Standards

A comprehensive set of established standards in physical education and health education are critical in the development of health and physically fit individuals. With the various health problems that we have in our country today due to the lack of physical activity and poor diet have led the United States of America into a full blown health crisis. It is my opinion that physical and health educators are on the front line of this fight against diseases caused by the lack of physical activity and various health issues that trouble the young people of the country. It is with this belief that I feel national and state standards should be developed so that the young people can grow and develop both physically and mentally in such a way that they are prepared and committed to life healthy and active lifestyles.

Looking at the national standards I believe that they are a good starting point for the development of a proper curriculum but i believe that they can be improved upon. The great thing about the education system in this country is the fact that individual states get to choose the manner in which they develop their school systems and the standards that they choose to enforce.

The standards that I researched included the recently revised standards from my home state of New Jersey. The standards were revised in 2004 and I think the department of education has done a phenomenal job in the development of the standards as they cover a very wide array of topics and issues that pertain to health and physical education. The standards are very detailed and encompass a tremendous amount of information and topics. These standards are high and above any other set of standards that I have seen because they leave no gray area as to what areas of physical and health education they expect students to be instructed.