Exercise

A recent radio segment about a charter school which weaves exposure to all forms of the arts into their weekly curriculum brought the realization that the children were getting quite a bit of daily exercise since dance was a staple of their arts curriculum. Another segment, following soon after, was about a college basketball tournament which mimics the high-profile and high-profits of pro basketball. 

Organized, competitive sports are the first form of exercise offered to most children. Those children without the natural aptitude or interest in these sports are often left out or put through the routine torture of being a square peg, pushed by peers and adults into a round hole. Is there any rational reason to wonder at the extent of obesity in the young people in the U.S.?

Sports are increasingly exploited as a spectator activity, involved with wagering and heavy drinking. Public schools are dropping organized sports and physical education classes in favor of lowering tax rates. The gap in physical education can lead to a lifetime of chronic illness and depression for those students who are not naturally motivated or encouraged by parents to be active and fit.

How many of qualities of any society can be traced back to the health and wellness of a population? I speculate that most aspects of any society are strongly influenced by the general well being of its population. Starvation and poverty are associated with social instability. Obesity and chronic illness could be fundamental to the deterioration of democracy and socioeconomic equity in a society.

The team-competition paradigm, fundamental to the current form of capitalism in the U.S., is not the solution. It is part of the problem. As society drifts more and more to conformity and submission to corporate authority, finding an individual path for those who are skeptical and free thinking is more challenging. Children can be exposed to forms of exercise which are not competitive but meditative. Yoga, hiking or jogging in nature, rock climbing, dance....there are so many ways for children to be happy and fit without donning a team T-shirt or having to hit a person or a ball to earn a point.

Those who are naturally drawn to team sports will always find a way to fitness. However, as a humanist, my attention and concern turns to those children who are not. Our education systems have be seriously lacking in concern for the physical well being of those students. The results are becoming glaringly obvious.