With some offense (instead of little) to the administration of Pittsburgh's Whitehall Elementary School, I have one thing to ask: What the hell are you thinking? If you'd like to know why I'm willing to curse on my blog, simply CLICK HERE.
That link will take you to an article about this school in Pittsburgh that has decided to offer the opportunity for students to play the Nintendo Wii. Yes, I can understand that by "moving" while playing a video game is considered slight exercise, but it is not exercise by any true definition of the word.
According to the article, it is only one day a week that the children get to play on the Wii, but I think that is one day too many. I know that at home children are apt to sit in front of the television or the computer and play non-stop for hours before and after dinner until it's time for them to go to bed. However, child obesity continues to grow. Outbreaks of early onset diabetes is rampant among children and teenagers. And this school thinks that by letting their children play a video game once a week, that's going to help? Sure, the game they are playing is Just Dance - a physical game that requires mimicking dance maneuvers and earning points.
I shall reiterate with different words: Not enough movement.
Kids have plenty of time to play video games. They don't need to be allowed to play them at school also. Don't these kids have to have a certain amount of time exercising. I'm sure that playing the Wii is not on the approved list. If it is, why wasn't it on there when I was growing up and didn't like PE? Oh yeah, I know. Besides the fact that the Wii hadn't been invented, I actually liked to go out and play.
Even now, with my own daughter, she doesn't get to play on a computer (mostly because she hasn't mastered more than pounding the keyboard several times as hard as possible). She does get to watch television - mostly Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, X-Factor, America's Got Talent, American Idol and a view other judgemental shows. She actually likes them because she likes the music. But that's not the point. She only watches these shows when she's close to falling asleep, so she really doesn't get to watch much. During the day, when she is at daycare or her grandma's, she's a very active little girl. She has no need for a video game.
Until tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment