Should post secondary institutions require mandatory physical fitness as
part of their educational program? All first year students that are part of the
Burnaby polytechnic’s computer programs have mandatory gym time. They are
required to be inside the campus gym by 8:30 a.m. to sign an attendance sheet.
If they don’t attend, they would not graduate even though physical education
has nothing to do with technology. Many find this insulting because they are
the only group of students on campus that are being forced to be physically
active. Now, a petition asking that the mandatory gym class be dropped has
dozens of signed names.
Brian Pidcock, the associate dean in charge of computer students, has a
different point of view from his students. He thinks that forcing the students
to exercise is for their own good. He finds that people tend to sit for hours and
hours in front of a computer, especially in computing. He also said that
programming was very time consuming and tiring so his intentions were good. The
format also offers lots of choices. They can do any exercise or even walk around
the track and it’s not like high school physical education, where you sometimes
are forced to do something you don’t want to. More than 50% of the computer
students disagreed with his point and one presented a petition in his lectures
and labs.
Most students taking computer programs had the opposite point of view of
Brian Pidcock. They thought that it was important to bring fairness and
equality across the board for all BCIT students but it currently has not been
happening. It was something that was not forced upon anyone else. Many said
that they were adults and should be given the option of taking care of their own
health and spending their time. Many also agreed that the practice of isolating
computer students for physical education was based on stereotypes. For these
reasons, the students created a petition.
Both sides of arguments have strong reasons stating either if they want
to continue to have mandatory physical fitness or to not keep the class. Having
the intention to help others stay healthy is great but letting others have
their own decisions on their health is better since everyone has the right to
control their life and choose to have other ways to stay healthy. Since the
petition showed broad- based opposition, a curriculum committee will soon
decide whether to keep the class at all.
Sites Used
Good job on your first post Emily! You did very well at using the formal tone to describe and explain the situation. I see that you did a lot of research! Also, you clearly stated the problem and the two sides of argument.
ReplyDeleteBut make sure you read the criteria of CE post because you only wrote what might happen. Make sure you include which side you take and why next time.
Overall, you did a good job, looking forward to your future posts :)
Good job on your first post. It was very informative and accurate. I think you were supposed to state your opinion too, not just write about what the articles were about. It was also good that you did some research, not just using the link that Ms Lees provided.
ReplyDelete