Though most of us would choose playing video games for an hour over running on the track for half that time, if one really gives it some deep thought, spending their mandatory freshman-year period of “P.E.” on Esports and frying your eyes staring at a screen as an alternative to physical movement is not the most ethical and responsible decision that can be made. P.E. is obviously not a favorite, but it is mandatory for a reason.
According to KU News, those who partake in P.E. and sports, both on or off campus, are shown to perform better academically and in other aspects of life in comparison to nonathletes. Students that work out are not only helping their bodies but also strengthening their minds and in return bringing home those grades. Yet, a lot of students do not have that opportunity to find proper physical activity outside of school. So, if schools are giving P.E. credits to video gaming, something that children do anyway outside of their school time, they are not changing or impacting much about students’ lives at school in the way that they are expected and trusted to. Doing so completely refutes the meaning and purpose of the name ‘physical education’. Sitting in a chair enduring yet another hour of more exposure to screen time is quite literally the opposite of P.E. — running the track, playing (real) sports, and sweating a good amount of sweat. Even the online summer P.E. course could do better than that, which is embarrassing considering the online P.E. class is clearly online and active but the Esports class would be in person but quite literally “online”.
Even though Esports as P.E. credits can be a lazy option for those who are able to participate in traditional P.E., for those that cannot partake in the exercises offered in traditional P.E., Esports are a good option. This is not referring to those who simply do not want to take the class, but people who have disabilities or injuries that enable them from obtaining the greatest credit they can in a class by means that are not on their own account. Esports could possibly offer some benefits to those students.
Freshman student athlete Laila Lara believes that Esports will simulate the P.E. experience for those who cannot participate fully in P.E. She sees this as a creative opportunity for those who need it but a lazy one for those who simply want it. Hopefully, the teachers of those students could find some other alternative to P.E. due to how inefficient the P.E. system is.
Overall, this class is not your best bet in terms of benefitting a typical student’s time spent at school. This generation is moving more online by the second. Seize the chances and opportunities that youth have. Get P.E. credits from doing…P.E. Nothing like a good sweat for an even better grade — the real and arguably only way to do it.