A recent proposal submitted by our school sport club suggests that all students should be required to join a sports team. It sounds nice and beneficial to students’ physical health. But is our school really able to implement such a suggestion? Is it a blessing of just a curse? I have a doubt about it.
Standing on the side of teachers, this suggestion does more harm than good. The workload of teachers has already been heavy as they have to handle different types and large amounts of work like marking students’ homework, preparing teaching materials, or providing counseling to students individually. Teachers even have to spend their extra own time finishing their work. Meanwhile, if all students are required to join a sports team at school, more teachers and more of their effort are required, especially for teachers responsible for physical education. Their workload may increase to a level that they may not be able to afford. Teaching efficiency may be harmed.
Also, this proposal overlooks the problem of limited financial and man-power school and parents have. More than a thousand of students are studying in our school. Requiring all of them to join a sports team is a huge project that strains strong financial and parental support. Buying more sports equipment, constructing more sport-related facilities mean money while asking students to join sports teams is impossible without parent approval. In fact, not all parents support the project. Different parents hold different points of view and the school has to convince them or else the proposal may end up in failure. The process involves time and administration costs while the benefits to students’ health are not guaranteed. Is it worthwhile to run a complex and obscure project at the expense of our precious resources?
Other than resources, students’ preference is a major concern of this proposal. It is quite sure that not all students love sports but only part of them. If they are all forced to join a sports team, grievance among students may grow. Although they choose one of the sports teams to join, they pay little or no effort to it, resulting in a waste of students’ time and school’s resources. Even students are willing to join a team, there is a risk of mismatch due to limited places. They may have to accept another team which they do not prefer. Will they commit to the team? If not, the efficiency and effectiveness of the project will become doubtful.
Indeed, exercising is beneficial to students’ health, helping them relax, keeping them in good shape. But is it necessary to join a team to achieve that? My answer is no. Students don’t need any force if they want to be healthy. Moreover, our school has provided enough PE lessons for students to exercise. I don’t think joining a sports team is a must.