11/09/2019

This is in regards to Michigan Senate Bill 600. The bill wants to eliminate Physical Education and Health Education  (and the Arts) as a high school graduation requirement, and instead turn these classes into electives.  

Physical educators help students develop the knowledge, attitudes, skills, behaviors and confidence needed to be physically active and knowledgeable about their health and fitness for life. Never in recent history has there been such a focus as there is now on the consequences of physical inactivity, obesity, health and healthcare costs. Eliminating this required standard would have dire consequences.

Health educators address a multitude of health challenges students face, including social and emotional health; nutrition and physical activity; alcohol, tobacco and other drugs; and safety.

According to the Centers of Disease and Control, the five leading causes of death among teenagers are accidents (unintentional injuries), homicide, suicide, cancer, and heart disease. Accidents account for nearly one-half of all teenage deaths.  

If we want to educate The Whole Child, then we as adults, as parents, and as educators cannot allow these students to choose to opt out of these valuable classes.  

All of the Michigan Senators are on this petition as a decision maker and will see the results.  Please sign the petition and contact your local senator.  If you do not know who your senator is, go to senate.michigan.gov.  Put in your home address and the website will tell you who your senator is.  You can also write to your senator at: 7400 Binsfeld Bldg, Post Office Box 30036, Lansing, MI 48909.

A list of Michigan senators email address can be found at:http://senate.michigan.gov/Senatoremaillst.html

THIS PETITION IS ENDORSED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY OF HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATORS OF MICHIGAN.  More information about SHAPE-MI can be found at https://www.shapemichigan.us

2017 Michigan High School Risk Behavior Survey from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention https://nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline/App/Results.aspx?LID=MI

2017 Michigan High School Risk Behavior Survey from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in graph form, for 9-12 grade students. https://nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline/App/Results.aspx?TT=A&OUT=1&SID=HS&QID=QQ&LID=MI&YID=2017&LID2=&YID2=&COL=G&ROW1=N&ROW2=N&HT=QQ&LCT=LL&FS=S1&FR=R1&FG=G1&FA=A1&FI=I1&FP=P1&FSL=S1&FRL=R1&FGL=G1&FAL=A1&FIL=I1&FPL=P1&PV=&TST=False&C1=&C2=&QP=G&DP=1&VA=CI&CS=Y&SYID=&EYID=&SC=DEFAULT&SO=ASC

Childhood Obesity Factsheet from the CDC https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm

More information about senate bill 600 can be found at: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2019-2020/billanalysis/Senate/pdf/2019-SFA-0600-G.pdf

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2019-2020/billintroduced/Senate/pdf/2019-SIB-0600.pdf

Current Michigan Merit Standards can be found at: https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Complete_MMC_FAQ_August_2014_467323_7.pdf