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Should fitness test scores be placed on kids' report cards?

Should schools place gym class fitness test scores on students' report cards?

  • Yes

    Votes: 42 56.0%

  • No

    Votes: 25 33.3%

  • Not sure

    Votes: 8 10.7%
  • Total voters
    75
Atlas14

Atlas14

"Sophomoric Troll Master"
Joined
Apr 11, 2004
Messages
7,502
Location
Maryland
Obesity is a growing problem amongst our nation's children and adults. Clearly obesity can be caused by multiple factors including genetic predisposition, metabolism, calorie consumption/nutrition, and exercise. Many think that placing students' gym class fitness test results on their report card would help the obesity problem because the parents would either feel ashamed, feel like their child's obesity is their fault, take action and insist better health discipline from their child, etc. My question to you is this:

Should schools place gym class fitness test scores on report cards? Please back up your opinions with more than a yes or no answer. Thanks :)
 
It's a complicated question. Obesity levels are growing almost everywhere in our society these days, and it's very important for everyone to stay fit and trim. However, fitness test scores being put on report cards emit mixed reactions. Some parents might in fact, do something to combat it.

I recall an article I read in the Providence Journal a week or two ago, about how some elementary school put something along those lines on the report cards. The article was about a child who had stopped eating because she thought the school was telling her she weighed too much.

However, fitness test scores themselves aren't an indicator of obseity. Some kids just aren't good at Gym. Doesn't mean they're overweight, they just do well at any of the things done.
 
Schools can't even get reading, writing, and arithmetic right without giving fitness scores.


I don't really care but it would just be a meaningless grade.
 
Gilder said:
It's a complicated question. Obesity levels are growing almost everywhere in our society these days, and it's very important for everyone to stay fit and trim. However, fitness test scores being put on report cards emit mixed reactions. Some parents might in fact, do something to combat it.
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My take is that if a parent can handle seeing an F on their child's report card, they can handle seeing fitness test scores. As you said, the scores would not necessarily imply the child is obese, but if the parent has already had worries about her child being obese, then the scores would provide the parent with good reasoning to make their kid eat healthier and exercise more.
 
Why? If your kid's a fatty you don't need a report card to tell you that. ;)
 
Can you imagine going to see the coach on Parent teacher day, I'm sorry Mr's Griffifths your sons got two left feet, he's fat, he's lazy, he uses his asthma to try and feign an attack to get out of sports. I'm afraid if he doesn't buck his ideas off your son is going to fail Gym!

I think it's a good idea, we used to get graded on our report cards for gym and there'd be a brief descrition, it's not much different from that really.
 
kulade said:
Why? If your kid's a fatty you don't need a report card to tell you that. ;)
Click to expand...

It would help with the guilt factor. If a parent sees the bad scores they might feel like it is their fault, and so they theoretically might make their kid eat more nutritiously and exercise more regularly.
 
Atlas14 said:
It would help with the guilt factor. If a parent sees the bad scores they might feel like it is their fault, and so they theoretically might make their kid eat more nutritiously and exercise more regularly.
Click to expand...
But seriously, It just doesn't seem like a fitness grade is under the jurisdiction of school. Sure, they can tell you how many laps your kid ran, but "fitness" grades would be humiliating.

I'm not saying it hypothetically wouldn't be good, but it wouldn't be the school's right...
 
Who is more likely to know about my child's health? My doctor, who went to medical school, or a gym teacher, who has a bachelor's degree and wears a whistle.

No.
 
Atlas14 said:
My take is that if a parent can handle seeing an F on their child's report card, they can handle seeing fitness test scores. As you said, the scores would not necessarily imply the child is obese, but if the parent has already had worries about her child being obese, then the scores would provide the parent with good reasoning to make their kid eat healthier and exercise more.
Click to expand...

This is assuming most kids have parents who constantly worry everything about them. Some parents are going to say "Not my child!" And some aren't going to care.

Putting something like this on a report card suggesting obesity makes it seem that the school is judging the child on a personal level.
 
kulade said:
But seriously, It just doesn't seem like a fitness grade is under the jurisdiction of school. Sure, they can tell you how many laps your kid ran, but "fitness" grades would be humiliating.
Click to expand...

Why would fitness grades be anymore humiliating then say... math grades?
 
As long as the tests for fitness are administered (and created by) professionals I say absolutely.

Fatness is an epidemic and its the parents' fault.
 
They already do this in New Zealand.
It has NO EFFECT whatsoever.
 
My sentiments are with Newfangle. I am sympathetic to the reasons for chronically poor fitness, but it is a plague and must be dealt with.

Besides, the process of becoming and remaining fit builds discipline skills that can be applied to school.
 
It's not as if fitness tests would be that complicated; you run a mile and a half in x time, do x push ups in x time, and do x sit ups in x time.
 
If schools seriously want to get involved with health, they could change the food fed at the school.

The schools in my county last week completely reworked what is fed at schools: no longer pizza and nachos every day.

Schools can't say, "Oh, hi Jimmy, you get an F in fitness, but to make it better: have a burger!" :)
 
kulade said:
Because kids don't get made fun of at school for math grades. :lol:;)
Click to expand...

So if kids did get made fun because of math grades, we should remove mathematics from the curriculum?
 
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