Sunday, September 4, 2011

Back To School

It was at the end of August last year that I had started writing my blog. My desire to write stemmed  from my wish that my grandson who was entering Kinder Garden last year does good overall and has a good self image and a good level of self esteem. Hence "Project Sept". A lot of my friends thought that it was cute and some thought it was childish as the word "SEPT" was for Self Esteem Protection Team.  This year my grandson goes to first grade and according to him, his two younger brothers will be looking up to him. Imagine being six and having your two year old brother and a two month old brother looking up to you.

 A coworker of mine was complaining that men do not like her because she is heavy that in turn makes her go to comfort food which is not good for her. Then I suggested to her that she should not worry about men not liking her but try to eat right for her own sake.  Later on at my last job, an other coworker who has low self esteem because of her weight asked me about the National Sport of India. I know that the state sport of Andhra Pradesh was "Kabadi". It was a different story that no one who was affluent would play that game. Rich people always played "Cricket".  Then my coworker asked me if the PE department gave importance to Cricket alone. I was then very much surprised as our "PT" department in school had nothing to do with Cricket. They just gave us basic training in how to keep ourselves fit. She said that she wished they did that in American Schools. I then asked an other young girl about the corelation of self esteem with PE in schools.She said that PE has a lot to do with kids' self esteem.. She says that when she has children she will make it a point to tell the school that they better have physical education like the description and national sports can be an extra curricular item. This way all of the children will get equal attention in PE rather than only those who are good in National Sports.
I say we can start giving importance to general physical eductation right now. Those kids who are not fit can slowly become fit if not looked down upon.

17 comments:

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Munir .. your grandkids sound delightful - love the story of the eldest!!

Oh dear obesity .. is difficult .. even overweight .. but we have responsibility for ourselves particularly as adults - when we know what's good for us.

Jolly difficult .. schools normally have team sports so everyone gets to join in .. I don't know now .. as I don't have kids .. here we seem to have gone the other way - no-one can win!

Oh well .. parenthood is where it starts and it sounds as though your grandchildren will be on the right path .. especially if GrandMa is blogging about them ..

Cheers - Hilary

Belle said...

I hated Physical Education when I was in school, but I know it is good for you. I just didn't like getting all sweaty and my hair all messed up and then going to other classes. If it had been the last class of the day I might have liked it.

Shelly said...

Munir, happy anniversary on your blog! I am teaching a fitness class this year at school in addition to my other classes, and I agree that it should be about taking care of the whole body throughout your whole life. This is the only body we get.

Hope said...

hear hear! fitness (of many varieties) for all! I agree.

Siddhartha Joshi said...

My schools never had any proper PT/ PE dept (and I studied in many many schools), and unfortunately all we did was a ten min forced exercise session in the morn...

I wish it was a little bit more sports intensive...

LynNerdKelley said...

Your project SEPT is very cool, and your grandson is a very fortunate boy to have a grandma like you! And how cute that he's only six and is conscientious about his baby brothers looking up to him and setting a good example!
I agree that physical education is so important for kids in school. When I was in high school, PE was a required class all four years. My kids were only required to take it for two years. All kids can benefit from PE, whether they're good at sports or not.

yaya said...

I loved PE in school growing up. Even in High School I enjoyed it! I think it needs to be an important part of education...kids don't get out and move enough. Now that I'm struggling with my weight, I realize it's because I'm not moving enough! I'm on a quest to change that!

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Happy Blog Anniversary!

I think having a getting fit or staying fit focus in physical education classes is very important. Kids that play team sports don't (in my opinion) develop their skills in PE, they learn that in team practices. I think if the focus was on health it would make a difference for many students.

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

You know what? Men are extremely shallow...especially in the U.S.A. However, this is not an excuse to treat your body badly. If men find you unattractive (speaking about your friend) then so what? You need to be able to find meaning in your life, in who you are, and be comfortable in your own skin. Be proud of who you are. Learn to enjoy your own company. And respect yourself by treating yourself nice. Never depend on someone else defining all of your happiness.

anilkurup59 said...

Hi, Kabaddi , I think you must tell them its a game of rugby without a ball.

As for physical education that is an universal requirement all the more in the US where they sell the highest volume of antacids.

Step-parent's Cove said...

Hello Munir:

As you know I have been missing in action. :) But I think about all of my blogging friends and hope all is going great for each of you. Tonight I have found time to read a couple of blogs. I just love yours. You always seem to write about things that make a person think.

I think PE was taken out of schools because of self-esteem, and now we have a bigger problem with children loving self. Gosh! I tell ya . . . often time adults can make things worse when trying to improve something that really doesn't need improving. Again, great blog.

How's your husband? Is he adjusting to his new med's? Well, again, I just stopped by to say hello. ~Della

LynNerdKelley said...

Hello Munir! I forgot to say Happy One Year Blogging Anniversary! Yay for you! Thank you for stopping by my blog the other day. You mentioned that you'd like to know when I have a new post, and I just published one today. It's about a Blogger's Insight on Blog Awards. Maybe you'd like to tell us how you feel about them?

June_Butterfly said...

Hi,Munir!!i enjoyed reading this.I bet you love your grandsons to pieces.Your words expresses it all.I bet they are all cute.

I am quite stressed with my weight ,too.I hope all that is having weigt problems find real good ways to shed off fats.

Thanks for dropping by and following my blog.So glad to meet you!HAppy Day!

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

That's true. I was lucky to have nice, sympathetic PE teachers to encourage me. I was always the smallest and thus slowest, weakest student but I tried hard with their encouragement.
Thanks for visiting so I could do the same.

LynNerdKelley said...

Hi again, Munir! Just wanted to tell you thanks for sharing about the comic books that you read and how your kids loved comic books, too. I think it's so cool that you saved them. My favorites were Archie and Veronica, too. And Betty and Jughead! Haha!

Chatty Crone said...

If you could go back to six years when I started this - it was for my grandson too. He is in 5th grade this year. I too care so much about his self-esteem. We have worked very hard to get him to this place and I worry a little about middle school.

He is a black belt in Choi Kwang Do and is one stripe into his second degree - great exercise!

Love,
sandie

Vanilla Mama said...

In some places, even here where I live, they have cut WAY down on the PE classes...it is sad, because you gotta move your body to keep your mind fresh!