Why Physical Activity Shouldn’t Be Used as Punishment

Think about any time you’ve seen an army boot camp portrayed in pop culture: the traditional drill sergeant, ordering his troops to do endless laps and push-ups as punishment for their errors that day. Now, with that scenario in your mind, imagine it being played out by children and teenagers at school, and instead of drill sergeants, their teachers are at the helm. Believe it or not, it’s actually quite common in certain areas of the country for teachers to have students do physical activity as punishment for misbehaving. While this may have been perceived decades ago as a way to ‘toughen kids up,’ it’s a trend that ought to be falling out of favor by now, particularly when children today are already less likely to be active than generations before them.

Reinforcing the idea that exercise equals punishment promotes negative feelings towards physical activity, however. While some feel that running a few laps as punishment sounds reasonable, this can have an adverse effect on a child’s psyche that lasts for decades. Researchers have found that PE teachers and coaches think physical punishment is an effective way to show students that there are consequences to their actions; they’re not wrong, and in fact, that’s exactly the problem. Physical punishment happens to work a little too well.

When we demand physical activity to punish misconduct, the message we’re sending — loud and clear — is that physical exercise is a terribly unpleasant activity, and something we all should try to avoid. And, our children are certainly hearing it. At a time when not enough children (or adults, for that matter) are getting the recommended amount of daily exercise, the last thing we should do is reinforce the idea that physical activity is something to dread. If kids are already trying to find reasons to be less active, viewing exercise as a punishment is all the more reason not to do it.

This mentality can carry over into adulthood as well, leading to an aversion towards physical exercise for the rest of one’s life – naturally pushing a person in the direction of inactivity, obesity, and other health problems. The goal of any physical educator should be to teach students that exercise is a positive and productive way to spend time, rather than something to rebel against. It’s also against the law in 29 states, as it is deemed a form of corporal punishment. The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) states that “administering or withholding physical activity as a form of punishment and/or behavior management is an inappropriate practice.”

Allison Green
Boston Tutoring Services