Washington might be busy with Iran, the economy, and the upcoming elections, but they are not too busy to take time to tend to the nation's children. In these tough economic times school districts across the nation have been tightening their belts. This is a problem for those who make it their business to keep an eye on America's school children because one of the programs frequently targeted by school districts for cutting is physical education.
There is growing concern that the nation's children are increasingly sedentary and over weight. According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 17% of children between the ages of 2 to 19 years in the U.S. are obese. Representative Franklin Pierce of Washington state, along with 84 other members of Congress, wants to increase pressure on the nation's schools to do something about it. They are proposing that when Congress takes up the issue of education reform later this year that pressure be placed on school districts to increase their efforts in curbing obesity among students. This would be accomplished through compelling schools to compile yearly reports documenting time devoted to student physical activity. The reports could then be collected and provide a basis for comparing schools across the nation in regard to how fit their students are. The theory is that schools could use the information to create plans to assist the larger and more idle of their students become less so. Naturally, school districts will be evaluated based on the numbers they provide.
While almost every school in the nation provides opportunity for physical activity, (think of recess), only five states require physical education in their schools. 48 states have standards for physical education yet only 32 require their schools to comply with those standards. With 17% of the nation's children considered obese, Washington, or more precisely those who make it their business to mind the nation's business, has taken notice. Using economic casuistry those disturbed by the growing number of lethargic and flabby children have sought to put a price on obesity. A leading advocate of national physical education reform, Representative Joe Baca, D-California, has calculated that obesity will have cost the nation $1 trillion by 2030 if nothing is done. A price according to Baca that would bankrupt the nation. He and like minded advocates see the problem as stemming from the absence of any federal law requiring schools to offer physical education. That is what they are seeking to remedy.
We live in a time when economics has become a national obsession. Many have devoted their careers to teasing out the economic costs and benefits of human activity. Once those costs and benefits are identified they become the grist for policy. Morals, ethics, customs, traditions, virtually every aspect of human behavior has developed an economic facet. Smoking is not bad because it will kill you. It is bad because it costs the nation money. Ignorance is not bad because it crimps human potential, but because it hobbles economic potential. Now obesity has been made an economic issue. It is not bad because it is unhealthy and unsightly. It is bad because it costs the nation money.
If little Billy is fat, doesn't do his homework and plays video games all day what business is that of mine? What business is that of Washington's? In a free country a person ought to be able to sit on their couch and eat ice cream and candy all day if they want to, even if it drives some people nuts. Only casuistry of the highest order can make a person's weight a matter of national concern.