Why is physical education a student’s most important subject? | William Simon, Jr. | TEDxUCLA
Summary
TLDRThis speech advocates for physical education as a core subject in schools, emphasizing its importance for students' physical, emotional, and academic well-being. Despite its critical role in preventing chronic diseases and enhancing learning, PE often lacks adequate resources. The speaker shares personal experiences and research supporting the benefits of exercise for brain function and mental health. He calls for a reevaluation of priorities to ensure every child has access to physical education, particularly in low-income schools, and suggests that PE should be a fundamental right.
Takeaways
- 🏋️ Physical Education (PE) is crucial for promoting physical and emotional health, aiding in learning, and fostering character development in children.
- 📚 The speaker advocates for PE to be considered a core subject alongside math, English, science, and history due to its multifaceted benefits.
- 💸 The current school system often underfunds PE, with a median annual budget of $764 for an entire school, equating to mere pennies per student.
- 🌟 The speaker and his wife, Cindy, initiated the 'UCLA health sound body sound mind' program to enhance PE in schools by providing equipment, curriculum, and teacher training.
- 🧠 Exercise has been shown to improve academic performance, particularly in reading and math, by enhancing executive functions like focus and motivation.
- 🚀 Exercise acts as a 'miracle-gro' for the brain, optimizing mindset, aiding cell binding for information retention, and promoting the growth of new nerve cells.
- 🌟 The narrative of PE as the least important subject is challenged, with the speaker emphasizing its vital role in preventing chronic diseases and early death.
- 🌱 The personal story of the speaker's son, Willie, who has autism and benefited significantly from regular exercise, illustrates the transformative power of physical activity.
- 📉 Inactivity is labeled as dangerous and akin to 'the new smoking,' with a stark increase in obesity rates among children and adolescents.
- 💊 The World Health Organization highlights the negative impacts of obesity in children, including bullying, low self-esteem, poor academic and employment prospects, and increased risk of diseases.
- 🏥 The financial burden of inactivity is substantial, with potential savings of $62.3 billion over lifetimes if children engage in regular exercise from a young age.
Q & A
Why is physical education considered important for a student's overall development?
-Physical education is crucial as it promotes physical and emotional health, aids in learning, and helps cultivate character necessary for productive adulthood.
How does the speaker view physical education in comparison to other academic subjects?
-The speaker believes that physical education should be a core subject on par with math, English, science, and history, rather than being treated as the least important.
What is the median annual budget for physical education in schools as mentioned in the script?
-The median annual budget for physical education in schools is $764 for the entire school.
What is the 'Sound Body Sound Mind' program, and how does it aim to address the issue of physical education?
-The 'Sound Body Sound Mind' program, initiated by the speaker and his wife, aims to improve physical education by providing physical fitness equipment, curriculum, and training for physical education teachers in schools.
How does exercise impact academic outcomes according to the Institute of Medicine?
-The Institute of Medicine found that exercise positively impacts reading and math subjects, which require good executive function, and there is a link between executive function and exercise.
What is the transformative impact of exercise on the speaker's son, Willie?
-Exercise has been transformative for Willie, who has autism, helping him manage his weight and behavioral issues, and is considered the best therapy and medication he has ever had.
How does exercise affect the brain according to Dr. John Ratey?
-Dr. John Ratey explains that exercise releases neural chemicals and growth factors that support the brain's infrastructure, optimizing mindset, aiding cell binding for information retention, and creating new nerve cells in the hippocampus.
What are the mental health benefits of exercise as discussed in the script?
-Exercise releases endorphins that can help with mild cases of depression and anxiety, serving as a low-cost, effective, and natural way to deal with life stressors.
What is the connection between inactivity and obesity as described in the script?
-Inactivity is a core cause of obesity, which has doubled amongst children since the 1980s and tripled amongst adolescents, leading to serious health consequences.
What is the financial impact of inactivity on children's lifetimes according to the Johns Hopkins research mentioned?
-Johns Hopkins research suggests that putting children on a regular exercise program could save $62.3 billion over their lifetimes in terms of lost wages and medical expenses.
Why are low-income schools a special area of concern regarding physical education?
-Children in low-income neighborhoods are nine times more likely to be overweight due to fewer safe places for exercise, limited access to healthy food, and expensive organized sports, making physical education in schools crucial.
Outlines
🏋️♂️ The Importance of Physical Education
The speaker emphasizes the critical role of physical education (PE) in schools, advocating for it to be treated as a core subject alongside math, English, science, and history. Despite its benefits for physical and emotional health, academic performance, and character development, PE is often undervalued and underfunded. The median annual budget for PE in schools is shockingly low at $764 for the entire school. The speaker shares personal experience, highlighting the UCLA Health Sound Body Sound Mind program that they initiated to address this issue, which provides fitness equipment, curriculum, and teacher training, impacting over 185,000 children annually.
🚴♂️ Exercise: A Natural Therapy and Academic Booster
This section discusses the profound impact of exercise on both physical and mental health, particularly in academic performance. Exercise is shown to enhance executive function, which is crucial for reading and math skills. The speaker shares the story of their son Willie, who has autism and significantly benefited from regular exercise, improving his behavior and weight issues. Scientific evidence supports the view that exercise can be as effective as medication in managing conditions like depression and anxiety. The speaker also points out the social benefits of exercise in combating loneliness and the importance of physical activity from a young age to prevent obesity and its associated health risks.
📈 The Alarming Rise of Childhood Obesity
The speaker addresses the dramatic increase in childhood obesity, which has doubled since the 1980s, with a third of American children now overweight and 14 million classified as obese. The consequences are severe, with obese children facing bullying, low self-esteem, poor academic and employment prospects, and increased risks of chronic diseases like hypertension and diabetes. The speaker cites a study suggesting that regular exercise for children could save $62.3 billion in lifetime costs related to health and productivity. The speaker calls for a reevaluation of priorities to address this public health crisis, particularly in schools where physical education can play a pivotal role.
🌟 Prioritizing Physical Education for Holistic Development
The final paragraph underscores the timeless wisdom of the connection between physical, mental, and spiritual health, which is often overlooked in modern education. The speaker argues that physical education is not just about physical fitness but also about developing character traits like resilience and perseverance. They propose that physical education should be a fundamental right and be considered the most important subject in schools, given its comprehensive benefits. The speaker concludes by reflecting on the historical precedent set by President Kennedy's call for a fit nation and suggests that with the right priorities, we can ensure a healthy and active future for our children.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Physical Education
💡Health and Fitness
💡Academic Performance
💡Chronic Disease
💡Exercise
💡Executive Function
💡Neuroscience
💡Mental Health
💡Inactivity
💡Obesity
💡Character Development
Highlights
Physical education promotes physical and emotional health, aids in learning, and develops character.
Physical education should be a core subject alongside math, English, science, and history.
Exercise helps children perform better in academic subjects.
The principles of health and fitness are vital for students' lives.
Inadequate resources are devoted to physical education in schools.
The median annual budget for physical education in schools is $764.
Exercise is a low-cost, effective therapy for Willie, a son with autism.
Exercise releases chemicals that bolster the brain's infrastructure.
Reading and math are the subjects most impacted by exercise.
Exercise improves executive function, which is linked to academic performance.
Inactivity is called the new smoking, with profound health consequences.
Obesity rates have doubled among children and tripled among adolescents since the 1980s.
Exercise is a natural way to address mild cases of depression and anxiety.
Regular exercise for children could save $62.3 billion in lifetime costs.
Physical education should be a fundamental right and required in every school.
Physical education teaches resilience, perseverance, and other character traits.
In the 1960s, schools rallied for fitness, and we can do it again.
Transcripts
[Music]
let's start with a pop quiz can you name
the only subject in school that promotes
physical and emotional health helps
children learn better and cultivates the
character that they need to be
productive adults yeah I think some
people out there got an a it's physical
education I believe that physical
education should be a core subject just
like math English science and history
but that's not the way it works today
all too often PE is treated as the least
important subject versus the most
important subject which is how it should
be children need to succeed of course in
academic subjects and by the way
exercise helps them do better in
academic subjects but principles of
health and fitness they are vital in the
truest sense of that word literally the
students lives depend upon it think
about it
if the student has trouble with math
maybe they won't be such good budgeters
if a student has trouble confusing and
adjectives with an adverb maybe they
won't be a great author or maybe they
don't understand the workings of a cell
they may not be a good biologist but if
a student doesn't understand the
principles of health and fitness they
risk chronic disease and an early death
so my vision is that every school should
provide every student with the
opportunities that will give them a
healthy start in life
and also with the education and skills
that will give them a fit lifetime
unfortunately in today's school system
there are not adequate resources that
are devoted to physical education
whether it's because of competing
priorities or whether it's because they
undervalue physical education the median
annual budget for physical education in
schools for an entire school is 764
dollars for the whole school for all
children that boils down literally to
pennies per pupil now there's there's
plenty of money for PE it's a matter of
priorities it's not a matter of
resources my wife Cindy and I 20 years
ago tried to address this issue and
change the narrative about physical
education we started a program that's
now called UCLA health sound body sound
mind
we put physical fitness equipment in
schools we have a curriculum we have
training for physical education teachers
today we're in 151 schools we impact
over 185 thousand children every year we
know the problem and the solution and
there's a lot more to be done locally
nationally and even globally we know
that robust physical education helps
children become better learners better
versions of themselves and better people
for tomorrow now I know the
transformative impact of exercise both
professionally and personally this is
our son Willie he has autism he's 31
years old he's thriving in a residential
home he works at Home Depot as you can
see he paints amazing seascapes it
wasn't always that way for many years he
struggled with behavioral issues my wife
and I were concerned about his weight
which had soared to over 220 pounds
that's a lot for her even a 6-footer
like Willie then six years ago
a wise member of Willie's care team said
let's have Willie do some exercise and
he went on a treadmill in the beginning
20 minutes
now he's ramped up to 2 hours a day he
runs in local races I've tried to run a
few with him I can't keep up with him
the results have been spectacular
Willie was diagnosed at the age of three
and for the last 20 years he has been on
meds and therapy of some kind but I'm
here to tell you ladies and gentlemen
that the best therapy the best med he's
ever had his exercise
now there's compelling evidence that
exercise helps your bodies and brains
first with with with respect to academic
outcomes
the Institute of Medicine found that
reading and math are the subjects that
are most impacted by exercise they also
found that reading and math require a
good executive function and they also
found that there's a link between a good
executive function and exercise even
moderate exercise seems to help quite a
bit
in neuroscience magazine a study
reported that a group of nine year olds
were given cognitive tasks and they in
some instances they walked beforehand
and what happened was there was
significant improvement in their
performance versus when they didn't walk
beforehand in Naperville Illinois eighth
graders were given a math test in cases
where they had thirty minutes of
vigorous exercise they performed 11 to
22 percent better it's clear even a
moderate amount of exercise goes a long
way so if you had just a slight change
in priorities a slight change in
resources there would be a substantial
change in learning by the by our
students dr. John Ratey
a Harvard neuroscientist explains why
this is so he says exercise releases a
cascade of neural chemicals and other
growth factors that bolster the brains
infrastructure dr. Ratey said exercises
miracle-gro for the brain he said
they're basically three reasons for this
first exercise optimizes your mindset
improving your alertness and your
motivation second exercise helps cells
bind together
which is a way that the brain holds
information and third exercise actually
helps create new nerve cells in the
hippocampus which is the Center for
learning and memory exercise it turns
out helps the brain structures in many
many ways let's talk about mental health
you saw what happened with our son
Willie the Mayo Clinic did a study where
they found that endorphins that are
released upon exercise you know they're
the the brain's neurotransmitters and
the feel-good effect it has an impact on
mild cases of depression and anxiety
it turns out that exercise is a low cost
effective natural way to deal with life
stressors think about socially these
days many of us spend a lot of time on
screens particularly students there's a
lot of loneliness that that scientists
are finding right now exercise addresses
that social aspect and the maturation by
having other people to workout with so
we have found more and more research on
covering how exercise helps the body the
mind and the emotions so we should
consider as well what happens when there
there is no exercise inactivity is
dangerous and widespread to the point
that Lancet Journal which is a respected
British Medical Journal has called
inactivity the new smoking now it's
clear that inactivity is a core cause of
obesity there's others whether it's a
sedentary lifestyle whether it's the
undervaluing of physical exercise
whether it's urban living whether it's
safety factors one thing is clear that
the incidence of obesity has exploded
it's doubled amongst children so
the 1980s during that same period
amongst adolescence it's tripled a third
of American children today are
overweight 14 million American children
are obese 14 million that is
unacceptable the impacts of obesity are
profoundly disturbing the World Health
Organization characterized several they
said that obese children tend to be
bullied at school they have low
self-esteem
they generally underperform in the
classroom and they have poor employment
prospects as adults not to mention that
the disease is that they become
susceptible to including hypertension
diabetes - these are two ailments that
used to be confined to adults no longer
did you know that the Centers of Disease
Control reported out that 40% of cancers
are linked to obesity 40% studies have
shown that childhood obesity inevitably
leads to adult obesity sadly it appears
that this generation of young people is
likely to have a shorter life span for
the first time than their parents Public
Health visionary dr. Jonathan fielding
has said and I paraphrase the results
are in younger people are not working
out they are in danger it's a it's a
pathway to chronic disease and early
death he said shockingly 19 year-olds
get no more exercise than 60 year olds
now ladies and gentlemen I'm 68 60s in
my rearview mirror normally I'd like to
be compared to a 19 year old but not
today
and if this picture isn't scary enough
the financial consequences are quite
high
Johns Hopkins researchers submitted a
report that basically said if you take
all children between the ages of 8 and
11 put them on a program of regular
exercise 25 minutes three times a week
which by the way is 20% of what is the
recommended amount the savings will be
sixty two point three billion dollars
over the course of their lifetimes
whether it be in lost wages or in
medical expenses so we're looking at a
massive health crisis what's the
solution well clearly one solution is
schools why is that well that's where
the children are that's where the
purpose is to train and to educate I
call physical education class the
low-hanging fruit on the fitness tree
children deserve to be literate in
physical fitness just like they do in
English or math they deserve to
understand the roles that nutrition and
fitness play and it's not just confined
to your bodies it's also has to do a
cognitive achievement mental and
emotional health and again studies have
shown that students who take physical
education are more likely to be able to
be active outside of physical education
class that will set a firm foundation
for fitness as they go into adulthood
special area of concern is low-income
schools Children's Defense Fund study
found that children in low-income
neighborhoods are nine times more likely
to be overweight
we know that in low-income neighborhoods
there's relatively few safe places few
affordable healthy
adoptions organized sports very
expensive so it may be realistically
that physical education in lower-income
neighborhoods is the only realistic
chance for those students to get any
exercise you know I think what strikes
me most is if physical education class
is the only class that benefits the body
the mind and the spirit this is not
breaking news this is ancient wisdom all
the way up to the present that there's a
fundamental connection between body mind
and spirit this is a timeless concept
that's being ignored today in the
educational establishment exercise
teaches exercise good for your body but
it also teaches resilience and
perseverance and a host of other
character traits that are necessary for
a life well-lived physical education
class is a practice field where these
character traits can be honed and
developed to have our children reach
their highest potential it's the adults
in the room that need to make the best
decisions for them in the United States
we enjoy one of the highest standards of
living in the world surely there's a way
to provide this gift for our children
it's not a matter of resources it's a
matter of priorities we did it in the
1960s when our schools rallied around
the call of President Kennedy for a fit
nation and we could do it again
President Kennedy said Fitness is a
vital prerequisite for America's fullest
realization of its potential it was then
and it is today so let me leave you with
a couple of thoughts it's well settled
in law and in the Constitution's of many
states that education is a fundamental
right shouldn't physical education be a
fundamental right what if physical
education was required in every school
in every grade in every year
for every child what if physical
education was considered the most
important subject in school if we really
care about our children and their future
shouldn't we do more I know what our son
Willie would say thank you
[Applause]
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