time to make American tackle football age 18 and above only?

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AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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06 Oct 2022, 11:25 am

IsabellaLinton wrote:
I don't think sport needs to be funded or universally expected of all students.
I don't think kids should be forced into it, even in Phys Ed.
I think they should learn basic fitness but beyond that, join community teams.

I even have a problem with typical Phys Ed. It’s this high stakes thing in which people are being judged above all else. It’s not about learning new things and having fun.

And then, it’s something crazy like 200 kids and only 2 instructors. It certainly can lend itself to bullying behavior if things go that way.

And although we didn’t sign up for the role, we as people on the spectrum can serve as the canaries in the mine!



AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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06 Oct 2022, 2:14 pm

I remember an old movie about a UK school.

And the regular teacher was teaching boys’ Phys. Ed., and the assignment was to run up to a pommel horse type thing, plant your hands on it and launch yourself, and then land with both feet on the mat, with the teacher spotting you. One, the teacher’s not trained and experienced at this type of thing, not really. And two, what’s the point, besides just some ritual?

A fat kid is next in line. The tension builds as the teacher twice tells him to make his run. The teacher is not ugly about it, but he is firm and stern.

The boy makes his run. He launches and breaks the pommel horse. The teacher partially catches him, and the two of them fall down.

Okay, so the kid is maybe 40 pounds overweight, and who cares?

And I can hear it now— Oh, the teacher didn’t want the boy to be treated differently from the other boys. Yes, but you’ve set up this high-stakes ritual in which all boys must do this difficult thing one time.

What you’re not doing is starting where every student is and slowly building their skills. I remember a Hollywood stunt person saying, Hey, if you want to jump off a two-story building, first start with the curb. Then you work up to a couple of feet, etc.