Punctuation Marks

Examples Help! Punctuation Marks
The chief end of punctuation is to mark the grammatical connection and the dependence of the parts of a composition, but not the actual pauses made in speaking. Very often the points used to denote the delivery of a passage differ from those used when the passage is written. Nevertheless, several of the punctuation marks serve to bring out the rhetorical force of expression.

The principal marks of punctuation are:

The Comma [ , ]

The Semicolon [ ; ]

The Colon [ : ]

The Period or Full Stop [ . ]

The Interrogation or Question Mark [ ? ]

The Exclamation Mark [ ! ]

The Dash [ — ]

The Parenthesis [ ( ) ]

The Quotation Mark [ " " ]

The Comma
The comma is a punctuation mark (,) which is used to indicate the separation of elements within the grammatical structure of a sentence. Click the following link for information about comma rules.

Comma Rules

The Semicolon
The Semicolon is a punctuation mark (;) which is used to connect independent clauses indicating a closer relationship between the clauses than a period, or full stop, does. Click the following link for information about semicolon rules.

Semicolon

The Colon
The colon is a punctuation mark (:) which is used to direct attention to matter (such as a list, an explanation, a quotation, or amplification) that follows. Click the following link for information about colon rules.

Colon

The Period or Full Stop
The period, or full stop, is a punctuation mark (.) which is used to mark the end of a sentence. Click the following link for information about period rules.

Period

The Interrogation or Question Mark
The interrogation or question mark is a punctuation mark (?) which is used used in at the end of a sentence to indicate a direct question. Click the following link for information about question mark rules.

Question Mark

The Exclamation Mark
The exclamation mark is a punctuation mark (!) which is used used especially after an interjection or exclamation to indicate forceful utterance or strong feeling. Click the following link for information about exclamation mark rules.

Exclamation Mark




The Dash
The dash is a punctuation mark (-) which is used used especially to indicate a break in the thought or structure of a sentence. Click the following link for information about dash rules.

The Dash

The Parenthesis
The parenthesis is a punctuation mark [ ( ) ]  which is used to amplify or explain a word, phrase, or sentence inserted in a passage. Click the following link for information about parenthesis rules.

Parenthesis

Quotation Marks
Quotation marks are a pair of punctuation marks (" ") which are used chiefly to indicate the beginning and the end of a quotation in which the exact phraseology of another person, or of a text, is directly cited. Click the following link for information about quotation marks.

Quotation Marks

Examples Help - Punctuation Marks - Understanding English Grammar!
English Grammar applies rules for standard use of words and how their component parts combine to form sentences. A grammar is also a system for classifying and analyzing the elements of language including inflections, functions, rules and relations in the sentence.

How Important is the Environmental Education

   Our nation’s future relies on a well-educated public to be wise stewards of the very environment that sustains us, our families and communities, and future generations. It is environmental education which can best help us as individuals make the complex, conceptual connections between economic prosperity, benefits to society, environmental health, and our own well being. Ultimately, the collective wisdom of our citizens, gained through education, will be the most compelling and most successful strategy for environmental management .

  Yet studies consistently reveal that the U.S. public suffers from a tremendous environmental literacy gap that appears to be increasing rather than decreasing. For example, two-thirds of the public fail even a basic environmental quiz  and a whopping 88 percent of the public fail a basic energy quiz .  These same studies found that 45 million Americans think the ocean is a source of fresh water and 130 million believe that hydropower is America's top energy source.

A. Environmental education increases student engagement in science. In

  our schools, research has shown enormous benefits from environmental education. When integrated into a science curriculum, environmental education demonstrably improves student achievement in science. Such an increase is likely due to the fact that environmental education connects classroom learning to the real world. Students, when given a choice, will gravitate towards environmental science. Science fair administrators note that 40 percent of all science fair projects relate directly to the environment, and the Corporation for National and Community Service reports that more than 50 percent of the service-learning programs they fund are focused on the environment.

   The relative lack of environmental education in the U.S is one leading cause for why our students’ performance in science compared to other countries does not meet our expectations (see "The Influence of Environmental Education on U.S. Performance in TIMSS vs. NAEP" included in this book).

B. Environmental education improves student achievement in core subject areas. When integrated into the core curricula or used as an integrating theme across the curriculum, environmental education has a measurably positive impact not only on student achievement in science, but also in reading (sometimes spectacularly), math, and social studies. The same study found that schools that taught the core subjects using the environment as an integrating context also demonstrated:

• reduced discipline and classroom management problems;
• increased engagement and enthusiasm for learning; and,
• greater student pride and ownership in accomplishments.

Even more importantly for many, environmental education employs and enhances critical thinking and basic life skills. The National Science Board of the National Science Foundation confirmed the importance of environmental education to student learning in their 2000 report, Environmental Science and Engineering for the 21st Century:  "The twin goals of learning are to acquire knowledge and gain skills such as problem solving, consensus building, information management, communication, and critical and creative thinking. Environmental issues offer excellent vehicles for developing and exercising many of these skills using a systems approach…changes should be made in the formal educational system to help all students, educators, and educational administrators learn about the environment, the economy, and social equity as they relate to all academic disciplines and their daily lives."

Likewise, the 2005 Report to Congress submitted by the National Environmental Education Advisory Council on the status of environmental education in the United States finds that "environmental education – with its emphasis on critical thinking, interdisciplinary teaching, and learner achievement – is also helping to meet educational reform goals."  

C. Environmental education provides critical tools for a 21st century workforce.

   The vast majority of Americans are convinced that the environment will become at least one of the dominant issues and challenges of the 21st century, as the growing needs of the growing global population increasingly presses up against the limits of the earth’s resources and ecosystems. The National Science Foundation’s Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education confirmed this in a 2003 report, noting that "in the coming decades, the public will more frequently be called upon to understand complex environmental issues, assess risk, evaluate proposed environmental plans and understand how individual decisions affect the environment at local and global scales. Creating a scientifically informed citizenry requires a concerted, systematic approach to environmental education...

   At the same time, business leaders increasingly believe that an environmentally literate workforce is critical to their long term success and profitability, with better environmental practices and improved efficiencies impacting positively on the bottom line while helping to better position and prepare their companies for the future. Charles O. Holliday, Jr., Chairman and CEO of DuPont, speaks for a growing number of his peers in declaring that: "an environmentally sustainable business is just good business, given the growing concern for environmental problems across America.  A key component of an environmentally sustainable business is a highly educated work force, particularly involving environmental principles."  As one example on the micro scale, the National Environmental and Training Foundation estimates that environmental education about topics such as energy, water and waste management, improved employee health, cleaner working conditions, and recycling would save small and medium sized businesses alone at least $25 billion/year.

D. Environmental Education helps address "nature deficit disorder."

    A recent study found that children today spend an average of 6 hours each day in front of the computer and TV but less than 4 minutes a day in unstructured outdoor play, leading researchers to discover a new condition specific to this current generation that they have called "nature deficit disorder." This extreme emphasis of indoor time spent in front of screens versus outdoor play and discovery has been correlated with negative psychological and physical effects including obesity, loneliness, depression, attention problems and greater social isolation due to reduced time with friends and family.

   What do increased study of science and nature and its increased outdoor time accomplish? Especially in the very young, it has proved in studies extremely beneficial for cognitive functioning, reduced symptoms of attention deficit disorder, increased self-discipline and emotional well-being.

The communication in the learning-teaching process from a distance

1. COMMUNICATION

The term communication comes from Latin: communis , common, giving a community idea. (ALMEIDA:1980). Accurately focused on community that a conception of Distance Education - DE, directed toward the independent and collaborative construction of the knowledge, and toward the interpersonalization of the process teach-learning, defends the communication as "part-key". In truth, it is fact that the communication process is essential for the human and necessary development for any educative process, either actual or from a distance.

As Wikipedia (2006), the communication human being is a process that involves the exchange of information and uses the symbolic systems as support and that three types of communication exist basically:

1.1 Verbal communication

- Express message by means of the languages said or writing. In the picture, to follow, it is presented difference between if using adequate a verbal communication or not.

Verbal Communication
Adequate	Inadequate
- Vocabulary to the level of the interlocutor - Short Phrases - Clear and varied Punctuation - Joint of ideas - Definition of concepts - Fluency and rhythm.	-Confused Ideas -Lack of vocabulary -Grammatical Incorrection -Slangs (ok,yeap, got it) -Codification for one only sub-group -Lack of dialogue -Prolixity -Common Words

Picture 1: Verbal Communication Source: WIKIPEDIA, 2006, 2.

1.2 Non-Verbal communication

- Express message by means of the corporal language (gestures, emotion, images, color, and position). The picture below brings information on the adequate and inadequate form of if using the not-verbal communication.

Non-Verbal Communication
Adequate	Inadequate
- High degree of motivation - Mobility of the head and face - Eye in the eye of all – rich gestures - Voice graduated to the environment -Use of audiovisuals resources (color, sound, image) – right signs (corporal position, to walk, clothes, colors, hairdo and adornments) – able to get emotions	- face Immobility - To look at in the emptiness - Lack of gestures - banal or pornographic gestures - Dissonance between gestures and words - rocking Position - Crutches (objects in the hand, to support itself in something) – bad habits (to absorb tooth, to twist the hands, to bite the lips)

Picture 2: Non-Verbal communication Source: WIKIPEDIA, 2006 3.

1.3 Factual Communication

- Express message for the behavior, the action, the exemplifications and the capacity to take decision. The picture below brings information on the adequate and inadequate form of if using of the factual communication.

Factual communication
Adequate	Inadequate
- Exchange of position (to place itself in the place of the interlocutor) Communication in charge - (what!? When? Who? Etc.) - To know to make well what it is justified - To be determined and practical in the action proposals - Co-to participate (examples) - To distribute the power calling the responsibility for all.	- Just say words without arriving the proposals and plans - not to promise nothing for not committing itself - To forbear in one difficult hour - descontextualized Information

Picture 3: Factual Communication Source: WIKIPEDIA, 2006.

It is also a consensus that the study of the communication is ample and its application is still bigger. As the Wikipedia (2006):

For the Semiotics, the act to communicate is the materialization of the thought/feeling in signs known for the involved parts. These symbols then are transmitted and reinterpreted by the receiver. Today, it is interesting to also think about new processes of communication, that enclose the collaborative nets and the hybrid systems, that combine communication of mass and personal communication and horizontal communication.

In this direction it fits to point out that the generation contemporary uses each time more the audiovisual language to communicate itself (BABIN, 1989). Therefore, this article defends that the communication process has that to occur by means of a dialogical and horizontal relation. Therefore, as it emphasized Paulo Freire (1986, p 47), "without dialogue communication does not exist and without communication the true education does not exist."

2. THE COMMUNICATION IN DISTANCE EDUCATION

The communication process always was a aspect that excited a great degree of concern of many theoreticians of the conventional education. In the DE this concern if becomes still more pressing, therefore all the involved ones meet separate in the time and the space, where practically all the communication occurs of mediatizated form.

The new technologies of information and communication - TICs, in special the Internet, allows, in normal conditions, a fast and personalized communication, aspect that during years worried to all the ones that work with this modality of education. This easiness made with that in the distance physical it was not plus a main characteristic of the DE, therefore the TICs allows synchronous and asynchronous communication among all.

The focus of the interest is observed that if before the concern was with the efficiency of the communication process, currently is the effectiveness. The guarantee is understood here for efficiency of the communication of that same complete the its course, or either, the message arrives inside at the receiver of the foreseen stated period. Therefore, before, depending on the distance and the localization where the student if found, a message took days or weeks to be received. If these messages were clarifying some doubt, or passing some orientation, or information, many times its objective was not reached, therefore it arrived very late! The student already could be at one another moment of its learning or even though given up.

Already the effectiveness of the communication process is centered in the guarantee of the agreement of the message, in the concretion of the objective of the message. Thus, with the use of the Internet, the focus of the attention it started to be another one. Now it is not enough only to answer doubts or to direct orientations quickly. The concern with the content, the form, the style and the language becomes necessary.

2.1 How to communicate

One of the goals of the EaD must be to favor the autonomy of studies and the collaborative construction of the knowledge, by means of a significant learning. In, meanwhile, this is only possible for way a proposal pedagogical adequate and of efficient strategies of communication. Considering that the students are separate in the time and the space, the importance of a good communication becomes a prerogative of the process long-distance teach-learning. Since practically all the communication is mediatizated and the used language is predominantly the writing.

However, to plan and to carry through communication strategies that favor the autonomy are not an easy task, exist of the institutions search, analysis and planning permanently. For Holmberg (1985), the interpersonal communication is basic for the interpersonalization of the process teach-learning originating lower rate of desistence and better quality of the learning.

This author affirms, still, that the autonomy must be stimulated by means of opened systems, adapted to the individual rhythm of the students, having as base of the process teach-learning the "guided didactic communication of gone and mediatizated return".

According to Holmberg (1985), the "guided didactic communication of gone and mediatizated return" are the propeller spring of all the process of learning of long-distance students e, in part, responsible for the development of the autonomy. Therefore, the communication must all be present during the course on a personalized form (for the student to feel motivated). This communication has three main purposes:

1. To support the motivation and the interest of the students.
2. To support, to guide and to facilitate the learning of the student knowing that this can apply the knowledge, explanations and suggestions.
3. To follow and all analyzes the progress of the students and feedback the process.

But, how to turn a communicative action into guided didactic communication of double hand? This transformation occurs when:

1. To exist feeling in the personal relation between the students and the professors capable to promote the pleasure in the study and the motivation of the student.
2. The feeling can be fomented by means of together auto-instruction to one adjusted gone communication of and comes back.
3. The intellectual pleasure and the motivation of the study to contribute for reaching the learning objectives.
4. The atmosphere, the language and the conventions conversational are friendly and favor the feeling of that a personal relation exists.
5. The messages sent and received in dialogue form are pertinent, clear, and objective and that they take care of the necessity of the student.

Also this care with the process of communication in DE can be observed in Pérez (1996). The author affirms that to obtain one adequate communication is necessary to leave of a significant communication, remembering that a sign can have distinct meanings for one and for another one.

For the semiology the signs are constructions human beings and only can be understood in terms of the uses that the people give they. For Saussure (2001), the signs if relate with the reality only through the concepts of the people who use it.

In this sense Peréz says that if the communication in the DE requires a dialogical relation then, the used ways must provide this dialogic. It is understood of this form, because all process of communication requires the personalization, either for the didactic material, either for the tools of interaction between the professor and the students.

2.2 Communication Frequency

The frequency of the communication must be in accordance with vary the characteristics, objectives and duration of the course, the yearnings, degree of difficulty and performance of the students in the course.

Moreover, it must constantly be negotiated with the students during the entire course and planned again, therefore the communication has to motivate them to remain studying it. At last, it cannot have excess and nor scarcity.

Prieto and Gutierrez in 1994 already alerted that tutorial in intention to guarantee an effective process of communication with the students, sent messages without having conscience or clarity if they at that moment were useful. This means to say that, to sin for excess it becomes so desmotivante how much to sin for scarcity.

Through researches of Holmberg and Baath (1992) had evidenced that it is the quality of the communication that contributes for the learning of the students and not it amount, as many institutions thought. This wants to say that we must prioritize the quality of our messages in detriment of the amount.

2.3 Essential Aspects in Distance Education

Holmberg (1985) emphasizes that assure an efficient and efficient communication process, it is necessary to take in consideration aspects central offices. One describes on each one of these aspects to follow:

1. To know the students - to analyze the profile - is important to know the possible maximum on the social antecedents and educational, its incentives and motivations, which are the objective expectations and with the course. This wants to say that, to be able to establish an efficient communication we need to know: what to write, When to write and as to write, is necessary to know: for who I am writing, or either, necessary to know who they are the students, which its interests, its concerns, its difficulties, which are the capacities or the knowledge that if wait to develop e, therefore, as to conceive a strategy of adequate communication its demands, its necessities and to its purpose.

2. Defining the objectives - already being had knowledge of the potential and the difficulties of the students and its goals of studies. All the type of communication must be adapted to the real necessities of the same ones. Each sent orientation must have a clear purpose, specifying the persistence level that the student must have and which the objectives that the students will have that to reach to the end of each stage of study and what the same ones must have learned in the end of the course. At last, we cannot direct messages without having an objective clearly, and certainty of that will be contributing for the student learning

3. Which the type of learning - a significant learning must be prioritized that favors the autonomy of the students. In this direction, in the process of communication, instead of presenting ready answers and absolute truths, it must be stimulated the students to take off its proper conclusions. Always followed by a feedback communication.

4. To observe the language and style - the essential language is part for the communication of a message. The written language must obey three dimensions:

a. Simplicity of the structure of the conjunct and vocabulary, or either, to use a language standard to the level of formation of the students, in case that it is necessary to use terms technician, these must be followed of its meanings.

b. Structure and concision.

c. Brevity, relevance and additional stimulation, with affirmative expressions and prenames.

In order to create a didactic conversational atmosphere guided giving opportunities to one real communication of and its feedback. So that to stimulate the reflection instead of memorization. (HOLMBERG, 1985).

Independently of the type of communication, the language must be clear the sufficient so that the student understands the message with easiness. Therefore, the DE must be characterized by an interpersonal communication; therefore the interlocutors are separate in the time and the space. Because of that, it is necessary to recreate a bond enters the process teach-learning by means of the interpersonal communication didactically dialogued.

5. To contemplate the esthetic - Another aspect of extreme importance is the esthetic form of the message. It is necessary to have well-taken care of with presentation of the messages, therefore a well formatted message stimulates the student to read and facilitates the understanding.

At last, one believes the communication processes will be consistent; the students get greater motivation and create emotional defenses that allow them to get greater success in the learning.

Influence of Motivation in Education

    Motivation is the driving force by which humans achieve their goals. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation. According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in a basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or a desired object, goal, state of being, ideal, or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, selfishness, morality, or avoiding mortality. Conceptually, motivation should not be confused with either volition or optimism. Motivation is related to, but distinct from, emotion.

                                                  

                                   Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

     Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure.^[3] Intrinsic motivation has been studied by social and educational psychologists since the early 1970s. Research has found that it is usually associated with high educational achievement and enjoyment by students. Explanations of intrinsic motivation have been given in the context of Fritz Heider's attribution theory, Bandura's work on self-efficacy,^[4]and Deci and Ryan's cognitive evaluation theory (see self-determination theory). Students are likely to be intrinsically motivated if they:

• attribute their educational results to internal factors that they can control (e.g. the amount of effort they put in),
•                 believe they can be effective agents in reaching desired goals (i.e. the results are not determined by luck),
•                   are interested in mastering a topic, rather than just rote-learning to achieve good grades.

   Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual. Common extrinsic motivations are rewards like money and grades, coercionand threat of punishment. Competition is in general extrinsic because it encourages the performer to win and beat others, not to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of the activity. A crowd cheering on the individual and trophies are also extrinsic incentives.

   Social psychological research has indicated that extrinsic rewards can lead to overjustification and a subsequent reduction in intrinsic motivation. In one study demonstrating this effect, children who expected to be (and were) rewarded with a ribbon and a gold star for drawing pictures spent less time playing with the drawing materials in subsequent observations than children who were assigned to an unexpected reward condition and to children who received no extrinsic reward.^[5]

Self-determination theory proposes that extrinsic motivation can be internalised by the individual if the task fits with their values and beliefs and therefore helps to fulfill their basic psychological needs.

                                       What Is Student Motivation?

   Student motivation naturally has to do with students' desire to participate in the learning process. But it also concerns the reasons or goals that underlie their involvement or noninvolvement in academic activities. Although students may be equally motivated to perform a task, the sources of their motivation may differ.
A student who is INTRINSICALLY motivated undertakes an activity "for its own sake, for the enjoyment it provides, the learning it permits, or the feelings of accomplishment it evokes" (Mark Lepper 1988). An EXTRINSICALLY motivated student performs "IN ORDER TO obtain some reward or avoid some punishment external to the activity itself," such as grades, stickers, or teacher approval (Lepper).
The term MOTIVATION TO LEARN has a slightly different meaning. It is defined by one author as "the meaningfulness, value, and benefits of academic tasks to the learner--regardless of whether or not they are intrinsically interesting" (Hermine Marshall 1987). Another notes that motivation to learn is characterized by long-term, quality involvement in learning and commitment to the process of learning (Carole Ames 1990).

         What Factors Influence The Development Of Students' Motivation?

      According to Jere Brophy (1987), motivation to learn is a competence acquired "through general experience but stimulated most directly through modeling, communication of expectations, and direct instruction or socialization by significant others (especially parents and teachers)."
Children's home environment shapes the initial constellation of attitudes they develop toward learning. When parents nurture their children's natural curiosity about the world by welcoming their questions, encouraging exploration, and familiarizing them with resources that can enlarge their world, they are giving their children the message that learning is worthwhile and frequently fun and satisfying.

   When children are raised in a home that nurtures a sense of self-worth, competence, autonomy, and self-efficacy, they will be more apt to accept the risks inherent in learning. Conversely, when children do not view themselves as basically competent and able, their freedom to engage in academically challenging pursuits and capacity to tolerate and cope with failure are greatly diminished.
Once children start school, they begin forming beliefs about their school-related successes and failures. The sources to which children attribute their successes (commonly effort, ability, luck, or level of task difficulty) and failures (often lack of ability or lack of effort) have important implications for how they approach and cope with learning situations.

    The beliefs teachers themselves have about teaching and learning and the nature of the expectations they hold for students also exert a powerful influence (Raffini). As Deborah Stipek (1988) notes, "To a very large degree, students expect to learn if their teachers expect them to learn."
Schoolwide goals, policies, and procedures also interact with classroom climate and practices to affirm or alter students' increasingly complex learning-related attitudes and beliefs.

    And developmental changes comprise one more strand of the motivational web. For example, although young children tend to maintain high expectations for success even in the face of repeated failure, older students do not. And although younger children tend to see effort as uniformly positive, older children view it as a "double-edged sword" (Ames). To them, failure following high effort appears to carry more negative implications--especially for their self-concept of ability--than failure that results from minimal or no effort.

The Importance of Physical Fitness for School Age Children

   Photo of Juvenile Physical Fitness Program

   Do you know what your child is doing? If he’s like most children today, he’s busy watching television, playing video games, or sitting at the computer -- all passive activities that do little to promote physical fitness. When you combine that with an ever-increasing diet of fast food and sodas, the results can lead to what many doctors are seeing today -- an increase in childhood obesity. 

   “Studies show that over the last three decades childhood obesity has more than tripled,” says Dr. Robert Lustig, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Tennessee in Memphis, and St. Judge Children’s Research Hospital. Lustig has been studying obesity in children for the past five years. 

    According to Lustig, a recent study showed that the proportion of Americans with obesity, defined as being more than 30 percent over their ideal body weight, rose from one in eight in 1991 to one in five in 1998. Lustig says that obesity has been shown to be a pediatric problem that follows a child into adulthood. And with those extra pounds come an increased risk for health problems, including high cholesterol, juvenile diabetes, and heart disease. So getting kids into the habit of being physically fit must start early. 

           The Importance of Physical Fitness for Young People

   As the operator of the Pee Wee Workout franchise in Memphis, Towanda Peete-Smith’s job is to get little hearts pumping. She keeps kids moving with a 30-minute aerobic fitness and nutritional education curriculum designed specifically for toddlers and preschoolers. Much of what Smith does is stretching and movement exercises. 

“I get children to use muscles they don’t regularly use, like the deltoid muscle at the ball of the shoulder and the thighbone muscles in the back of the legs” says Smith, who provides physical education services to a variety of area daycare centers. 

Smith says that repetition is the key to achieving a good workout. In addition to burning calories, exercising can increase endurance, muscular strength, balance, agility, and coordination. Smith acknowledges the importance of getting children active early as one way to promote lifelong fitness. 
Unfortunately, statistics suggest that as preschoolers age, they will participate less and less in physical fitness activities. The Tennessee Department of Health reports that the amount of physical activity children receive at school gradually decreases as they rise from elementary to high school.

Image of Physical Education for Toddler Kids

     The Tennessee State Rules, Regulations, and Minimum Standards for the Governance of Public Schools suggests that students in K through 4^th grades should be provided a minimum of 30-minutes of physical education five days a week, and grades 5 through 8, a minimum of four 30-minute sessions weekly. By high school, those standards drop to one unit of physical education for grades 9 through 12. Despite those recommendations, the Memphis City School (MCS) has not been requiring physical education programs for students. 

    “It was hit or miss,” says Dee Weedon, health, physical education and life time wellness specialist with MCS. “It was left up to the individual school. Some principals saw the need and identified funds from their budgets.” But during the fiscal belt-tightening of the early 1990s, physical education , like art and music, was frequently cut from school budgets as a nonessential program. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta reports that the percentage of students who did not attend a physical education class nationally rose from 58% in 1991 to 75% in 1995.

                 Setting Fitness Goals for Your School Age Children

But thanks to new fitness goals set by the Surgeon General’s Office, physical education is slowly making a comeback. In August 1998, the Memphis City School board passed a district mandate requiring physical education in the elementary grades. Over the next three years, MCS will beef up their physical education staff, adding 250 new positions. Weedon says the school system’s goal for 2000 is to provide every child with one 30-minute physical fitness period per week.

According to Jean Arps, nurse coordinator for the Memphis City School’s Comprehensive School Health Program, a partnership with Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, MCS will coordinate its physical education program with a complete health program, which will include components in nutrition, counseling, and increased family involvement in school health. 

While physical education isn’t a cure-all in the battle against the bulging of America, fitness specialists believe helping kids get physically fit will go a long way towards a healthier adulthood. 

                               African American Children at Risk

  Photo of Physical Education for African American Children

     An array of dynamics put children’s health at risk. According to the Youth Risk behavior Survey, the average student spends three hours a day playing video games, using the computer, or watching television. Many kids don’t’ distant walk, and many parents are hesitant to let their children play outside for fear of crime. However, if your child is active and is still obese, Dr. Lustig suggests seeing a doctor because it could be an instance of a failing metabolism.

   “Many children, especially African Americans, have an insulin resistance condition which results in their making too much insulin, which is an energy storage hormone that stores energy into your fat,” says Dr. Lustig. “Whenever they eat, their insulin levels go sky high, the insulin is stored in fat and leads to Type II diabetes, heart disease, stroke and is a major public health problem.”