Published: September 12, 2007 08:24 am            

Gym classes not about play, but playing it safe

PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. — Seventh-grader Jessica Durham was riding her tricycle with caution.

She had good reason to go slowly: She was wearing fatal vision goggles, also known as beer goggles, which simulate the depth perception of someone who is drunk.

The giggling from her classmates was her major clue whenever she knocked over a traffic cone on the obstacle course.

“That drinking stuff was scary. You didn’t know if you were going to get hurt,” the Glassford Hill Middle School student said after taking a spin during one of the final days of school last spring. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get drunk.”

Telling girls to be safe and smart outside of school is one thing. Showing them is another. That’s why some teachers are using physical education class as a way to teach teenage girls about the importance of playing it safe. From practicing self-defense moves to discussing date rape, the unconventional curriculum has added a dimension of girl power not usually seen in girls’ gym class.

Teaching self-defense and other life skills during school hours is becoming more common, said Craig Buschner, president of the National Association for Sport & Physical Education.

But finding a place for life skills on the syllabus can be difficult, especially when about 30 percent of states do not mandate gym class for elementary and middle schools.

“Kids need this, obviously, but when you move in new content or new kinds of information for kids, what are you getting rid of,” Buschner said. “There are only so many hours in the day and so many days in the school year.”

Marty Boles, the teacher who helped develop the pilot program at Glassford Hill this past spring semester, said she felt these lessons were as relevant as any other class.

“It’s part of making sure girls are safe and it’s about their well-being, to empower them, to make them realize no matter what size they are, they have the ability to take care of themselves,” Boles said.

At Lewis S. Mills High School in Burlington, Conn., self-defense and CPR have been part of the wellness curriculum for both boys and girls for more than a decade. Juniors and seniors are required to take one of the two courses, said physical education instructor Phyllis Jones.

Jones said she wanted a co-ed class that appealed to students who didn’t care for team sports. She felt it was also important for boys to know how to prevent potential attacks.

Karen Beauprie, teaches self-defense during gym classes at Lake Zurich Middle School South in Lake Zurich, Ill. She said she specifically targeted eighth graders because they haven’t yet faced the pressures of high school.

“All of a sudden there are parties to go to. Their defenses are down,” Beauprie said. “They’re easy prey if they’re not smart.”

With the help of another teacher and a martial arts instructor, Beauprie compiled a 10-day program in the 1990s. Now retired, she is currently working with colleagues on a full curriculum guide to market to other school districts.

Don Hellison, a professor in the Department of Moving Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who has written about character building through gym class since 1970, says these new classes are important.

“A lot of times parents don’t take on those jobs anymore so it gets dumped in the school’s lap,” he said.

David Riley, who served as Glassford Hill’s school resource officer last spring, said he wanted to create something with more impact than a one-time assembly, so he wrote a plan to teach nine weekly lessons at the middle school.

Some of the lessons included having Laura Molinaro, a local police commander, don a protective body suit and show the girls how to knee someone in the groin area. Molinaro emphasized the lessons were about survival, not combat.

“We want to give them enough tools to be able to break free and get away from that dangerous situation,” Molinaro said.

The program is expected to resurface this fall.

Parents have also been happy that daughters were not getting their mothers’ gym classes. Prescott Valley resident Elissa Rogge had no reservations about letting her 13-year-old daughter, Katie, participate.

“To have those skills in the back of your mind, even when you’re young, you’ll have them for the rest of your life,” Rogge said. “Hopefully, she’ll never need them.”

Several of Boles’ students were skeptical at first. But by the end, most said the class helped them feel more confident about protecting themselves.

“Now I know if even I get attacked or get in a bad situation, I know how to handle it,” said Danielle Hernandez, 14.

Others, like 14-year-old Briaunde Camp, were surprised by how much they actually enjoyed class.

“I thought it was cool,” Briaunde said. “You practically get to beat up a cop and you don’t get in trouble.”

        

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