Gym class is one of those classes that you have to pass to graduate, and for students with disabilities, that is not fair. Whether it be asthma, anxiety, adhd or some other disability, teachers tend to overlook those and don’t take them into account. They see it as a failure to complete the activity and end up giving them a failing grade, which could hurt their chances of graduating or require them to repeat the class.
A student with asthma most likely can’t run the mile in just a couple of minutes; a student with anxiety might be afraid to play on a team and get made fun of for not hitting the ball hard enough. A student with adhd might get distracted by their surroundings and not catch the ball heading towards them.
If they are going to make gym class mandatory, then they need to have accommodations for people with disorders that could affect their performance and grade. Give them something they are capable of doing because not every student is athletic. Maybe even have a class that replaces gym but is still helping them physically. Or have a different activity for those students or even just a special class for those students so it’s fair.
I have plenty of disabilities that made gym class harder than it should have been. I couldn’t run the mile; I had to walk it, and with standardized tests, walking the mile, or running only a couple of laps, or even not being able to stretch back enough, the requirements need to take into consideration those students with disabilities that can’t pass those particular tests.
I honestly think they should just have a replacement class because gym class is hard enough for some people even without disabilities. I can understand that it is good to be healthy, but it shouldn’t be a required class because it sets students up to fail. I just want equal chances for students to be able to not fail, and if they had the chance to not even have gym class, I think that would really help some students and make their school experience easier.
