Should physical education in schools be mandatory, and why?
I never answer these things - but there's always a first time...!
My answer is, No, unless they are very careful about screening children to find out what is physically appropriate for each individual child to do.
I broke a bone in my right foot in high school P.E. class doing jumping jacks, an exercise that a podiatrist told me that I should never have done, due to the bone structure of my legs. I also experienced other injuries to my feet in high school P.E. class, due to the same cause. I've had nothing but problems with my feet ever since then. And, some physical therapy I had in recent years made certain problems worse.
Now, it's been ages since I've been in high school. I have no idea what is standard these days, and how much attention is paid to physical differences in individual children. Do modern school staff members have enough expertise to recognize that some students may experience long term physical complications from certain exercises?
