The Increasing Utility of Elementary School Physical Education: A Mixed Blessing and Unique Challenge

Recent attention to the childhood obesity and inactivity epidemics in the United States would seem to bode well for public school physical education. I argue that it is actually a mixed blessing. Its effect is mixed because it presents physical activity as an obligation or duty. This stands in stark contrast to movement in the broader liberal arts tradition—that is, as a joy that more adorns one’s life than adds further obligations. Most physical educators currently attempt to mix the two by providing health‐oriented exercise and activity programs that are, for lack of a better term, fun. I suggest that it is difficult, for both theoretical and practical reasons, to thusly serve 2 masters. I recommend that the joy‐focused, play‐oriented mission receive priority attention.