Bring back P.E. in schools

I have read articles and talked to doctors on the health of citizens of the CNMI, about the high incidence of type II diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure, and the huge burden on the Commonwealth Heath Center, the insurance programs, and the medical referral program. I have also seen an effort to get people out walking and taking care of their health.

What I have not seen is a concerted effort to reinstate formal Physical Education/Health education classes in the Public Elementary Schools, taught by qualified Physical Education teachers. If a child isn’t taught at an early age, to play, exercise, choose healthy foods, and stay away from drugs (and that includes betel nut chewing), why would he be expected to be anything but unhealthy and out of shape as an adult?

I have seen the problems come through my work at the SDA Clinic. Amazingly enough, teeth and gums tell a very large story about a person’s health. I also coached the Saipan Swim Club for many years and the difference between those children starting at a young age in a regular exercise program and those who have done nothing is so obvious.

Yes, it is nice to do all the bi-annual walk-a-thons but I can guarantee you that if you get Physical Education back into the elementary schools with qualified teachers and ongoing programs on a daily basis, you will find the health of the CNMI children improving and you will see an increase in their ability to pay attention in class and learn.

Children need to play. Supervised play and the learning of physical skills, sportsmanship, and team unity only serve to make them more able to cope as adults and not be afraid of the challenges in life. The lack of equipment only means that children must learn to take care of what they do have. We are so used to making exceptions and excuses as to why equipment is stolen or why children can’t learn to exercise, but we don’t hold our standards high enough for them to aspire to.

There are lots of ways to teach without state of the art equipment. I coached swimming for 10 yrs in hotel swimming pools. Out of those years several of our swimmers made it on to college teams. How? By not letting them know how deprived they were, and how small our pool was, and how financially poor our team was. Our morning workouts were in the ocean many times so we wouldn’t disturb the hotel guests. It was a bonus, swimmers got to see the sun rise, swim with the baby stingrays, and learn to love the lagoon and its many changing scenes.

Get the PE teachers out of the Social Studies classrooms. Let them do what they are trained to do.

Jean Sakovich
Hilo, Hawaii