schools and school districts are reducing exercise time for children

physical education is no longer seen as a priority

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

 Dear Sir,

You are in a position to directly affect the children of this great state.  We at ‘Team Fit’ know the importance of physical activity and would like to share our thoughts with you.  Naturally as a citizen of California I am grateful to have people such yourself working in the civil sector sacrificing so much of your time for the betterment of your fellow man.  I am hopeful that you could help me to reverse a disturbing trend with the exercise habits of our children today. I am aware that you are very busy and will make this brief.  As you can see in figure 1, there is a startling trend within our public school system is which the required amount of physical activity decreases as children grow.  If that isn’t bad enough, school districts all over the nation are taking steps to decrease the amount on physical education even further.  Some have eliminated it all together.

The detrimental effects of minimizing or canceling recess are not hard to spot.  Not having a recess during the school day is almost inhumane because children are being kept confined in their classrooms for hours each day. Prolonged periods of confinement in elementary classrooms have been found to lead to increased fidgeting, restlessness, and subsequent inability to concentrate.