ABSTRACT
Public perceptions of physical education would appear to be divided. In a telephone survey of public attitudes to physical education in the USA in 2000, 81 per cent of adults were reported to agree that physical education should be compulsory, and another 64 per cent strongly agreed that ‘physical education helps children prepare to become active, healthy adults’ (Opinion Research Corporation, 2000: 2). In stark contrast, a posting on the Guardian comments webpage in November 2010 stated
school PE is nothing but licensed bullying and the sooner it is entirely voluntary the better for those pupils who have no interest in being forced to charge about a muddy field in the company of a bunch of ‘sporting heartie’.
