Mandating six hours a day of physical movement when the average “gym bro” only spends less than two hours is an absurd requirement. The daily responsibilities of summer physical education consist of documenting breaks between a 45-minute run, recording heart rate BPM immediately after finishing with cardiovascular exercise, and submitting a daily log including all workout plans, routines, and descriptions. Waking up everyday with the fear that the daily log was not submitted which would lead to the risk of being dropped from the class is a constant cause of stress. These are all the worries that occupy a typical online summer PE course student’s head. With the abundance of responsibilities an enrolled summer student manages, this class should count for a full year’s worth of credits.
Summer PE usually takes place during the whole month of July and the school offers two two-week sessions. Lots of students apply every year during the spring time but upperclassmen are prioritized when selecting who attends the class or not. Within this time period, the completion of 26 hours of total movement per session is required. Everyday, a student is expected to complete an hour for each of the following: moderate cardio, mild cardio, upper body/lower body strength training, and abdominal strength exercises. These activities are all followed by two written essays. The intensity of this course can only be met with those who do not have anything to do all day, everyday. The sheer amount of time that goes into this course is unattainable for most students.
Many disagree with the number of credits earned through the summer sessions. Caitlyn Neri, a freshman, believes that students work way too hard to be credited only half of what they deserved and worked for.
“It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of consistent work that you need to keep doing. And it does waste a lot of people’s time,” Neri said. “If you’ve already done it during the summer, then it’s just wasting a lot of your other opportunities that you could be pursuing.”
She addressed the importance of the limited time students attending high school have and that this time should not be wasted on something one has already done.
This is a great summer activity to keep one alert during the summer and free a class period for all years after sophomore year. However, all students are expected to be completely unoccupied during their summer time for not one, but two weeks. Additionally, students are expected to finish all their assignments and submit them before the next class or else they will be dropped from the class. All of these responsibilities are vital in the growth of the youth at CHS, teaching them to look after themselves and their own priorities even when their peers are off having fun without them. And because of this sacrifice, summer PE ought to give full credits instead of half.
