Using Exercise as Punishment

It seems that in sports today, many coaches use exercise and running to punish athletes for mistakes they made.  Whether its athletes talking while the coach is talking or messing up a new play that is being taught, coaches will quickly line their players up for gassers or other types of exercise that they will think will help them fix their mistake.  In the school setting, and physical education it is extremely cautioned for physical education teachers to use exercise as punishment.  In this setting, it is very important to keep students motivated and wanting to exercise instead of making seem as a punishment.



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In a physical education class, students of all ages will need some type consequences when they do something wrong or against the rules.  It is important to keep students motivated and interested in working out and exercising especially during their physical education class.  There is nothing worse than a class full of students who don’t want to do anything.

Quality physical education provides the unique opportunity for students to obtain the knowledge and skills needed to establish and maintain physically active lifestyles throughout childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood.1 With this being said it is important to develop a program that encourages students to stay active outside of physical education class as well.     

Dealing with behavioral problems in physical education class is something that can be very difficult to deal with.  Since all cases may be different, it is important for teachers to be able to think on their toes to handle each situation.  In an elementary school setting for instance, a student who is not participating in an activity could have a different consequence than a student who is misbehaving during the activity.  It is important for teachers to always keep their consequences consistent though to make sure students are treated fairly.2 With these ideas in mind, teachers must stay up to date with new games and activities for their students.        

References

1Lee, S.M., Burgeson, C.R., Fulton, J.E. & Spain, C.G. (2006) Physical Education and Physical Activity: Results From the School Health Policies and Programs Study 2006. Journal of School Health. 77(8) 435-463

2Ennis, C. (1995). Teachers’ responses to noncompliant students: The realities and consequences of a negotiated curriculum. Teaching and Teacher Education. 11(5) 445-460