Ron Isaac
Law-enforcement’s popular “Broken Windows” theory holds that permissiveness of small quality-of-life infractions invites larger breaches of the peace, including violent criminality. Seen this way, there is no such thing as a minor violation.
This theory also applies to education. In education, the violence is of a different nature, but it’s still violence. One example of “broken windows” is the cutting back of physical education instruction in our public schools by the city’s Department of Education. This widespread flouting of the state’s regulations that mandate a specific number of hours and days per week for physical education instruction will not lead to civil unrest. But it is ominous nonetheless. And very unsettling.
Physical Education may not be considered a major subject in a narrow academic sense, but it is crucial to the well-being of the total child. It helps combat the current epidemic of obesity among children. Exercise helps clear the head, aids concentration and efficiency in mastering many types of intellectual challenges, fights depression and apathy, develops self-discipline, and imbues sportsmanship. A fit body fuels a fit mind.
If we could replicate in the classroom the typically high level of motivation and personal responsibility that athletes (or anybody else who works out) dedicate to their training, not only would test scores rise, but far more importantly, so would love of learning and self-esteem.
I have a clear image of driving by a large Queens high school a few years ago and witnessing their track team, in T-shirts and shorts, running in cold, blustery and damp weather, high on endorphins and clearly luxuriating in the thrill of it. But I’m not lamenting an absence of a “no pain…no gain” structured gym program in our schools. I am, though, deploring the fact that physical education has been largely sacrificed in order to accommodate test-preparation priorities and other morbid reformist hobby-horses.
Physical education is not the only area of neglect. The arts, music and foreign language disciplines have also been eclipsed. Not many years ago many middle schools had a chorus, band, orchestra, painting studio and multiple foreign language offerings.
Chancellor Farina has rolled back some of the abuses of her recent predecessors, but much more awaits and demands her immediate attention. She can begin by enforcing the state regulations concerning physical education instruction and firmly supporting Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley’s bill, which would require that the Department of Education furnish annual reports verifying their compliance. Your readers should make their agreement known to their elected representatives.
Ron Isaac
Bayside
