Dive Brief:

• In an attempt to get students more active and less stationary, many schools are revamping their gym classes, making them less competitive and more personalized.  
• The shift eliminates the adversarial aspects of gym class, giving students more physical activity options — like jump rope, yoga, and archery — and encouraging gym teachers to create classes that appeal to everyone and not just the most athletic students.  
• "Physically literate" and "lifelong movers" are buzzwords in this nicer, less-competitive version of PE, where students are encouraged to create personal fitness plans and target heart rates instead of sitting on the sidelines if they aren't the star athlete.  
• The shift comes as parents and schools face the reality of childhood obesity: Almost one out of every three children is the U.S. is overweight or obese.  

Dive Insight:

The former version of gym no longer works. The obesity rate has tripled in the past three decades, and the old gym system didn't do enough to prepare students who weren't considered naturally athletic. Those who were not into traditional sports like soccer, football, or basketball were left sitting on the bench and ultimately missing valuable time to move and get active.  

According to Dolly Lambdin, president of the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE). “We cared too much about who is the best, who can do the most push-ups, and not nearly enough about what it means to be healthy and physically active for a lifetime.”

With the shift more students are getting opportunities to choose their own gym activities, many of which are more individualized sports. In some districts, like D.C. public schools, fly fishing and rock climbing are now options. Even the old Presidential Physical Fitness Test, which for decades has assessed students based on the number of push-ups they could do and how quickly they can run a mile, has been retired. Its replacement, the Fitnessgram, evaluates students based on their personal progress and goals.  

This shift in what PE looks like also comes at a time when many schools have actually cut gym time. According to a 2007 survey of school administrators, 44% reported they had cut gym, recess, and other physical activity times in order to have more time for math and reading lessons.