Students Required to Wear Heart Monitors
 

Perfect example of the idiocy of the people that run our public schools.

In a gym class of 25-30 students, how hard is it to see the 2 kids sitting down while everyone else is running around the track?

Well I did get through 4 years of PE without breaking a sweat.

Just kidding- it is silly. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Seems a bit subjective to be grading criteria. Consider two students, one trains for marathons and the other trains for pie eating contests (with heavy supplements of both Cheetos and video games). The first will need to run several miles to achieve a certain heart rate while the second can achieve a similar heart rate tying his shoes. I see this being shot down soon.

That would not be happening to my children.

Fortunately mine are out of school by several years. But one opted out of reg school and did correspondence cause school was too dumb for her.

And the other was working, competitive ice skater, and going to school. So she was not required to take gym.

This goes too far. Another too far. There have been many too fars lately,

This has nothing to do with looking for the 2 kids who are sitting down while the rest are participating (BTW, think more like 30-35 students). The idea of the heart monitors is to find the students who are performing in their optimal heart rate range. These are the kids who are getting the most out of whatever the activity happens to be and they don't look like what you think. Each person has an optimal heart rate range when they exercise based on a range of factors. The overweight kid who looks like he/she is dogging it may very well be performing in that optimal range while the fit looking kid who is "running around the track" may not be working hard enough to be working in that optimal range. The heart monitors help to track that.

And since PE teachers are notorious for things such as work ethic, concern, and a genuine desire to effect positive changes in their students, I'd say it's fair to assume that they'd become intimate with each student's range of heart rates enough to be able to glance at a monitor and make this decision. :umno:

Shot down soon. Hopefully before little Johnny's parents file suit against the school system when little Johnny had a heat stroke because Mr. Edwards made him run too fast.

Not only that but could also pick up those that may have a heart problem. Many young folks have been taken ill on the ball field because of heart defect that was not found out about till it was too late. This is one good way to have that defect picked up before it IS too late. Not only working at the optimal heart rate but to find those hidden problems. There should not be any case of this going to any court of law.

You have the right of it.

That thing the OP posted is just a short little 3 sentence blurb that says nothing about the program or the reasons for doing this and how they are doing it. Apparently this same program has already been meeting with much success in other school districts. Here is the full story about the program being initiated in the schools now. http://www.tricities.com/news/nation...7a43b2370.html

I'd think this would provide useful feedback to the students, too. Exercise is most effective when it raises your heart rate to a certain level. By wearing the monitors, kids can learn how long and hard they need to work out to hit that level, so they'll be able to do it even when they're not wearing the monitors.

Anything that gets kids moving, and keeps them from becoming fat and sedentary, and at risk for health problems in later life, is OK with me!

There was actually a book written about physical activity as it relates to learning. Part of the research in the book was done in a high school where they were using the heart monitors to keep track of the students who were performing in their optimal range. I can't remember the title of the book. It's somewhere in my house but, after the craziness of the last week, I couldn't say where if my life depended on it.

I agree with this 100%, I just don't think heart rate monitors that are going to do it.

Make me rethink the American dept of education release changes this year where I the mastitis doc it mentions


Invasive medical examines......

I would not approve that for any minor child for whom I am responsible. Privacy in America per the constitution includes one's person. Health issues are parental issues. Gym classes might be doing more for society if teamwork was stressed. Sports verses intentive sci-fi
Human experiments.

I am all for sports and gym class but there seems to be too much tracking of americans.

Being a responcable person I can think for myself and the push that others are already doing it is simply peer pressure. I really do not care if others line up to jump off a bridge. I do have to be trained to comply to fit in.

I do know that adding one more way to fail in PE is very disheartening.

As for finding out heart issues check in 1975 each of my sibs were tested for heart issues.
3 out of 5 of us have bad hearts .. I bet that in 2014 the test and results PARENTS can get have far more details to aid the children and parents in the choices to be made by the family.

For the most part ones health issues deserve to be private.

Remember a woman should have the right to control their own body.... Remember abortion is a private issue.

This is a great program that is teaching these children an important skill that they can use the rest of their lives. I am assuming they are using the Polar brand monitors that down load instantly to computer and students can get immediate feed back on things such as duration in optimal heart rate and calories burned. With obesity and inactivity being such a problem with so many of todays youth I don't see how this can be a bad thing. Maybe they should just roll the dodge balls out....

A few years ago, my nephew who lives in texas had to wear a heart monitor in gym. They had to run laps to raise their heart rate to a certain level. My nephew, who is in incredible shape, could not get his heart rate to the desired level. Because of this he was told he was flunking gym.
When my brother heard this he started ripping new ones. The sad thing is that these supposed to be educated people. Makes you wonder.

Obesity rate increases seem to parallel increases of children needing to be. Under constant adult supervision.

When parents were LEGALLY able to determine each child apron string length based on factors such as skills sets, behavior, and the activity involved parents could allow children to cross street, ride a bike for miles or play with the neighborhood kids till.the street lights came on.

Governmental regulation and the nanny society has brainwashed a generation into attempting to raise roboted children tuned into technology ....let children be kids yes, the fall get cut, not every will want them on the team, the them be free to be human. A child walking to a park with parental approval sends a mom to jail.

These events simply create an environment where it is better to plug the child in for the summer when schools government approved and chosen with out your consent or say teacher is not available to raise your unit.

A heart RATE monitor is not going to show any abnormalities, just a barebones rate of pumping. If kids got a treadmill stress test as part of entering class, that could be helpful in that regard.

I'll be kind. The phys-ed teacher we had in high school wouldn't have known how to interpret anything more than that anyway. I'm not sure the school nurse could have either, but I would have trusted her more.

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A physical EDUCATION teacher is supposed to provide the education not act as a physician and monitor heart rates. How are they determining the heart rate? Based on my height, weight, and age my "target" heart rate is so incredibly low I surpass it by jogging half a lap. I am not out of shape. My doctor confirmed that my heart is healthy I simply have a faster heart rate because my frame is small. Also, according to all those charts floating around, I am at least 15 pounds underweight. My doctor disagrees. Unless you are a medical professional you should not be giving medical advice. PE teachers should stick to education only.

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My gym teacher played pro football back when they wore leather helmets. He could barely handle taking roll call much less reading a heart monitior. Lets face it, times have changed. When I was a kid we'd go outside and have adventures. Today they sit around and watch adventures. Only social pressure will make kids get off their fat rear ends and do something. But then some bleeding heart liberal will accuse you of bullying.

All hope was lost when they stopped handing out trophies to winners and started giving 'participation rewards' to everyone.

"Why try? I'm going to get a trophy anyways."

I had one of my players tell me that when I was coaching a soccer team. He was 7.

It is a heart monitor worn during PE class used to gauge their progress and fitness. Making it into more than that is to me putting on a huge tinfoil hat. If this is a problem for anyone with regards to their children then you should not be in the public school system.

It is not any different then expecting them to do a set number of sit ups.

No tinfoil hat here, I just don't think PE teachers are going to be trained enough to make accurate interpretations of the results and I think heart rate monitors are much to subjective for this broad of an application. Please reference my first post in this thread except make student #2 the exact same age, height, and weight as student #1 and you'll see what I mean. They'll have the exact same target rates, according to their PE teacher. That won't begin to be accurate due to the exercise they're both used to getting.

Again, no tinfoil hat, I just don't think they can be used effectively on this level.



**I own and use one regularly, I'm not "anti-heart rate monitors!"

I would be the weirdo kid who LIKED having one because I've always been a medical geek. :)

Sorry but I had to kinda laugh about this, thinking about my son's. Their major discussions when it came to PE was watching they girls work out, guess their heart rates would have gone up to acceptable levels :icecream:. All my kids thought PE was boring due to lack of feeling a lack of any real workout.

When the 1st death happens because 2 kids were seeing who get their heart rate the highest, what will you say then?

I have trouble believing any competent doctor would say this is a good idea. Now if they wanted to test at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year (or semester), and a qualified medical professional was doing the testing, maybe that would be acceptable.

If I had kids in that school, I would tell the school to forget it. The heart rate of my kids is none of their business.

You use one. I use one. A teacher and students can use one. In fact learning to use one to monitor and know where you are as an individual with regards to your heart health is a great thing for a PE class.

They could do that now at home with their smart phones. In class they can be taught properly how and why to use it.

Well, now that we're living in a perfect world, I'm sure it'll work out. I just can't figure out why the last few years geared towards making kids aware of childhood obesity and the need to get out and exercise hasn't worked, you know, if they're so willing to be taught and apply what they learn and all...

This thread is a pretty good example of why. Taking a simple tool used to measure and improve health and having the parents reacting like the school is putting brain probes in their children.

Another indoctrination into the nanny state.

I think it has more to do with the parents allowing the kids to get fat in the first place. The root of this entire evil is the Xbox/Playstation/Computer/Nintendo babysitter. Too many parents allow their kids to waste away because it's easier than getting involved and raising them. We didn't need heart rate monitors when I was young, if anything, we needed a swift @$$ kicking to get us back inside for dinner and bed. Times have changed and I honestly feel it's the overall laziness of parents that creates such a problem AND THEN what you've mentioned. When someone does try to fix it, all hell breaks loose. It's like a little brother - I can beat on him all I want to, if you try, I'll kill you.

I can't stress enough, I'm not against making these guys get off the couch and spend some time outside; but, I just don't see how this can be accurately measured on such a broad scale. That's my only gripe with it.

It is a tool. Actually a pretty simple one that may be just part of the solution. I think maybe we can agree on that.

I'll agree to that. I'd see it working a lot better with some type of app/game involved, you know, fight fire with fire. I just think each kid would need to be evaluated by a medical professional, first, in order to determine these ranges. Safe fat burning and cardio ranges can't be based on a default age/height/weight chart for middle school and high school aged children.

Part of the solution? Probably. Is this application the solution? I don't think so.

Yes it is a tool that anybody can NOW get a app for on the iPhones, iPads etc. For Free too.
So this comparing to see who can get the highest it is here NOW and you don't have to be in pe class to do it. Tin foil at its best.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/inst...409625068?mt=8

If the gym teacher can't get kids to exercise, why do you think bringing in technology will make a difference? Introducing technology into the school system has been a major failure. Bad teachers are bad teachers and no amount of technology will change that.

It should not be "the solution". It can be a step in the right direction if used properly. Most PE classes do not do medical evaluations of any kind. Could you imagine the people who think that the monitor is an invasion would think about the school starting to do medical tests?

Maybe we should expect the parents to do that every year with their own doctors and provide targets for the PE class.