Reply #28: All the PE Teachers and Coaches I Had Were Worse Than Useless [View All]

[AndyTiedye]

I am so fucking unbelievably clumsy. I couldn't throw a ball to save my life. Or catch one.

I sure was when I was a kid. Only thing that seems to have improved
my coordination is lots and lots of dancing.

So my PE teachers hated me. And I hated them.

Those who can't teach, teach gym. You are very fortunate to have
met an exception (I never did):

I did have one good coach... He really inspired me to do my utmost - and I'll always love and respect him for that. He was actually pretty tough on us but he never expected us to be better than we were capable of being. Just the best we could be.And then to try to be a little better than that. And that meant so much to me - I swear to god I would have thrown myself in front of a train for him. I still have the report card from him : "He'll never be much of an athlete because he just doesn't have the talent for it, but he ought to because I've never seen anyone try so hard. I am very very proud of him."

Mine were always accusing me of not trying at all, and they would
do so in front of everybody else. All of the effort I put in was
completely invisible to them, because my reactions were so slow,
and my coordination was so bad, and did not improve with practice.

Thankfully, gym teachers in the schools I went to were not allowed
to give grades, let alone fail anyone. They were horrible enough
without that power.

There is way too much emphasis placed on sports. Parents think of it
as the perfect way to instill physical fitness, social skills,
leadership and discipline all at once in their kids. For athletic
kids, it may even work, but for those of us who have no athletic
abiity, it tends to backfire horribly, resulting in diminished self-
esteem and alienation. It can also turn the kid off of exercise
altogether. PE makes couch-potatoes out of millions of kids, by
instilling the idea that physical activity must always be competitive.
If you can't compete, it's better to watch others do it on TV.

If you want the kids to exercise, LET THEM DANCE!
Turn the lights down a bit, so the self-conscious ones can still
participate.
Lay down some nice psytrance and they'll get plenty of exercise!