HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	68
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the board of education to consider requiring students in grades six, seven, and eight to take courses in physical education and health education.

 

 

     WHEREAS, physical education programs are critical to providing students with the skills necessary to achieve and maintain life-long physical fitness; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2013, the Institute of Medicine identified daily school physical education for all students as a strategy to prevent obesity across the nation; and

 

     WHEREAS, research suggests that schools that provide time for high-quality physical education generate a positive effect on academic achievement, even when physical education is part of the regular school day; and

 

     WHEREAS, some of the benefits of physical education include increased concentration; improved scores in mathematics, reading, and writing; and a reduction in disruptive behaviors; and

 

     WHEREAS, the national physical education standards recommend two hundred twenty-five minutes per week of high-quality physical education for intermediate or middle school students; and

 

     WHEREAS, currently, Hawaii does not require physical education or health education in intermediate or middle school; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the 2015 Hawaii youth risk behavioral survey, physical activity among students drops drastically during middle school, with only 34.9 percent of boys and 20.1 percent of girls meeting physical activity recommendations; and

 

     WHEREAS, these gender disparities in physical activity continue in high school, with only 26.7 percent of boys and 14.2 percent of girls meeting physical activity recommendations; and

 

     WHEREAS, middle school is the ideal place to provide health education to students before they engage in unhealthy and risky behaviors; and

 

     WHEREAS, rapid physical and emotional changes make early adolescence a crucial period for young people to develop positive decision making and goal setting, to lead to healthy habits; and

 

     WHEREAS, many adolescents have opportunities and begin experimenting with sex, tobacco, alcohol, and other harmful drugs, all of which pose serious threats to their health and wellbeing; and

 

     WHEREAS, requiring health education in middle school will teach students about physical, mental, emotional, and social health and motivate students to improve and maintain their own health, prevent disease, reduce risky behavior, and advocate for the health of others; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2017, the Senate concurring, that the Board of Education is requested to consider requiring students in grades six, seven, and eight to take courses in physical education and health education; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education and Superintendent of Education.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Board of Education; Physical Education; Intermediate and Middle Schools; Mandatory Curricula