The public school system struggles with a lot of issues year to year and one of the more prominent problems confronting the public education system is student obesity and inactivity. There are schools around the country having to cope with this problem on their own as educational budgets do not support physical education programs.
So what can we as parents do to support an A for Active in our children’s school careers? Well, PTA initatives raise money for school projects – make increased activity and exercise the focus of one of these projects. A quote I read the other day made me laugh, but it’s true – would it be nice of the Department of Defense had to hold a bake sale to build a bomber while our kids were provided with the best education?
Nice, but unfortunately our public school system needs us to help them out and as long as they do, it’s important that as parents we step up to the plate. Whether it’s buying new equipment for the physical education departments, raising money to bring in experts to demonstrate or just helping out schools fund a curriculum that includes living more actively, we need to be involved.
Imagine the school that starts the morning with a Pledge of Allegiance to the flag and follows it up with ten to fifteen minutes of deep stretches.
Seriously, imagine that.
The pledge of allegiance is important as it inspires patriotism and community service. The deep stretching is important because kids spend eight hours a day crammed into small desks, hunched over their work. Stretching gets the blood flowing, the muscles flexed and helps alleviate back pain.
There’s enough scientific evidence to support that an active body supports an active mind – but our schools don’t necessarily support active bodies. What will be the cost to their active minds? Get involved in your kids schooling, get involved in the PTA, get involved with the school board. We can make a difference if we get active. Our kids deserve an A for Activity.