Recess Vs. Exercise

A couple of new kids in the class, Cristal and Leslie (their brother, Armani, was not in attendance), weren't doing the floor exercises they should have been during the end of the class yesterday.  The girls didn't make much of an attempt to figure out what to do nor to ask Sahia or myself, so I was vexed.  I barely held back being irritated when I asked them what do they do in their physical education class at school.  "We just play," Cristal said. 

That's not a gym class, it's recess.  Over the past several months, I've had to deal with youths, particularly those in grade school, who are not being taught basic exercises nor other sports for that matter during the school day.  Some don't have physical education classes at school at all.  One of the main reason many of the youths don't stay in boxing is that it requires a lot of exercise in order to keep up.  The fact that physical education in grade school and some high schools as well does not appear to be a priority anymore makes it difficult for me to run an effective boxing program.

I wonder why it appears that most parents and guardians don't demand that physical education classes not be watered down or eliminated for their kids.  Some of those same parents complain to me their kids are playing too many video games and watching too much TV.  Yet it seldom occurs to them that limiting the youths' time with video games and TV, in addition to making them move around more, would go a long way in improving the youths' physical health.  Doing housework is a form of exercise, but from what I hear and observe, youths don't do much of that at home these days.

Cristal, Leslie, Armani, David, and Henry are the only ones showing up to the youth class right now.  Of those five, the most serious about doing well in boxing is Henry.  The teens are long gone, and the one adult who takes the class hasn't been in since right before Chicago experienced a couple of dangerously cold days last week.  I wasn't in for a few days last week myself.  I took a fall on the street right before the weather changed. 

Plus, my car is gone.  It had become too expensive to keep up on the salary I receive.  The last straw was a hit-and-run accident I experienced on my way to work.  I sold the car for parts.  Sahia commented yesterday that I looked tired.  "Maybe that's because it now takes me three trains and a bus to get here," I dryly replied.  A co-worker asked if I was using Uber to get to work.  Well, if I had money for that, I would probably also have money to buy another car. 

"Are you going to move closer to here?" was the co-worker's next question.  I don't have money to just pick and move, either, or else I would have been living somewhere less expensive by now.  But the west side is not an option.  "I grew up over here, and that was enough.  When I left years ago, I didn't look back," I told the co-worker.  Unlike too many in the 'hood, I recognized it was a good idea to expand my thought processes beyond the 12-to-14 block area I used to reside in not far from LaFollette Park.  I'm not going to regress.  My attitude with kids who come to the gym and don't want to work, or who don't come to the gym at all is colder than the temperatures outside were last week.  My patience with parents and guardians who expect miracles but don't want to work with me nor the program to help their youths be successful has evaporated.  Major changes need to be made, but the culture of the neighborhood is not going to lend itself to making changes.