By Robert Kittle
Middle school and high school students in South Carolina would have to get more physical activity at school under a bill now in the state House of Representatives. The bill would require all students in grades 6 through 12 to get at least 90 minutes of physical activity per week. Elementary students are already supposed to get at least that much.
Rep. Robert Williams, D-Darlington, sponsor of the bill, says, “My concern is kids who don’t have PE. If they don’t have PE, they don’t go outside. If we can get kids some time throughout the day–15 or 20 minutes a day–outside in some type of recreation, I think it’s very important for our kids, especially when we’ve got kids who are not eating appropriately.”
He says it would reduce childhood obesity and some health problems, saving the state money in the long run.
High school senior Michaela Rosemond says she took PE in ninth grade. Other than when she was a cheerleader, she says that’s the last time she exercised. “Exercising does help in school, like it does keep you more focused. And when I was in cheerleading, that kept me more focused. My grades were better then, and I was a lot healthier,” she says.
Despite that, she says of the bill to require more physical activity, “It would be good for me, but I probably wouldn’t like it.”
One concern for school districts is when during the school day students would get the additional physical activity. Another is the additional cost of PE teachers, if they’re needed.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, young people between the ages of 6 and 17 should get at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day. But a survey of high school students in 2013 found only about 27 percent of them got that much.
The bill has been assigned to the House Education and Public Works Committee but has not had a hearing yet.