Did you like gym class in school?

[politicallefty]

Overall, I'd say I'm pretty split on it, but I lean towards no. It mostly depended on what we were actually doing. I cannot say how much I despised volleyball (and basketball to a lesser extent). Dodgeball was always fun though, but I don't remember doing that past elementary school. In high school gym, I preferred stuff like softball, kickball, soccer, and hockey. As long as you wore the uniform and participated, it was always an easy 'A'.

[dead0man]

But grading people for ability in P.E. is ridiculous.

Why?  Granted, anyone who is making an effort ought to get at least a C, but I see no problem with having better grades in P.E. being based on better performance, and I say that as someone for whom P.E. was not one of my better subjects for exactly that reason.

I agree.  People that are naturally smart (or at least naturally good students) find it easy to get good grades, why shouldn't the naturally athletic get better grades in athletics?

[muon2]

But grading people for ability in P.E. is ridiculous.

Why?  Granted, anyone who is making an effort ought to get at least a C, but I see no problem with having better grades in P.E. being based on better performance, and I say that as someone for whom P.E. was not one of my better subjects for exactly that reason.

I agree.  People that are naturally smart (or at least naturally good students) find it easy to get good grades, why shouldn't the naturally athletic get better grades in athletics?

Indeed, if it is going to be a school subject, why shouldn't it be treated like other subjects? If PE is not ability-based, then how should music and art classes be graded? What about cooking or keyboarding?

[Vosem]

Absolutely, and since I'm not actually in any high school sports, when I did take gym classes I was generally one of the most competitive students and put real effort into it.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

No (normal).  I was always the kid who stood on the sidelines and watched, no matter what the others were doing.

[MaxQue]

But grading people for ability in P.E. is ridiculous.

Why?  Granted, anyone who is making an effort ought to get at least a C, but I see no problem with having better grades in P.E. being based on better performance, and I say that as someone for whom P.E. was not one of my better subjects for exactly that reason.

I agree.  People that are naturally smart (or at least naturally good students) find it easy to get good grades, why shouldn't the naturally athletic get better grades in athletics?

Indeed, if it is going to be a school subject, why shouldn't it be treated like other subjects? If PE is not ability-based, then how should music and art classes be graded? What about cooking or keyboarding?

Here, music was evaluated on musical reading of notes and arts on how well the techniques are correctly done.

[Nutmeg]

Horrible activity. The one reason I never made honor roll/dean's list in middle and high school, of all things. I usually had a 97 to 100 in all actual classes and around an 80 in PE, so was ineligible for the honor roll (I think it was something like you couldn't have any grades below 85). Plus I really was acutely aware of my inability to throw a ball or whatever. No need to be publicly shamed 4 days a week for years. We had timed runs in high school where your grade depended on your time. Liberal education, mind-body-spirit kind of stuff. Except the focus on the body had negative effects on my spirit. Free time to move around outside would have been awesome.

How the hell did they get away with that? That is ridiculously unfair, assuming you put in the effort and participated.

Unclear. There was some serious rounding/curving going on, though, to get me to the C+/B- level, though, or else I would have outright failed. The PE coaches had an actual printed chart of the 1.5-mile run times and the corresponding grades. I always got the lowest score in 7th and 8th grades; my most frequent time of 16-18 min for the 1.5 miles equated to a score of 36 out of 100. I got better in 9th grade when it was upped to 3-mile runs and I scored around 60 out of 100. Luckily after 9th grade we no longer had this ridiculous class, and instead I could focus on my APs. The worst feeling in the world was going to sleep Sunday night knowing I'd have to do a timed run on Monday morning that most likely would get me a failing score and a public shaming.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I find going to the gym as an adult to be incredibly enjoyable and stress relieving. As a student, I despised gym class.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Primary school (3rd grade-7th grade): Not at all, was really unathletic, and basically the stereotypical "nerdy" kid of the class. I was basically the last to finish the cross country circuit of my school and surrounding areas, without fail. Not to mention my co-ordination was terrible back then. All of this led me to not wanting to participate, and often sitting on the sidelines by my lonely self.

High school (8th grade-10th grade, PE in 11th and 12th grades is only for those who want to study PE as a university entrance subject): Considerably better, aside from a couple of times in the 8th grade, I enjoyed PE a lot more in high school, we did a larger variety of sports, and while still not being all that athletic (and never have been), I enjoyed it a lot more, plus my coordination had improved a lot. I particularly enjoyed 9th grade rugby and 10th grade basketball.

So overall, a bit of both, although voted Yes (R), as I did enjoy those later years of PE.