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Thursday, July 31, 2008

At last, a glimmer of intelligence in school physical fitness
Posted by Jill | 9:04 AM
Ah, gym class; the trauma of the clumsy, the overweight, the spawn of intellectual Jews who spent their time reading, not playing tennis. Gym class is where children learn an important life lesson: Can't win, don't try. Unfortunately, it's the WRONG life lesson.

My earliest memory of gym class trauma dates back to third grade recess. I was the weird kid that other kids teased all the time, and the game of dodge ball, when I was in the circle having the ball thrown at me, felt like a personal attack by a gang. But the worst insult came when one of the third grade teachers who was conducting the "class" that day, screamed at me and called me a "weakling" because I couldn't throw the ball worth a damn.

It went on from there; with the infamous President's Council of Physical Fitness tests that elementary school kids were required to pass. I couldn't do pull-ups. I hated jumping jacks. And as for rope-climbing, well, the lack of arm strength that caused Mabel Young to call me a weakling in the third grade was not about to allow me to climb a rope to the high ceiling of an elementary school gym. But of course that was no excuse, and so there I was, like Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket, hovering three feet off the ground, being laughed at by other kids and screamed at by the teacher, unable to go further.

This is how children learn not to be active.

Later on, I did find things that I enjoyed. Because I had discovered baseball on Father's Day 1964, the day Jim Bunning no-hit the Mets, my father and I often went out to Shea Stadium to watch ball games, and one year I went out for girls' softball. I was no good at it, and I played right field where no one would hit anything to me, but at least I went out for something. I also enjoyed ice skating, or at least I did, until I went to a skating party when I was around eight years old and I was shlepped around the rink by the birthday girl's older sisters, who would say things to each other like "Maybe if she wasn't so fat she could skate by herself."

The irony of all this is that if I look back now at photographs of myself from those years, I wasn't all that fat? I always had a belly, and I was by no means skinny, but I wouldn't look at the kid I was and say "That's a fat kid."

But I learned. I learned that sports were not for me, athletics were not for me, fitness was not for me. I was terrified of heights, and they forced me to do uneven parallel bar exercises. I was afraid of being hit by a ball and they put me in the center of a dodge ball ring. It really wasn't until I got to college and could pick and choose my physical education classes -- things like racquetball and tennis and archery -- that I began to think of these things in terms of having fun instead of being competitive. But old lessons die hard, and I've carried this aversion into adulthood. It wasn't until walking and cycling and yoga became regarded as legitimate avenues to fitness that I started to enjoy moving and stretching on its own merits.

So it was with much applause that I greeted this story in today's New York Times that New York City schools are introducing double-dutch, the complex jump-rope game played by inner city kids, into the physical fitness curriculum:

Stephanie was practicing double dutch, an urban street staple that dates back centuries and, come next spring, will become the newest of 35 varsity sports played in New York City schools. As part of an effort to increase the number of students — particularly girls — participating in competitive athletics, the city will create coed double-dutch teams at 10 high schools, many in predominantly black neighborhoods like Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Harlem where the ropes have long swung on asphalt playgrounds.

Double dutch follows cricket, which was added last year and is now played by more than 400 students at 14 schools, including the elite Stuyvesant High School.

School officials said they were also considering cycling, badminton and netball for varsity sports.

Nearly 33,000 students, about 10 percent of the high school population, play on varsity or junior varsity teams, compared with more than a third in many suburban districts.

“As an urban district, we need to be creative in an urban kind of way, and double dutch does that for us,” said Eric Goldstein, who oversees the Public Schools Athletic League, the governing body for the city’s interscholastic sports. “If you see people doing it, it looks hard and it is hard.”

Kyra D. Gaunt, who wrote “The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop” (N.Y.U. Press, 2006), said that recognizing double dutch as a sport not only taps into something that many children are passionate about, but also gives a nod to the influence of black culture. “They’re helping to regenerate a tradition in the black community and legitimize it in the eyes of a lot of parents,” she said.

Dr. Gaunt, an associate professor of anthropology and black music studies at Baruch College, said that she avoided double dutch as a child because she was so bad at it but that she relearned it while writing her book. She said the appeal of double dutch was that anyone could do it, and that once mastered, it lent itself to individual expression through fancy footwork and dance routines.


Imagine that: a sport that anyone can learn to do, a sport that fits into the life kids lead every day, a sport that does not discriminate against the overweight (as the photo accompanying the story clearly demonstrates); a sport that doesn't necessarily require strength or speed, but that has room for kids who only have speed, or who are quick with their feet; a sport where kids with differing strengths and talents can all participate.

It sure beats rope-climbing, squat-thrusts and jumping jacks.

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5 Comments:
Blogger J said...
I agree that it beats those things, but boy, I don't think I'd ever be quick or coordinated enough to do double dutch! Maybe if I had started before turning 42...

;)
7/31/08, 10:15 AM  
Blogger Bob said...
I recall, when I was in high school & had some thoughts of becoming a composer, seeing girls - probably from Philly - double dutching in Ocean City NJ while my family was on vacation, Their surreal little song was so funny that I pulled out a piece of scrap paper & a pen & quickly jotted down the lyrics & simple tune. That's still an important part of the "sport."
7/31/08, 1:55 PM  
Blogger missy said...
Sounds like we had a similar P.E. experience, Jill. My sister was the captain of every team at our school (volleyball, basketball, softball) and I was the one who was always picked last. I was born without a hip socket on the left side, and while I had a slight limp, it wasn't an infirmity that was out there in the open. All the coaches just wondered how in the world my sister could be so athletically gifted and while I sucked at everything, and most of them just decided I was unforgivably lazy.

Juggling saved me from humiliation in college when I needed to plug in a few PE credits (and was a great shy-person's opener at parties), and three years ago I found tae kwon do, which contrary to the whole martial-arts aura of attaining perfection is really just about doing the best you, personally, can, and getting better along your own sliding scale.

I got my blackbelt last year but will never be able to do a jumping back kick or a jump spinning hook kick or a whole host of other things my fellow blackbelts can manage with relative ease (it's hard to jump with just one functioning glute). But the ethos of most martial arts is much more geared to "most improved" than the MVP American ideal.
7/31/08, 1:59 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...
When I was in school we didnt have a PE program until I got to HS, ahh the benefits of going to catholic school. My kids now go to public school and one thing they told me was they needed a jump rope... SO I hope they are doing things a little differently than they used it. I placed my kids in Tae Kwon Do too... more for my son who has ADHD to try and learn some focus ( and to pull him away from the video games) than anything else. I also put them in soccer, again to get them out of the house and away from the TV/WII for a while. They like these activities and are meeting new friends through them... the coaches and instructors encourage them. I guess it helps that the parents are there and I highly doubt anyone would like to hear their child ridiculed in the manner which you describe.
7/31/08, 3:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Wow, this is a great idea. The more young people we can get involved in fitness and sports the better. I'm glad somebody is doing something about the increasing child obesity problem, hopefully this will inspire more schools to take on introducing new sports.
11/1/08, 2:55 PM  
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