If you went to a school that required physical education, you may know that gym class is quite possibly one of the worst things ever. Next to calculus, waking up early, and people that talk really loudly in the movie theater of course. And if you were one of those athletic kids that really excelled in gym, well good for you, you're probably in better health than me. Unless you were the try hard that acted like gym was the Olympics. No one likes a try hard. Here are some reasons why I'm still just a little bitter about high school gym and why I'm hoping there's some way for me to get my future kids out of it.
1. Losing eight points off of my grade for the entire marking period for not being prepared one day.
Your school might have been different than mine, but in our gym classes, you started with a 100 and if you weren't prepared (dressed and participating) you lost eight points and were down to a 92. You know what happened if I missed a day of English Class? Absolutely nothing, as long as all of my work was turned in on time.
2. I never lost any weight.
I weighed around the same weight my entire high school career. Please find me someone who lost a significant amount of weight from just attending gym class.
3. They cared a little too much about what colors I wore.
My school colors were blue and gold and we were required to wear blue and grey for gym. I wore a pair of navy blue sweatpants to class one day and had a ten minute conversation with my gym teacher about weather my pants were blue or black. Do we not have bigger issues to deal with?
4. No one explained the rules, and learning them was a punishment.
In the sixth grade I made it to first base during a game of kickball, and then didn't keep running because I had no idea you couldn't stay on the base. And then in the tenth grade, while my class was playing basketball we got in trouble for not following the proper rules. Apparently a tenth grade education means you know what a free throw and a layup are. Our punishment for not following the rules was to make us stop playing and go over them. Shouldn't that have been the first thing we did?
5. People were mean and there was always locker room drama.
Gym class is like a breeding ground for bullying and I didn't appreciate it. Everything was a competition. Nothing beneficial about sports like teamwork and hard work was ever taught.
6. You had to sweat in the middle of the day
This is pretty self-explanatory, but try flirting with your crush in your history class, while your face is red and you're sweating. Just in case, you didn't feel awkward enough in high school.
7. It was like extended recess but nowhere near as fun.
They got rid of recess where we willingly and voluntarily ran around and got plenty of exercise and fresh air and replaced it with mandatory mile runs.
8. They picked an activity I liked once.
My senior year of high school, they finally let us do Zumba. I was maybe one of five people that were happy about this.
9. People used body spray as a substitute for deodorant.
If you've ever been in middle/high school gym class this scene might be familiar to you. The men walk out of the locker room and with them follows a cloud of axe body spray. Did any of them use deodorant with their body spray? Probably not.
10. That time I got in the head with a softball.
In the 10th grade, I got hit in the head with a softball. It hurt and I cried. Still bitter.
11. Make up gym was a real thing.
If you couldn't make it to gym class one day, you could come to make up gym, an unfortunate after school version of the same hell you would have gone through during 4th period.
12. There's always one or two people that are the exception.
There was one teacher who let us walk around the track for an hour because she knew not everyone was into sports and this way we could still get our exercise for the day. There was also another teacher who also ran the chess club on the side because she wanted kids who weren't athletic to have something to be a part of. They were awesome.
13. The Mile Run/Presidential Fitness Test
Mile run? How about mile nice leisurely walk?
14. Nothing else was important attitude
One time I told a gym teacher that I'd rather be in chorus than in gym and he told me I was lazy. Thanks, dude.
15. Not being able to win no matter what I did in terms of participation
If I was in the field during kickball, and I didn't go for the ball when it came near me, I got points off for not participating. If I went for it, my team yelled at me for taking way too long to pick up the ball. (Read: I'm not athletic and I was in drama club.)
16. It was required all four years of high school.
Gym class has not helped me in any way in my college career and yet there was never a year I could get out of it.
17. People freaking out about written tests.
My favorite part of gym was when people would get mad about the occasional written tests they would give us. I'm not a big fan of tests, but it was nice to not be tested on athletic ability for all of five seconds.
18. They took away the parachute and the fun.
Anyone remember this?
Take me back.
