Chinese P.E.

Chinese physical education options vary depending on school and age. For example, a young child attending a private pre-school is being given plenty of opportunity to move. This is done in an effort to stimulate growth and good coordination. The preschool includes various activities every day. Plus, twice a week they have a specific teacher who specializes in P.E. come and teach the kids. Mind you these types of private pre-schools can be pretty pricey and even quite competitive to get into. Still, many Chinese parents are willing to pay in an effort to give their child a physically positive environment.

Another parent with a child in fourth grade seemed only moderately pleased with the P.E. being provided at school. The physical training program includes 3 or 4 classes per week with each lasting 35 minutes. Activities are pretty basic though, with time being spent simply running or jumping rope. Thus the parent hoped for a more structured curriculum with specific requirements and goals so as to ensure the child is really “advancing” physically.

Yet another parent took an entirely different approach to their child’s physical education. Namely, they let the child play parent. Incredibly, they felt it was best to let the child decide to what extent they would engage in P.E. Seeing that this child “didn’t like P.E.” the parent unbelievably arranged for a slip to be written on the child’s behalf saying they wouldn’t be participating!

While a lot of the trouble associated with children currently lacking sufficient exercise can certainly be placed on the parents’ shoulders, the school also has some responsibility. Chinese school curriculum is incredibly academic focused. There seems to be extremely little if any real emphasis on getting kids moving. Perhaps a reason is that in general professional sports are comparatively less popular and practical in China. It would be far harder to make big money as a “professional athlete” than it would be a professor or businessperson. For this reason and others, sports and exercise in general is taking a huge back seat. Time is seen as better spent hitting the books instead of hitting the weights.