[DIYPatriot]

My son is six years old. I'm coaching his baseball team again this year. PE is almost non-existent at his school. Personally, I'm okay with that because I am highly involved in his life and we play all the time after school. At least one day a week, we'll roll a little for at least an hour or so. He loves grappling/bjj. He thinks he's becoming a teenage mutant ninja turtle and I'm okay with that so long as he never attempts to build a fort in the storm drain ever again. We also ride bikes, shoot bb guns, throw football and climb on his treehouse/jungle gym, etc.

Each week, I send an update to the parents on my team explaining to them which topics/techniques we're covering at practice. I give them one or two tips on what to do at home to further improve their child's abilities. Before bed, I checked my messages and boom - my first irate parent of the season. She was pissed because she told me that it was my job, not hers or her husband's to teach her son how to play baseball. Aside from blasting me for trying to tell her how to raise her kid, she went on to say that they don't have time for things like that.

At first, I couldn't believe what I was reading, but then it clicked. Some kids are the trophies and their domestic overseers are the little shits that expect a gold star just for showing up and participating. IME our kids are exactly the product of what they're being taught and most of them are being taught that it is someone else's problem, someone else's job to do something else for them. This is just one example of why I feel that PE is necessary at school. Another reason is that I have friends who are working to make ends meet and simply can't afford the $115 registration fee, the $30-$50 cleats (if you can find them on sale), the glove, baseball bat and other gear that they simply can't afford.

FWIW I feel that it is most important for the parents to guide their kids, enhance the education that is being taught at school and actually be involved in their children's lives than to expect our educators to do the job for them. We also need to remember the kids whose parents consider it a hassle to play ball, ride a bike or simply ask them how their day was (and actually listen to their child's response). Those are the kids that need PE in school and that list is growing.