150% More Kids Getting Hurt in Gym Class

LOL - "itsamee MARIO" :-)

This is why there is such a dichotomy between the "natural jocks" and the average sports-playing kid. The natural jock has been playing physical games his whole life and adapts very well to new challenges. This is the kid who always gets picked first for kickball because he is good at everything. Then, you have the kid who is sedentary most of the time, but likes to go out and play soccer once in awhile. Obviously, he's at a much higher risk of injury because his body hasn't had proper motor development experience.

The truth is that the problem spans much wider than just gym class. Organized sports have their own problems, too. Overspecialization in one sport is definitely a significant cause of injury in our youngsters.

That's why organizations like the International Youth Conditioning Association (IYCA) were formed. These trends are only getting worse!

What an interesting article. Thank you so much for sharing - it's important that we remind kids how much FUN it can be to use their imaginations and bodies instead of getting lost in TV or video games. I remember my parents always making SURE that we spent a lot of time outdoors; riding bikes, jumping rope, playing tag, etc. It didn't feel like exercise or sport...just fun!

I'm coming up on my 10-year high school reunion this fall, and if memory serves, we didn't do anything in gym class that we could get hurt doing. It was a pointless, wasted hour 99% of the time. I LOVED bombardment and dodgeball but those were removed because kids would cry when it hit their face even if they were uninjured. So then what do we end up doing? Walking the track for the most part. My personal PE class was the adult Taekwondo class I went to in the evenings!

I feel now days...kids are becoming more and more less active which leads to decreased eye hand coordination and the ability to be flexible and able to perform what is at hand.

If kids played more and just got outdoors more their natural ability to do well in gym class without major injury would be increased. The more flexible you are the safer your life will be.

I grew up back east in smaller towns so it was all about getting outside & playing.. without the worry people have these days about the kids being snatched.. unfortunately. We played tag, kickball, kick the can, hide & seek, just ran around like crazy, hopscotch, jump rope & more.

I also had gym class throughout my school years, even high school. It kept me active even though I was still overweight back then.

I think now & for a while now, kids are growing up on video games & a lot of electronic media which changes things & MAY be leading to the child obesity rate along with these other statistics. Kids just are not active enough & maybe doing too much & doing it with not enough understanding of it & their body due to lack of consistent exercise.

Ok, so I was an active enough kid...I also grew up in a smaller town in the Midwest and our time after school was spent riding our bikes, playing baseball in the back yard, climbing trees, jumping rope, etc. I still got hurt once in gym class, but it totally wasn't my fault. I was never very coordinated and I wore glasses (I have worn them since I was about 18 months old). One day, we were doing basketball passing drills and I got paired up with some kid that was a lot bigger and taller than me. He chest-passed the basketball to me and aimed the ball a little high--it hit me square in the face and broke my glasses in half! Luckily, I was ok and the only damage was a pair of busted glasses.

I can see how kids could get really injured playing sports in gym class if they're normally really sedentary. When you don't move around on a regular basis, it's not that hard to tear an ACL or pull a muscle. It really is too bad that kids these days are probably going to rely on playing Wii and DDR to stay "fit" instead of getting out there and, ya know, ACTUALLY playing soccer or basketball.

I was pretty floored when I read about this... I don't know about the methodology of the study but something has to be done. There is a gaping chasm in knowledge in terms of youth fitness.

I echo John's sentiment in that thankfully organizations such as the IYCA are emerging to educate people on how to generate safe and effective coaching for children of all ages and abilities. It is why I've become a member.

Incidentally, Brian Grasso (IYCA founder) commented on this today. http://iyca.org/wordpress/150-increase-in-injuries

One thing I might add is that kids in some areas do not have any play space.
Even big homes have a small lot.

Organized sports are not the answer to this either.

Perhaps the problem is that Physical Education class is too focused on sports like football, basketball or even gymnastics and not focused on activities that lead to lifetime fitness. Team sports are sports that the average student can not compete in compared to their varsity peers.

For example, I knew that I sucked at lacrosse around the 8th grade, so I stopped and pursued martial arts- which is something I do to this day (and I am 25). If I was asked to play lacrosse when I was 16 with a person who played for 4 years, that would be a recipe for disaster. And not only that, I don't think a single girl I played lacrosse with in the 8th grade picked up their lacrosse stick in the past three years.

Phys-Ed class should stress life long fitness activities and be composed to track (running), swimming, bicycling (if the school can afford it- but a bike is cheaper than football gear), yoga, pilates, martial arts, dance (ballroom), tennis, golf, and working out in a gym so kids have knowledge of these activities going into their adult years.

Activities that can not be pursued as an adult, except by kids likely to become professions should not be taught in Phys-Ed Class anymore and should be reserved for after school. Half the problem is that students in phys. ed class are the kids who were cut from the school team, and already told they are bad at something. They should be given a chance to pursue an activities that leads to life long fitness.

The biggest detriment is probably lack of footwork training in early years that leads to leg injuries later. Footwork is vital to any sport(except water polo and swimming I guess). It's important to build strong base and core.

I was never good at gym class, since it was mainly about playing western sports.. which i wasnt good at.

Although, the funny thing is that the ppl who were good in gym were the ones to gain all the weight and such later on in life, after leaving school and the structure of sports, they had nothing to keep them active. They didnt learn any life long fitness skills.