Trustee wants to keep kids fit
Posted Feb 16, 2012 By Kristy Wallace
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EMC news - When Theresa Kavanagh was in school, she remembers when children would go outside and play.
Kristy Wallace, Metroland
Theresa Kavanagh, Bay Ward's public school board trustee, wants students to get rewarded for living an active lifestyle.
"For the most part, you just went outside and did stuff," said the public school board trustee for Bay Ward.
With video games and technologies today that don't keep young people active, Kavanagh feels she has the solution: give students non-academic credit for consistently doing regular or daily physical activity outside of school.
The school board's education committee unanimously passed the motion on Jan. 30, and it set to go before the full board at a meeting on Feb. 14.
As part of the plan, Kavanagh would like to see a pilot program for students in grades 6, 7 and 8 that would be overseen by a university graduate student. She also said she would like see the pilot project run at three to six schools in the district. Students would track their physical activity outside of school in a journal or blog that would be signed by an adult. The activity could be as simple as walking to school or riding your bike.
Kavanagh said she wanted to focus on that age group because it's an age where students are less likely to have free time to go outside and do physical activities.
"It's the age I find when kids stop playing," she said. "We want to reach kids that don't have any kind of culture of physical activity, and getting them to understand why it's important."
Kavanagh said school curriculum is already jam-packed, and physical education is not mandatory past a certain grade.
"It's a problem, and it's a shame. I do think that's unfortunate," she said. "The curriculum comes from the province, and it raises a bigger question."
As part of the idea, Kavanagh said she encouraged staff to contact that Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario and the city's chief medical officer of health for guidelines and advice. She received letters of support from these partners.
Overall, Kavanagh feels that if students start getting active, they'll also do better in school.
"I'm a very, very big enthusiast of physical activity. I know how important it is," she said. "The upsides to physical activity are it's very social, and does a lot for mental health. Physical activity should not be overlooked."
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