Report to the People
Sport in Schools
I have long thought that our aversion to exercise in Scotland may come from unpleasant memories of school sports.
As far as I remember, my experience of physical "education" in school consisted of running up muddy hills; swimming past the icebergs in the Battery Park as the technical teacher had a fag – pausing briefly to shout that we weren’t drowning and if we didn’t shut up he would give us hypothermia; and being forced to play something called rugby.
But PE in schools wasn’t as important then.
We got plenty exercise away from school, chasing buses, sugar lorries, ice cream vans and milk motors. We also used to play street games – from enduring favourites such as football and rounders, to those which have not stood the test of time, such as ring, bang, skoosh and Cowboys and Indians.
And even watching television kept us fit. We lived in the bottom flat, with our TV aerial in the tenement loft. Every time we lost the picture, I was dispatched up four floors to hang from the skylight, performing gymnastics in attempt to get Joe 90 in focus.
But how times have changed.
Children are more likely to be managing Brazil on their Playstation than kicking a ball outside in the street. They are more used to being driven to school in the family car, than running for a bus. It is more common for a child today to learn about brain trauma from the kids science channel, than it is for them to enter a boxing ring.
So, if today’s young people aren’t getting exercise in their spare time, the quality of PE in schools becomes far more important.
It was good to see last week, then, the Scottish Parliament debating how we improve sport and make the most of the positive advantages it offers. Time and again, MSPs underlined how crucial sport is, not only in keeping children fit, healthy and away from cigarettes and drugs, but in giving them discipline and self confidence.
That is why there are a raft of measures being undertaken at every level – school, local authority and national – to encourage children to get involved in sport at school.
The health benefits are clear. The social benefits are clear. And, with a spot of luck, the benefits to our national teams could be just around the corner.
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