athletes to engage in physical activity during the day. Just because they are getting exercise outside of the school day does not mean they are better than any other student. Athletes learn more in various gym classes than they could from their sport, like how to create a workout program, proper ways to lift, diet, nutrition and so much more.

Physical education is part of the national education curriculum, which laws have been implicated to maintain physical education in schools. Taking that program away from certain students, in this case athletes, would be unfair to the rest of the students. It would create a lack of fairness in the school system. Not taking P.E. would give athletes another class to deal with and this causes more stress to complete homework after practices.

Some may say that athletes receive certain privileges that seem unfair to the non-athletic student body. They should be required to participate in gym classes; this would make them seem less just like every other student at this school.

“Yes, I believe athletes should be treated equally as any regular student,” track coach Phillip Harris said. “They should not be excluded from taking advantage of extra classes.”

It may seem as if athletes already receive enough physical activity, but in reality they need more of it to balance out their lack of exercise before and after practices. Enrolling in a physical education class allows their coaches to check on their progress outside of practice.

Not only should athletes have to enroll in gym class because of equality, but also due to the benefit of their physical abilities. Did you know that approximately 17 percent of young people between the ages of 11-19 are obese? This statistic shows the danger of a quick rise in these numbers if gym class was eliminated.

“Physical education is a staple in the American education system in our society and it is important to promote healthy lifestyles,”  golf coach Brian Aldenderfer said.

Athletes have the benefactor of achieving more than they could during practices. It allows them to incorporate training into their everyday physical activities. While participating in physical education requirements, the overall obesity rates in students will gradually decrease.

Aldenderfer believes that athletes in gym will aid in combating the growing obesity rates while creating a better, healthier future for the youth. Being able to exercise the body is just as important as exercising the mind.

With the various physical activities gym class provides for students, athletes are able to set examples for the non-athletic students. They learn to play with other students who are not their teammates and they become capable of gaining leadership skills that will benefit them in the future. P.E. does not only teach students about staying fit and working out, they teach students personal fitness and healthy lifestyle choices.

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NO! Is three hours of practice a day not enough for student-athletes? Is there a need to push kids who are already physically active past their limit? And what benefit does gym class provide these athletes?

The daily schedule of an athlete is hard enough as it is: six hours of school, two to three hours of practice per day, an average of two or more hours of homework a night and for most athletes a lack of sleep is not unusual.

When you add up the total amount of practice an athlete gets per week on a two hour practice schedule you get a total of 12 hours of practice a week (including Saturday practice). Whereas the average student who has gym every other day only gets four and a half hours of exercise a week at most. Athletes on their average practice schedule almost triple that number in one week.

Back in my freshman and sophomore year, when I was required to take gym, I not only had gym and practice on a given day, but also on game days! I have never thought gym was necessary for athletes, especially ones who do multiple sports throughout the year, so wasting my energy on the day of a big game never thrilled me. Even on days where I only had practice I still needed the energy to practice well. As people always say, “you play how you practice.”

Adding on to my dislike for gym class would be the negative impact it had on my school schedule. Since I was fulfilling my need to exercise on a daily basis, I thought it would be smart to use that elective class to take another class that I was required to take to graduate. However, I couldn’t do that because I was also required to take gym at the same time, which in my case was not benefical to me at all.

On average, students who have practice right after school generally don’t get home until at least 5 p.m on a given night. On game days, varsity athletes don’t get home until at least 10 p.m. So instead of having a period forcing athletes to be more active than we already are, the school should make an exception for athletes to either have a free period to manage their schedules better or to take a required class that works at helping you graduate. I think the obvious answer here is to side with the athletes.

In honesty, what real benefit are athletes getting from playing boccer, team handball, frisby, occasionally runnning the pacer, occasionally doing ten push-ups and taking a test on the rules and regulations of a certain sports game? The intensity of playing a varsity sport far exceeds the intensity of gym class. Most athletes will say that they don’t benefit from it. Since these athletes are also doing the school a favor by participating in their programs all throughout high school and on a daily basis, shouldn’t the school give athetes a little more than just a pat on the back?