Schools should not allow gym waivers for in-season athletes.
Although these students experience much more physical activity compared to others, sports at the high school level are not guaranteed. Seasons in high school sports vary among the times and the days of the year. This creates problems with deciding which students are eligible to sign these waivers as many students could potentially be cut from the team, leaving them without a required gym class as well as zero physical activity. On top of that, some seasons don’t last for the entire semester.
If an athlete strictly does a spring-season sport, their practices and games would only last out for around 3-4 months. A semester in a normal school year lasts for around 4-5 months. This would leave a gap in their schedule where the student would participate in only the beginning or end portion of the class. This inconsistency would create havoc among the administrators, especially without knowing who will join certain sports and who will make the team.
Not only is the inconsistency inevitable, the importance of physical activity cannot be overlooked. The gym classes taught in high school give knowledge on both the student’s bodies and the safety of the rules in weight lifting. Essential life knowledge such as calculating heart rate and the correlation between weight gain and exercise teaches students how to live healthier lives in the future. Knowing the benefits of exercise and feeling the effects can also help students understand how important it can be to implement it into their daily lifestyle. The same goes for weight lifting.
A big part of exercise culture today includes wokouts and using heavy weights and equipment. Without proper knowledge of how to use certain equipment, serious injuries could occur and could scare new members from exercising and becoming healthy again. This also applies to proper form. The lack of knowledge in certain ranges of motion while using heavy weight could result in negatively affecting a person’s body in both short and long terms. These life lessons are important to learn in order to become a fully healthy and functional adult, and taking away these classes for a certain group would be unreasonable. Student-athletes should still have to participate in P.E classes and should not be offered any waiver.
