I remember these PE classes. Hated the work, loved how I felt after the work. They also gave you confidence in your physical abilities and just confidence overall because you knew your capabilities.
I hear ya brother. As a teenager following the hay baler around a hot, dry, dusty field in the south grabbing up square bales and throwing them up to the loading guys on the truck was nasty hard work. You learned to develop a rhythm, a flow if you will, that takes some of the strain off your arms and back. Then fighting off the wasps while stacking the bales in the hayloft of the barn was downright torture. The stifling heat in the hayloft would make you wish you were back in the field. But the greatest pleasure and relief in the world was diving into the spring fed pond, swimming down to where the spring was bubbling on the bottom and feeling the cold flow wash over you. Made the whole hot miserable day worth it.
I noticed the generational changes in male bodies when I was going up. I was born in 77.
I had the biggest crush on my bff's brother growing up, he was born 1970ish. As we aged, I noticed the boys in our age group were the same height and weight as us, even nearing 17 years.
Whereas, the older brother's generation, they had adult man body shapes and sizes already by 17. All tall and muscular.
I was a hyper active kid anyway, I did not care for the competitive sports but you are right, kids were not fat, maybe one or two in the classes. We ate sugar, but there were no enormous aisles of snack foods, ailes devoted to cookies and chips, there was no high fructose corn syrup, and I don't know about you, but snacks were regulated at my house. I had a snack waiting for me when I got home from school, and desert was jello most days, or a fruit cocktail, You know when kids started to get fat? Cable tv kids programming. There was no such thing in the 60's. And, as I type this, the internet, gaming, tablets, and phones for kids..Nobody is using their body anymore for play and adventures on bikes and climbing and swimming, etc. It has all been regulated, going to the gym, who did that back then? I know I ruined my back from hard work as a nurses aide, but what did just as much harm was getting addicted to the internet. I was an early WOW player, hours spent on that game, sitting there, snacking, I broke away but the damage was done in losing core strength and compressing my lower spine. PE was great, it was for all kids, but in later years it turned to be sports centered, teams, and not all kids made it for the teams, and were left behind. As a person with ADHD, the rules were hard to follow and understand, but I do remember that all the kids in PE got to play volleyball and field hockey during the class, it was not based on who was the best for a real team, we all did it, and ran around having fun.
I took and passed the JFK Physical Fitness test in the 1962-63 school year, and my daughter was the last class to take and pass the test in the 1992-93 school year. After that, the standards were substantially lowered and certain activities were altered or dropped altogether. The students needed to feel good about themselves, and their self esteem would lower if they could not pass. Parents thought the requirements were too hard, and students were stressed out. Some parents requested a "do over," or perhaps the teacher did not time the event accurately or count the skill correctly. The local paper was criticized for publishing the results by school. I was there -- one of the 5th grade teachers.
I remember these PE classes. Hated the work, loved how I felt after the work. They also gave you confidence in your physical abilities and just confidence overall because you knew your capabilities.
I hear ya brother. As a teenager following the hay baler around a hot, dry, dusty field in the south grabbing up square bales and throwing them up to the loading guys on the truck was nasty hard work. You learned to develop a rhythm, a flow if you will, that takes some of the strain off your arms and back. Then fighting off the wasps while stacking the bales in the hayloft of the barn was downright torture. The stifling heat in the hayloft would make you wish you were back in the field. But the greatest pleasure and relief in the world was diving into the spring fed pond, swimming down to where the spring was bubbling on the bottom and feeling the cold flow wash over you. Made the whole hot miserable day worth it.
I noticed the generational changes in male bodies when I was going up. I was born in 77.
I had the biggest crush on my bff's brother growing up, he was born 1970ish. As we aged, I noticed the boys in our age group were the same height and weight as us, even nearing 17 years.
Whereas, the older brother's generation, they had adult man body shapes and sizes already by 17. All tall and muscular.
Sadly, very true
I was a hyper active kid anyway, I did not care for the competitive sports but you are right, kids were not fat, maybe one or two in the classes. We ate sugar, but there were no enormous aisles of snack foods, ailes devoted to cookies and chips, there was no high fructose corn syrup, and I don't know about you, but snacks were regulated at my house. I had a snack waiting for me when I got home from school, and desert was jello most days, or a fruit cocktail, You know when kids started to get fat? Cable tv kids programming. There was no such thing in the 60's. And, as I type this, the internet, gaming, tablets, and phones for kids..Nobody is using their body anymore for play and adventures on bikes and climbing and swimming, etc. It has all been regulated, going to the gym, who did that back then? I know I ruined my back from hard work as a nurses aide, but what did just as much harm was getting addicted to the internet. I was an early WOW player, hours spent on that game, sitting there, snacking, I broke away but the damage was done in losing core strength and compressing my lower spine. PE was great, it was for all kids, but in later years it turned to be sports centered, teams, and not all kids made it for the teams, and were left behind. As a person with ADHD, the rules were hard to follow and understand, but I do remember that all the kids in PE got to play volleyball and field hockey during the class, it was not based on who was the best for a real team, we all did it, and ran around having fun.
La Sierra High School: A former high school in Carmichael, California, which operated from 1957 to 1983 and was closed due to budget cuts.
I took and passed the JFK Physical Fitness test in the 1962-63 school year, and my daughter was the last class to take and pass the test in the 1992-93 school year. After that, the standards were substantially lowered and certain activities were altered or dropped altogether. The students needed to feel good about themselves, and their self esteem would lower if they could not pass. Parents thought the requirements were too hard, and students were stressed out. Some parents requested a "do over," or perhaps the teacher did not time the event accurately or count the skill correctly. The local paper was criticized for publishing the results by school. I was there -- one of the 5th grade teachers.
Worth renting the movie. https://www.amazon.com/Motivation-Factor-MS-Ron-Jones/dp/B075YC3SZW
Loved all the physical ed and sports. Not so much the indoctrination the schools pushed but the fitness for sure.
We had 2 obese kids in our entire school. One boy and one girl. After H.S. the boy lost all his weight and buffed out. The girl never did.
Kids are so fat now a days that gym class is considered oppressive
" La Sierra High School: A former high school in Carmichael, California, which operated from 1957 to 1983 and was closed due to budget cuts."