I expected a snarky comment or two from supporters of traditional P.E. The position of some "progressives" on this issue -- an issue that affects children -- sounds just like what I would expect a Freeper to say. I shudder when I hear people say that P.E. should be mandatory K/12. Many of them will even say they don't care if nonathletic kids are bullied. Yes, that will really encourage them to become physically active!
I was scrawny when I was introduced to the misery that was mandatory P.E., and I was scrawny on the last day I had P.E. in the eighth grade. Some progress! In all those years, I never heard the words "exercise program" drip from the lips of any of my P.E. coaches -- all of whom viewed nonathletic boys with either indifference or contempt. I needed to be educated. I didn't even know what an exercise program was. I thought I was inherently puny and that there was nothing I could do about it. (Incidentally, except for a minute or two during which my sixth-grade P.E. coach hurriedly demonstrated a few wrestling holds, there wasn't even any teaching or instruction in the sports themselves!)
Fortunately, since I was a band student, I wasn't required to take P.E. in high school, which I heard was even more hellish for nonathletic boys. If I had been forced to take it, I might have done something drastic. Except for the educators who advocate reform (who, as far as I'm concerned, are in the minority, not the majority), I have nothing but contempt for the phys ed establishment.
I hear you about junior high and high school. A time of unbridled intolerance for anyone who was different in any way. A paradise for conformists engaged in shallow social climbing! For some of us, high-school social life was a big joke typified by cliquish hypocrisy. I had the added misfortune to attend high school in one of the most predominantly conservative Republican congressional districts in the country. (I remember many of my high-school classmates reacting to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in the spring of 1968 with unbridled glee. Less joy was on display when school let out for the summer.) Most of my classmates were spoiled rich kids. I couldn't be paid to attend any of my high-school reunions.
I'm quite impressed with your accomplishments! You will continue to receive health benefits even when you're older. To repeat a true statement: The best revenge is living a good life.
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