Physical education is a part of American schooling that is so commonplace that children would be devastated to see it taken away; for many children, the time spent in physical education programs is like a second recess period at school. In developing countries, however, many children receive only a pittance when it comes to their physical education.
The term of physical education is often shortened to PE by which part of its meaning is lost to children; children don’t always realize that they are supposed to learn in PE. Education concerning the physical body that each child will grow up with is extremely important, however, and children in undeveloped countries often lack teachers to teach them what they need to know.
This lack of a basic educational necessity has led to volunteer groups from the United States giving their time as Physical Education teachers and community workers in order to give African children a better life. Many of these children are not lax ongetting adequate exercise, but without education, for example, without understanding the difference between an aerobic workout and an aerobic workout, or without knowing that such a thing as a treadmill exists, these children will find it harder to life a healthy life.
Another aspect of physical fitness that these classes would likely address is nutrition in eating. Nutrition and exercise go hand in hand, and the benefits to vigorous exercise while being malnourished are few if any.
When children receive a good physical education they are actually more likely to succeed in other aspects of life. There is a relevant Chinese proverb that states that after a man has learned to master himself he will be better able to master other elements of his life.
One of the most important lessons that children will learn in a good physical education class is the principal of sportsmanship. This lesson is largely incidental and there is no way to teach this in a classroom setting; children must be running, competing as well as winning and losing to have a chance to learn this great life lesson.
In addition to these wonderful benefits of a good physical education, teamwork can be added to the list. Team work is considered a life-skill, one that will serve in the work place, in civil matters, and obviously in team sports.
Team work in sports can be taught easily in sports. Some of the team sports that will be taught by these volunteer coaches are rugby, American football, and soccer.