The American Education System has steadily declined in rank compared to the other nations of the world. This holds true for the Physical Education department as well, in fact in 2009 it was reported that only 33% of students attending a high school participated in a Physical Education class (Jinsook, K., & Herrmann, L. 2016). There are many reason why the Physical Education system has slowly declined in both quality and quantity, with each problem being more complex than the other. The number of children not participating in Physical Education classes that promote a variety of activity has since risen, but not by much.

The main issue with a lack of time spent in physical activity for children in schools is that most of the day is spent in school, an average of 7-8 hours. With most of that time spent focusing on academics there is little to no time for the necessary amount of activity that most children need. On average, children and young adults need an hour of activity every day to stay healthy, this need is not met in a majority of American schools.

There are many reasons as to why there is such a low amount of Physical Education in the American school system. One reason is the reason why there is lack of many essentials and that is money, it is needed for almost everything a community needs. Lack of funding is the major issue, apart from time, that many Physical Educators face in the public school system. Due to a low budget many schools cannot afford programs to promote physical education like after school programs or sports programs. However, funding is not the only issue faced by schools trying to get more physical activity and education for its students, another problem is lack of qualified personnel. Whether due to inadequate funds to pay instructors or lack of available physical education instructors, many schools do not have access to the proper amount of instructors for their class sizes. For many American schools, overpopulated classrooms are becoming a big issue, some specific studies show clear evidence that smaller classroom size shows greater achievements in students than larger ones.

Things need to change in our physical education system, we need better resources, better tactics, and more time in daily physical activity for children. Only we can make a better future.