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Exercise as a punishment in middle schoolers
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Aaron_K123 wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »I agree with you on all of that. I interpreted that the coach was going to be instructing the kids on what they needed to do in order to be able to play again and that would be the constructive part, but until then they would be doing body weight exercises which is basically a default for a PE class. I think if a math teacher had a student drop and give them 20 then yeah that would be inappropriate.
I laughed when I read this because I've done a lot of teaching at every academic level over the years. And if a whole class is squirrelly, we take a quick (2-5 minute break) and do some exercises; stretches, jumping jacks, jog in place, etc. Now, I've never had to do this to college students, but even high school kids sometimes just suffer from way too much pent up energy to focus.
Interestingly enough, kids with ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, or Autism Spectrum Disorder, are now frequently given a pass to a "sensory room" in their schools. These "sensory rooms" are full of equipment for physical activity. When a local school removed daily PE for elementary school, the number of kids going to the "Sensory Room" went up by a factor of 10.
Come on though there is a big difference between allowing people to get up out of their chairs and stretch if they choose to do so and telling an individual student to do a hard physical activity like pushups against their will in a setting that has nothing to do with physical activity.
Hmm. I can't say I make activity optional if this is the situation I face. Honestly, it's a classroom management technique because focus gets lost when people have too much energy and have been trying to keep their brains on one idea too long.
But no, I wouldn't ever single-out a student to "punish" that student in a science class. I teach, I am not a drill sergeant.
What I was indicating is that the number of students displaying problematic behavior absolutely skyrocketed when they were all deprived of regular physical activity (the only daily recess is 15 minutes after a 15 minute lunch), and the primary management technique the school employed was to give problem students.. physical activity! Kind of crazy. Meanwhile I take time out of lessons to make the students move around because, frankly, they just don't pay attention and they get into all kinds of mischief when they don't.
Going back to team games in PE, this actually becomes a big problem with some group activities where a game will require a large amount of waiting for some students. I mentioned before dodgeball being really dull for people tagged out early, but any sort of baseball/softball/t-ball can be rough, or basketball if there aren't enough courts, tennis for the same reason etc. If kids are bored AND suffering from pent-up energy the capacity for mischief is infinite.
The question is it appropriate to use exercise as a punishment, which is a very different question from using it as a technique to get squirrely kids to settle down. Heck, we had stretch breaks every 20 -30 min during staff meetings. In the original question some of the kids were caught cheating and the teacher made the whole class do exercises rather than playing a game and threatened them with exercises only for the rest of the year. In my opinion wrong for several reasons.1 -
As a person who actually WORKS in the school system with 6th-8th graders, I see nothing wrong with the teacher's approach. The STUDENTS make the choice to behave or do something that maybe less fun physically. Lol, they are SUPPOSED to be physically exercising anyway, so how is it "punishment". Kids don't get better or more "educated" avoiding doing exercises that are "hard". They just flat out avoid them altogether if they suck at it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I agree.
I saw up thread somewhere that someone mentioned that in a history class for example...what is more fun Play a game like Jeopardy vs a pop quiz...of course the "game" is more fun but if the students are misbehaving in class why give them the "fun" until they can behave...that in itself is a lesson to be learned...forward thinking, consequences of actions etc.
So what if the PE teach has decided to switch up the teaching method due to kids misbehaving...that is their choice and until exercise is no longer part of PE class then they are still getting the benefit of the class.
not sure why it's an issue other than people thinking it will impact how kids view exercise...and being a mom myself yah that wouldn't be a worry of mine esp if it's grade 6....perhaps instead of taking the teacher to task the parents of the kids cheating need to take their kids to task...1 -
As a person who actually WORKS in the school system with 6th-8th graders, I see nothing wrong with the teacher's approach. The STUDENTS make the choice to behave or do something that maybe less fun physically. Lol, they are SUPPOSED to be physically exercising anyway, so how is it "punishment". Kids don't get better or more "educated" avoiding doing exercises that are "hard". They just flat out avoid them altogether if they suck at it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I agree.
I saw up thread somewhere that someone mentioned that in a history class for example...what is more fun Play a game like Jeopardy vs a pop quiz...of course the "game" is more fun but if the students are misbehaving in class why give them the "fun" until they can behave...that in itself is a lesson to be learned...forward thinking, consequences of actions etc.
So what if the PE teach has decided to switch up the teaching method due to kids misbehaving...that is their choice and until exercise is no longer part of PE class then they are still getting the benefit of the class.
not sure why it's an issue other than people thinking it will impact how kids view exercise...and being a mom myself yah that wouldn't be a worry of mine esp if it's grade 6....perhaps instead of taking the teacher to task the parents of the kids cheating need to take their kids to task...
It's less about switching up the teaching method for me and more about NOT addressing the issue, which is cheating by some of the students. It doesn't say much for the teacher that he/she punishes the whole class for cheating by a few, or that the teacher threatens something he/she clearly won't follow through on. I think that was the original question, though. Will this make some kids view exercise negatively if it's used as punishment? And in this context, probably not. It might make them view their ineffective teacher negatively, though.1 -
maryannprt wrote: »As a person who actually WORKS in the school system with 6th-8th graders, I see nothing wrong with the teacher's approach. The STUDENTS make the choice to behave or do something that maybe less fun physically. Lol, they are SUPPOSED to be physically exercising anyway, so how is it "punishment". Kids don't get better or more "educated" avoiding doing exercises that are "hard". They just flat out avoid them altogether if they suck at it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I agree.
I saw up thread somewhere that someone mentioned that in a history class for example...what is more fun Play a game like Jeopardy vs a pop quiz...of course the "game" is more fun but if the students are misbehaving in class why give them the "fun" until they can behave...that in itself is a lesson to be learned...forward thinking, consequences of actions etc.
So what if the PE teach has decided to switch up the teaching method due to kids misbehaving...that is their choice and until exercise is no longer part of PE class then they are still getting the benefit of the class.
not sure why it's an issue other than people thinking it will impact how kids view exercise...and being a mom myself yah that wouldn't be a worry of mine esp if it's grade 6....perhaps instead of taking the teacher to task the parents of the kids cheating need to take their kids to task...
It's less about switching up the teaching method for me and more about NOT addressing the issue, which is cheating by some of the students. It doesn't say much for the teacher that he/she punishes the whole class for cheating by a few, or that the teacher threatens something he/she clearly won't follow through on. I think that was the original question, though. Will this make some kids view exercise negatively if it's used as punishment? And in this context, probably not. It might make them view their ineffective teacher negatively, though.
I think you are assuming things not in facts.
For example how do you know that the whole class wasn't cheating or in on it???
How do you know they won't follow through? I know more than a few teachers who would follow through with that sort of thing...I would.
And I see the teacher as addressing the issue...
"said that since they didn't follow the rules Friday last week in gym they are only going to be doing exercises--bodyweight stuff--for the rest of the year or until they can prove they can listen and follow rules."
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maryannprt wrote: »As a person who actually WORKS in the school system with 6th-8th graders, I see nothing wrong with the teacher's approach. The STUDENTS make the choice to behave or do something that maybe less fun physically. Lol, they are SUPPOSED to be physically exercising anyway, so how is it "punishment". Kids don't get better or more "educated" avoiding doing exercises that are "hard". They just flat out avoid them altogether if they suck at it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I agree.
I saw up thread somewhere that someone mentioned that in a history class for example...what is more fun Play a game like Jeopardy vs a pop quiz...of course the "game" is more fun but if the students are misbehaving in class why give them the "fun" until they can behave...that in itself is a lesson to be learned...forward thinking, consequences of actions etc.
So what if the PE teach has decided to switch up the teaching method due to kids misbehaving...that is their choice and until exercise is no longer part of PE class then they are still getting the benefit of the class.
not sure why it's an issue other than people thinking it will impact how kids view exercise...and being a mom myself yah that wouldn't be a worry of mine esp if it's grade 6....perhaps instead of taking the teacher to task the parents of the kids cheating need to take their kids to task...
It's less about switching up the teaching method for me and more about NOT addressing the issue, which is cheating by some of the students. It doesn't say much for the teacher that he/she punishes the whole class for cheating by a few, or that the teacher threatens something he/she clearly won't follow through on. I think that was the original question, though. Will this make some kids view exercise negatively if it's used as punishment? And in this context, probably not. It might make them view their ineffective teacher negatively, though.
I think you are assuming things not in facts.
For example how do you know that the whole class wasn't cheating or in on it???
How do you know they won't follow through? I know more than a few teachers who would follow through with that sort of thing...I would.
And I see the teacher as addressing the issue...
"said that since they didn't follow the rules Friday last week in gym they are only going to be doing exercises--bodyweight stuff--for the rest of the year or until they can prove they can listen and follow rules."
From another post, half the class was cheating, and the other half was whinging and tattling.1 -
stanmann571 wrote: »maryannprt wrote: »As a person who actually WORKS in the school system with 6th-8th graders, I see nothing wrong with the teacher's approach. The STUDENTS make the choice to behave or do something that maybe less fun physically. Lol, they are SUPPOSED to be physically exercising anyway, so how is it "punishment". Kids don't get better or more "educated" avoiding doing exercises that are "hard". They just flat out avoid them altogether if they suck at it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I agree.
I saw up thread somewhere that someone mentioned that in a history class for example...what is more fun Play a game like Jeopardy vs a pop quiz...of course the "game" is more fun but if the students are misbehaving in class why give them the "fun" until they can behave...that in itself is a lesson to be learned...forward thinking, consequences of actions etc.
So what if the PE teach has decided to switch up the teaching method due to kids misbehaving...that is their choice and until exercise is no longer part of PE class then they are still getting the benefit of the class.
not sure why it's an issue other than people thinking it will impact how kids view exercise...and being a mom myself yah that wouldn't be a worry of mine esp if it's grade 6....perhaps instead of taking the teacher to task the parents of the kids cheating need to take their kids to task...
It's less about switching up the teaching method for me and more about NOT addressing the issue, which is cheating by some of the students. It doesn't say much for the teacher that he/she punishes the whole class for cheating by a few, or that the teacher threatens something he/she clearly won't follow through on. I think that was the original question, though. Will this make some kids view exercise negatively if it's used as punishment? And in this context, probably not. It might make them view their ineffective teacher negatively, though.
I think you are assuming things not in facts.
For example how do you know that the whole class wasn't cheating or in on it???
How do you know they won't follow through? I know more than a few teachers who would follow through with that sort of thing...I would.
And I see the teacher as addressing the issue...
"said that since they didn't follow the rules Friday last week in gym they are only going to be doing exercises--bodyweight stuff--for the rest of the year or until they can prove they can listen and follow rules."
From another post, half the class was cheating, and the other half was whinging and tattling.
exactly...so the entire class needs to be taken to task.
tattling = telling to get someone in trouble
telling = telling to keep someone from trouble.
I am with the teacher on this...I have no tolerance for any of that.4
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