Perspective

A plea for healthy children

Oh, how well I remember my days going to elementary school in New Orleans. I attended St. Louis Cathedral School in the heart of the city’s French Quarter. My brother, Lenny, and I walked to school each morning, just like a lot of kids did back in those days of old. Oh I know, kids today take the bus to school or ride in one of their parent’s cars to class.

Richard Simmons is no stranger to Kiwanis. He has attended many International conventions. Through his contributions to the Kiwanis International Foundation, he holds Diamond Hixson level 24. He also is a recipient of the Kiwanis International Tablet of Honor for his work with children. His brother, Leonard D. “Lenny” Simmons Jr., is a member of the Kiwanis Club of New Orleans.

And after the ride home from school, what does the average child do? I’m sad to say, they aren’t being very active. Not unless you consider surfing the Internet or playing computer games “exercise.”

At St. Louis School, we had something on campus kids today take for granted. Those of you my age may remember something called a playground! They were these archaic little schoolyard accessories featuring swings, slides, seesaws, and monkey bars.

If you can remember playground equipment, you also may remember a little time-out period for the kids—a break from reading, writing, and arithmetic. That break was called recess! Now, my favorite break of the school day was for lunch. But that’s a whole other issue. For now, I want to focus on recess, playgrounds, and the lack of either in so many schools these days.

Let’s face it, aside from home, school is where children spend most of their weekdays. That’s good, though! God knows, we want our children to be as bright mentally as they can be. But I want their bodies to be sharp too. After all, a fit mind should have a fit body to go with it!

That’s where playgrounds and recess come in. Study after study already demonstrate how dedicated physical activity plays an important role in a student’s academic success. Yet, too many countries have de-emphasized the importance of physical activity within our schools. That’s a big mistake!

Look at the facts. When I was in elementary school, there were none of the childhood ailments you hear talked about today. Today’s kids are overweight, out of shape, have high blood pressure, and are becoming diabetic at younger ages. Some of them are even taking antidepressants! So just what is going on here, huh? Right now, I am in the middle of a crusade to get physical education (PE) and recess re-established as part of the core curriculum for America’s schools. I’ve gone to Washington, DC, to speak before Congress about just how very important this is. Senator Ted Kennedy, Representative Ron Kind, and a host of other congressmen have been very helpful with my effort. Our mission is to amend the No Child Left Behind Act, incorporating PE and recess as part of the core curriculum for our nation’s elementary schools. Please visit my Web site and see what fabulous things we are doing!

The good news is that it’s never too late to improve your quality of life by making fitness and exercise a dedicated part of your life. Even better is to instill that fact into today’s children. Teach them the importance of fitness while they are young, and they will carry those lessons into their adult lives. Let’s give our kids a fighting chance.

It’s time to re-introduce playgrounds, recess, and physical education to our schoolchildren. They should be smart, oh yes. But they should be fit too! It’s not too late to turn things around for the kids. It’s just time!

I hope all of you Kiwanians will join our crusade!