Out of around 700 students in Big Spring High School, about 400 of them are involved in at least one sport or more. All of these students should be exempt from taking a physical 

education class since they are already getting the exercise they need through their athletics. 

Whether it be football or track, these athletes are working very hard every day at practice to stay in shape, and this is one reason why they do not need exercise during the school day. Physical education and health classes are a quarter class, they also split the days from odd and even to do gym, so technically the whole quarter is not even gym, while a sports team is a 10-week commitment just for regular competitions. As of March 2023 according to CBSNews, there is a new bill in progress that will make it that physical education classes are optional. 

Many will say these athletes still need to know about health, so instead of having a physical education class and health class together, the school can change and have physical education class be its own class for students that are not athletes. Also switching to having both of these classes by themselves will also provide more information to students about their health and how to take care of themselves as well as learning about diseases, and how to properly get care for someone in need.  

Something else to add is physical education class, could cause injury to an athlete. Due to them trying too hard or just a silly little accident, this is still a risk to the athlete. Getting injured in a gym class could make the athlete feel bad that they got injured and even then they would have to sit out of their sports team and even gym class.     

To add on, sports teams are like families to teammates, they grow deeply together throughout the years of participating, and even if it’s first-time athletes the other teammates make them feel welcome. On the other hand, in gym class, some people try to be friendly but most just stick to the people they know or feel comfortable with. Which can leave them feeling down if they have no one to be a gym partner. 

So the 400 student-athletes should be allowed to be exempt from having to take a gym class.