A thread titled “PE class should be abolished” popped up on 5ch’s Livegalileo board, arguing that gym class fails kids who aren’t athletic and fuels bullying. Replies split fast: critics said other subjects like art and music have the same gap between the talented and the not-so-talented, and dismissed the OP’s stance as selfish. The OP kept firing back that even just eliminating PE-related bullying would be worth it, and the debate never converged.
That's a personality problem on your end.
Necessary? Why?
Do humans just die if they don't exercise?
What were kids who can't swim even doing during swim class? They were never taught how to swim, so there was nothing for them to actually do.
Saying that just outs you as the kind of person who'd do that if the shoe were on the other foot.
Premise?
It's not a premise, it's a fact—
there really are a ton of guys like that.
If saying this is what gets someone bullied,
then I'll say it loud and clear: you guys are the ones in the wrong.
Well obviously the bully is the one in the wrong, but let's be real, some people are just going to get bullied no matter what.
I know that already.
It's people like you who just shrug and go "well, that's just how it is" and accept it—
that's exactly what enables bullying.
but bullies would just find some other yardstick to pick their targets by.
But the bullying caused specifically by PE would disappear.
What's the point of that big-picture argument?
What does me being good at studying have to do with whether I'm allowed to argue emotionally?
The same logic applies to art and music too, so there's no end to it.
I've heard that counterargument a million times, but being bad at art or music is on a totally different level from being bad at PE.
If anything, the athletic popular kids ("riajuu"-type gym rats) are the ones who couldn't care less about trying in art or music class.
You might think you're making a sharp point, but it doesn't hold up at all.
"I'm bad at sports, so get rid of PE."
That's a selfish argument straight out of grade school.
Of course that's not it.
Can you not read Japanese?
Go ahead and use that excuse to skip everything you don't want to do for the rest of your life.
Uh, I was forced to do it though?
I stuck with it for nine years.
OP only ever sees things from his own convenient angle.
Are you saying that while looking in a mirror?
Same, I was bad at sports in general but I was actually pretty good at swimming.
And for some reason I always placed near the top in long-distance marathon races too.
We're in the age of diversity now, so kids these days don't really blame people for being good or bad at stuff.
Or rather, a lot of them just aren't that interested in other people to begin with lol
Of course there's nothing to refute there.
Honestly, you're the one who needs to zoom out and look at the bigger picture.
Why do you think a word like "gariben" (bookworm/grind, often used mockingly) even exists?
Please, think about things objectively instead of subjectively.
Though it's nothing compared to looks, height, intelligence, or health.
Actually it's the opposite for me—
maybe I think that way even more because sports were the one thing I couldn't do.
No, that's not what I mean.
Isn't the point that the same guys who looked down on you in PE are the ones calling you a nerd?
I don't have that experience myself.
I'm talking in general terms.
What, did you seriously think I was only talking about my own personal experience?
No way.
Then by that logic we should also stop using grades to decide where people go to school.
There's such a thing as athletic recommendation admissions too lol
Huh? That would never happen.
What are you talking about?
Background and Key Points of This Debate
PE is a mandatory subject under Japan’s official Courses of Study, and there’s no indication that the Ministry of Education is considering scrapping it. Where the thread split was over whether the ranking and bullying that PE produces is a structural flaw of the subject itself, or simply a matter of teaching methods and individual differences in how kids handle it. Critics pointed out that art and music also have their own gaps between the talented and the untalented, but the OP wouldn’t budge, insisting that differences in athletic ability are a far more serious issue. Much of the exchange devolved into a circular argument over whether the OP’s claims were based on personal experience or general observation, occasionally spilling over into personal attacks.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Yeah, PE really should be abolished, right?“.
