It’s been seven years since I grieved – in writing – that our educational system focuses on test taking while completely disregarding the needs of the bodies taking the tests. Unfortunately, not much seems to have changed. Physical education is still an undervalued stepchild. Too many of those in charge of our schools believe that academic skills pave the way to productive lives, and that good things will come if we keep kids at their desks all day and ignore their need for movement and exercise.

I think that is schizophrenic thinking. Would these same people happily fail to oil the engine of their car? Of course not! Their car would soon stop working properly and the computer chips inside would become useless. We should think of the mind as the computer and the car the body. Neither one can be ignored if we expect everything to continue working just fine. It is so clear to me, yet too many people simply don’t get it.

I know we are all busy enough doing our jobs and have little free time or energy to battle physical education’s detractors, but it’s vital that we generate grassroots support for getting our kids’ hearts working vigorously daily. This simply won’t happen unless students are taught routines that develop good habits. We all see that kids are not going out to play as they once did. Instead, they go home to “talk” on Facebook, or play a computer game or watch a show on TV. If we want our children to move every day, we have to get physical education and physical activity back into the daily school schedule.