Mandatory school sport signalled

You do not need to play sports to be healthy!  In many cases there are examples of people who have lost there health because they played sports.  My best friend who was a member of the first 15 the first 11 at school and these days he has two totally stuffed knees and is currently waiting for knee replacement.

In terms of support for the effort, that is BS, I remember being punished with detention  because I was not able to run the school cross country fast enough.  I was told that I was letting the school down!

I too remember compulsory sport and physical education at school, and I can't recall much evidence of bullying - certainly no more than the little which occurred in the academic side of school life. 

I do recall numerous examples of those with little apparent physical abiliity who turned out to have exceptional talents - a very fat boy who became a champion discus thrower, a very tall gangly and unco-ordinated student who became a champion triple-jump specialist, and a small boy who seemed hopeless at any sport yet became a very successful long-distance runner. 

Of course, these were the exceptions. The important factor was the underlying philosophy that everyone should persist in trying to do something. It really didn't matter if they didn't do it well. We were given a wide range of different physical activities, and the staff rewarded participation as much as prowess.

['Mens sana in corpore sano' is a Latin quotation, often translated as 'a sound mind in a healthy body' - Online ODT]

Dagg, I wouldn't worry too much. They've just said that they would "look into it". Put this down to an attempt to get votes, rather than looking at it seriously. I don't have a real issue with it, but it would not be a vote swayer either way for me as there does not appear to be any substance behind it. Now if they said "we will make it mandatory" then I would consider it in more depth. Expect a few more of these "may do" suggestions.

I remember the compulsory sports when I was at school.  For someone who had no sports ability - could not catch and could not throw etc - all I can remember was the total humiliation as I was always used as the bad example.

To me compulsory sports is another form of bullying driven by the physical education teacher.

I was called soft and a girl and punished because I would not catch a cricket ball because it was thrown hard so it would hurt when you tried.  I was told that if you caught it properly it would not hurt, that wasn't much help if you can't catch.