Gym: a silly four-year requirement  which doesn’t make sense for those who participate in the athletic programs.

But before I get to that, gym is a mess anyway. Classes this year are crammed full of students and lacking real quality equipment. There are not enough lacrosse sticks, four-square balls, or even gym teachers to effectively run a quality P.E. program.
As students, we are expected to fully participate in gym. This year though, there is only so much space for the 100 or so kids, especially when stuck inside on a rainy day. You can’t go hardcore if your team is being benched because they can’t fit on the court.
There’s also the fear that you’ll get drenched in sweat and smell like a bus full of soccer players after a game, all before third period. There’s no possible time to shower after gym to rid the stink of an actual workout, so instead students stand there idly participating as little as possible.

These problems hinder a students’ ability to participate in the class they are forced to take by state law. The law states that “Physical education shall be taught as a required subject in all grades for all students in the public schools for the purpose of promoting the physical well-being of students.”
The problem is, the state makes people who absolutely don’t need to take gym for the physical activity participate: athletes. Students that are enrolled in athletics are forced to take gym both semesters, and when they’re unprepared they aren’t allowed to participate in their sport.

I don’t know about other athletes, but I do more physical activity in one season of soccer than I’ve done in all four-years of gym class.

Instead why don’t we let athletes, who are obviously physically fit, take a study during their sport season instead of gym. The athletes need a study to do all the work they still have to complete after their sporting event or practice.

Until the gym classes at LHS get straightened out, they are a waste of time and ineffective, so why not make it an elective? Most students don’t really do any consequential physical activity, it hinders students from taking more academic classes, and seems unnecessary for athletes who already participate in physical activity daily.