What if there were a class at school where everyone could see exactly what you could and couldn’t do? A class that could make you stinky? A class with a screaming maniac teacher like “Beavis & Butt-head’s” Mr. Buzzcut? You’d hate it, right?
Well, anybody who has ever finished last in a race, struck out or been the reason other kids held their noses knows there is such a class (though maybe minus the Buzzcut dude). It’s called P.E. And for many of kids it is the worst part of school.
It doesn’t have to be that bad. There may be no way around missing a basket, but you can ease the stress and embarrassment P.E. can cause.
If you have to wear a uniform, make sure you have one, said Kerri Crandell, a P.E. teacher at Hinsdale South High School.
Have the right stuff but afraid you’ll forget it? You could try the strategy used by Karen V., an 8th grader at Heritage Middle School in Lansing: She leaves a pair of tennis shoes at school. That way, she said, no matter what she wears to school, she doesn’t risk a demerit for being out of uniform.
And being in uniform means being in the right uniform. That favorite bathing suit with the slits up the side may be perfect for the beach, but chances are it won’t make the grade at the school pool. If students don’t want to wear what Crandell calls the “basic black potato sacks,” they had better find suits that meet the school’s requirements.
If there is a reason you can’t participate in P.E., prepare for that with a note from home. That way, teachers told us, kids can avoid being questioned in front of the class about why they’re not dressed.
There will be days when you sweat. And though many schools have showers, many students don’t like the idea of taking a shower there. Know what that means? Mark Ochoa, a P.E. teacher at Logandale Middle School in Chicago, said by the end of the day, some kids are pretty ripe.
At the very least, kids should have a shirt they can change into after P.E. Teachers also said that if kids don’t want to take a shower, they can wet a towel and wipe themselves off after P.E. And deodorant wouldn’t be a bad idea. “Deodorant, not cologne,” said Geri Catto, a summer P.E. teacher at Brian Piccolo Middle School in Chicago. (She sounded like she has more than once been down-wind of a stinky kid.)
Many schools try hard to make P.E. fun and not intimidating. For example, both Karen V. and Harrison M., a 6th grader at Chicago’s Francis W. Parker School, said teachers at their schools don’t allow kids to be humiliated by being picked last. At Harrison’s school, “We pick by number, not skill.”
Said Mary D., a 7th grader who, like Karen V., goes to Heritage: “If kids make fun of other kids, our teacher yells at them and it stops.”
Crandell said kids should “go in with the attitude that (P.E.) is going to be a good time.” That goes for everybody, including jocks, who should understand that nobody ever signed a million-dollar contract based on what they did in P.E.
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–The first thing to do is be prepared.
–Then there is the stink factor.
–Finally, and maybe most important, relax.
