Bill Text: HI HR136 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Middle School; Physical Education; Health Education

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-16 - Referred to EDN, FIN, referral sheet 33 [HR136 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-HR136-Introduced.html

---

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	136
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING the board of education to require physical education and health education in middle school.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, currently, Hawaii does not require physical education or health education in intermediate or middle school; and

 

     WHEREAS, physical education programs are critical to providing students with the skills necessary to achieve and maintain life-long physical fitness; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2013, the Institute of Medicine identified daily school physical education for all students as a strategy to prevent obesity across the nation; and

 

     WHEREAS, research suggests that schools that provide time for high-quality physical education generate positive benefits for academic achievement, such as increased concentration; improved scores in mathematics, reading, and writing; and reductions in disruptive behaviors; and

 

     WHEREAS, the National Physical Education Standards recommend 225 minutes per week of high-quality physical education for middle school students; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the Hawaii Youth Risk Behavioral Survey, physical activity drops drastically during middle school, with only 40.8 percent of boys and 23.4 percent of girls meeting physical-activity recommendations; and

 

     WHEREAS, these gender disparities in physical activity continue in high school, with only 30.6 percent of boys and 13.6 percent of girls meeting physical-activity recommendations; and

 

     WHEREAS, requiring physical education in middle school will provide students with the knowledge, attitudes, motor skills, behavioral skills, and confidence necessary to adopt and maintain a physically active lifestyle throughout their lives; and

 

     WHEREAS, middle school is also the ideal place to provide health education to students before they engage in unhealthy and risky behaviors; and

 

     WHEREAS, rapid physical and emotional changes make early adolescence a crucial period for young people to develop healthy habits; and

 

     WHEREAS, many adolescents begin experimenting with sex, tobacco, alcohol, and many other harmful drugs, all of which pose serious threats to their personal health and well-being; and

 

     WHEREAS, requiring health education in middle school will teach students about physical, mental, emotional, and social health, motivate students to improve and maintain their own health, prevent disease, and reduce risky behaviors; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, that the Board of Education is urged to require students in grades six, seven, and eight to take courses in physical education and health education; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education and the Superintendent of Education.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Middle School; Physical Education; Health Education