Why Athletes Should Be Exempt From Physical Eduation

Humor

Aggressiveness

As an athlete I know first and foremost the physical requirements to play a sport.  I know the difference between myself and all the other people in the hallways I see each and every day at school.  Work ethic.  Whether we want to or not, athletes condition themselves preseason, mid-season, and offseason for their sport.  This training, during the season, is put on top of the already constant physical requirements to endure a game or practice.  Could you imagine how many calories the average high school athlete burns? So why, may I ask, must athletes be forced into taking a full year of gym in  order to graduate high school?

The typical physical education class takes place every other day for a semester at Brien McMahon High School.  So, for most students, it takes two full years to complete the necessary gyms required.  I know for sure that athletes don’t necessarily take physical education seriously. Many of them upon entering the class look at gym as some necessary waste of time intended to keep the less athletic and less active students moving.  But why do athletes have to waste their time in gym? Most of the time we barely break a sweat and look for other interesting classes to take.  Forensics. Marine Biology. Art. Photography.  All these electives must be put aside for gym.  Therefore, opportunities for learning often pass by athletes as they’re being forced to waste their time and energy doing nothing of importance to them.  

Not only is the athlete deprived of an interest in certain learning, the classes he intended on taking could have greatly benefited his search for a career.  It could look great on a college transcript.  It could help you take steps into building a successful career.  I will not be taking Biotechnology or Engineering at Brien McMahon simply because there was just not enough time at my disposal.  Unfortunately for me, entering high school I knew when I grew up I’d either want to be some sort of engineer or surgeon.  By not being able to take a class in engineering I wasn’t able to fully decided which career path I’d like to step into.  In the end, unfortunately, I cut out engineering from my future entirely to make room for medical courses and well, gym.  Who knows? Maybe I could have been an engineer when I grow up but as of now, it looks like I’ve strayed far off that path.

Maybe you have a double-period in one of the science courses that carves up your schedule.  You can’t put another class in that time slot and therefore, are resulted to either Health, P.E., or Study Halls.  Study Halls.  They help us athletes.  They really do.  I hate coming home from football practice at 7 pm just to do my homework until 10 pm before go to sleep.  Talk about no social life.  The grind many student-athletes have to go through is tremendous which makes time even more important than before.  

Stress is the plague of the average high school student and, by giving the student more time, stress is reduced. My sophomore year in high school was pact with work and athletics.  In the fall, my schedule consisted of school, football, homework, then sleep, every day for about 2 to 3 months.  My junior year consisted of practically the same schedule, only I had more study halls.  As a result, I was no longer the social outcast out of school that I was when I was a sophomore.