The amount of things you can do in gym class is almost unlimited from your favorite activities like medic where you are in a battlefield trying to stay alive for the benefit of your team, to plain old working out and getting your body fit and healthy. Even gymnastics where you fly around like an acrobat, stretching your body and having fun, is a great way to release all that piled up energy from sitting in class. Thats why Schools should have more extensive and regular physical education programs.

If you are getting bad grades or getting in trouble, it might not fully be your fault. Studies show when kids have at least 20 minutes of sports or vigorous physical activities, the bad behavior kids exhibited in the classroom goes down immensely. “Look at the brain functioning after only walking for 20 minutes. Getting kids to move helps strengthen and stimulate their brains. This is why so many recent research studies are showing increased fitness = improved academics,” says phitamerica.org. (Note: The black color represents inactivity in the brain.)

A recent report from the Institute of Medicine states that “children who are more active show greater attention, have faster processing speeds and perform better on standardized academic tests than children who are less active.” ("Physical Activity May Help Kids Do Better in School, Studies Say."Washington Post. The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2015.)This means getting into a college wouldn't be very hard. Also in 2007 study done in the Columbia University Lab reveals that a three month exercise regimen can increase blood flow to the part of the brain responsible for memory and increases learning by 30%. This means if you have a 75%, meaning a C, if you have the right mindset and work really hard during the three months you could have a  97.5! That is an  A+ for doing only three months of exercise and hard work. Art Kramer of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois, says that fit children are better at multitasking and think more efficiently.("Raise Smart Kid." Raise Smart Kid. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2015.) Kids who exercise have better memory than those children who don't exercise. Exercise increases the flow of blood to the brain and blood delivers oxygen and glucose, which the brain needs for loftier alertness and focus. Because of this, exercise makes it easier for children to learn.

Regular physical activity during school hours will counteract the current rise in childhood obesity.The obesity rate among children has increased by 300% from 1980 to 2008. Also In 2008, almost 20 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 11 were obese, while 18.1 percent of children aged 12 to 19 were obese (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Why is this? It’s a combination of poor nutrition and inactivity. Where do kids spend the largest portion of their days? School. Sitting. Our obesity rate would go down immensely if programs like Michelle Obama’s Fuel Up and Play 60 were implemented. Michelle Obama’s Fuel Up and Play 60 is the goal for all kids to play or exercise one hour a day. Instead  "Only 17% of high school students are meeting the goal of 60 minutes a day. We still have a long way to go” ("Does Exercise Improve Learning in Children?" LIVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM, 31 Jan. 2014. Web. 08 Feb. 2015.).

Schools should have gym class in the morning or at least before lunch. The reason for this is most of the calories you eat at lunch will be used for other body parts that you just worked out. If you did a lot of running you would use a lot of glycogen in the legs. Exercise helps and increases your metabolism blocking fat out. This is important because then the fat are turned and used differently. instead of the fat  going to your fat storage it will turn into Glycogen and helps your exasperated leg muscles. If schools implemented a 45min gym class, a mandatory after school activities they could accomplish this hour-a-day goal!

In gym class where kids are working towards their 60 minutes a day goal, they are  forced to play games by the rules, with other people making kids create better moral development, leadership and cooperation with others. Although they are learning these important things like development and leadership it takes time away from core classes. It might take away from core classes which we are now getting tested on. Although we're not getting tested on weight and B.M.I (Body Mass Index) (Weight to Height ratio). Weight helps brain function which will still help kids learn. Gym every day it might also take away from the arts. Even with gym everyday the schedule would still allow for three unified arts classes each on a six week rotation.

Now that you know you still get to do all the arts you can have a really good time during gym class, playing your favorite things to play, and doing your favorite things to do. The balls whip across your face as you dive across the battlefield to save your teammate and, possibly, your team. Its a 3 on one until you get your teammate up and now its more even. You throw your hardest and hit a person on the other team. you're teammate comes from behind and throws a ball, it hits another and now the tide has changed. One verse two. the other team throw a ball its coming straight at you but a little high. You jump as high as you can reaching for the skies and catch the ball you win! Because of you having fun, you are getting A+’s, making friends and getting fit and if you then have kids most likely they will be fit too. This will help the obesity rate go down and have people having healthier and more fun lives. What's your call?

Citation
"Does Exercise Improve Learning in Children?" LIVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM, 31 Jan. 2014. Web. 08 Feb. 2015.
"Education." Study: Physical Activity Can Boost Student Performance. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2015.
"Raise Smart Kid." Raise Smart Kid. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2015.
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