Physical education.

Essay by stypanichUniversity, Bachelor'sA, November 2005

download word file, 4 pages 0.0

The Latin expression "Mens sana in corpora sano" ("A sound mind in a sound body") dates back to ancient times but physical education has not always been viewed as important and attitudes towards it have changed many times in the history of human civilization. For example, in ancient Greece training of the body was considered equally as important as training of the mind; however, after the fall of ancient civilizations physical activity for a long time was considered a waste time and work of the devil. Only in the XIX century, physical education began to be included in the school curricula in some European countries and in North America ("Physical education."). Today health benefits of physical education are common knowledge and physical education is generally considered to be of great importance in Canadian society. However, according to some sources, about two-thirds of Canadian children and youth do not get enough physical exercise, the number of children who are overweight or obese tripled over the past two decades, and only 16 per cent of Canadian schools offered daily physical education classes in 2001 ("How to get kids moving," 2004).

Many Canadian publications have been devoted to the current status of physical education in Canadian schools. One of such articles was recently written by the staff of the Canadian Press news agency and was published by the National Post newspaper. It was entitled "Ontario to hire more phys-ed teachers?" and, more specifically, it dealt with the current state of physical education in Ontario. According to the article, the current Liberal government of Ontario and Education Minister Gerard Kennedy want to educate children about the advantages of a healthy lifestyle and promote a more positive attitude towards physical education in the province. As only 30 per cent of Ontario elementary schools have a...