The least agile players inevitably die early on, and then just sit, embarrassed, on the bleachers. Parents should lobby against such elimination games, advises Judith Young, director of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. If you're throwing balls at targets, for instance, let some kids stand closer. In a 1993 study, Bruce G. Simons-Morton, a researcher at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, found that, in an average P.E. class, students were physically active only 8.6 percent of the time. Morton found in a recent study that, by making such changes, P.E. teachers were able to increase kids' active time to more than 50 percent.
Parents can help by becoming gym-class volunteers, and supervising small groups of children.
P.E. teachers should also teach kids why exercise is important, adds Young. Parents need to make sure their children stay active on the other days. It's hard work, but it's worth it.