You can’t get a doctorate in dodge ball, a profession in push ups or a job doing jumping jacks. High school’s purpose is to prepare students for their occupational lives, so P.E. doesn’t carry much purpose and should not be required for graduation.

There are several successful people throughout history who were not exactly physically fit: Oprah Winfrey, William Howard Taft, Buddha, Grover Cleveland, Tony Soprano. These people would have trouble passing P.E., but they have been more successful and influential than Paul “Pauly D” DelVecchio or Vincent “Vinny” Guadagnino from Jersey Shore. For many, there seems to be no correlation between success in the gym and success in life.

From kindergarten, Kirkwood School District students are subjected to daily P.E. classes up until the eighth grade. Imagine how many push ups or pull ups a student does in nine years. It takes doing something 21 times to form a habit, according to a Florida International University study, so if the importance of exercise has not stuck with that student yet, mandatory KHS gym will not change that.

Look at a successful sporting nation, like Australia, whose obesity rate is 29 percent of the United States’, and notice P.E. is not a part of Australia’s curriculum. Australia realizes athletics, like any other specialized subject, are best taught to those with interest. Forcing everyone to participate punishes the less strong athletes, while not allowing the stronger ones to reach their full potential.

Although imposing mandatory P.E. classes are intended to better national health, it holds students back. There is no material in high school P.E. that is not covered in middle school P.E., and students could be taking classes like language or music instead. KHS needs to ditch the dodge ball, cut the crunches and make gym strictly an elective.