Boris Johnson: "I would like to see the kind of regime I used to enjoy: compulsory two hours of sport every day"

Comments

[Lindylooz]

If children are to spend 1/3 of their time in school doing sport, what exactly would Boris drop to make room, and why?

[G+P]

I think he’d have them spend longer in school Lindylooz.

[Jimminy Wicket]

Yes, Boris I agree with you but we all do not have the benefit of a millionaire daddy to pay for it.

[Boris is not de man]

Yes, let's make every school in the country Eton.

As Orwell said, the Battle of Waterloo may have been won there, but every other battle facing our nation was lost there. And the erstwhile Eric Blair should know, like Boris, he was an Etonian. just one who lived for a bit in the real world

[Frankland Macdonald Wood]

Everyone lives in the real world whatever age, income or background. A coal miner is no more real than a plumber or a doctor or an Oxford Don or a poet in a garret.

[Dave Hollins MBA]

He goes on to say: It made me who I am, (from which you can draw your own conclusions). I hope the UK is not going to be like my old grammar school by only holding up sporting achievemnet as being worth anything (but then I got to a better uni than nearly all the sporty kids!).

[David]

One day we are being told by tories we need more engineers and computer scientists the next its we need more sportsmen. Heaven forbid we should have more artists, poets, writers, philosophers and historians. That would involve people being able to think for themselves and challenging those with power. Isn't it odd how the cabinet is made up of people with mostly degrees in the arts and humanities yet they don't want the masses to be involved in such subjects. No, give the masses a ball to run around with them, that will keep them docile and thick as we wreck their lives.

[Sally Roberts]

"but we all do not have the benefit of a millionaire daddy to pay for it."

Why do some people feel they have to mock those who - with the greatest of affection - call or called their parents "Mummy and Daddy"?

[Laura]

Of course Boris is here thinking of a boarding school, where the school has to organise exercise otherwise the pupils might only move around from dorm to classroom every day. Most people would rather have their children at home and have a bit more personal input into the level of exercise they get.

[HYUFD]

"but we all do not have the benefit of a millionaire daddy to pay for it."

Actually, Boris got a scholarship!

[Eric T]

Two hours of mathematics daily would do our economy much more good.

[Tony Makara]

The problem is some children are just not sports-minded just as some don't naturally feel inclined towards academic subjects. My own memory from school is of trying to play football and rugby alongside other kids who just didn't want to be there and didn't participate. If anything they got in the way of those who wanted to take part. So, to force PE/Sport on those who are not suited to it is a mistake, but we should certainly pour a lot more money into sports facilities and encourage league structures between local schools for various sports. I'd just like to say that we should follow the example of Charlotte Dujardin's mother who put her family's money into supporting her daughter. That investment paid back a thousandfold today. Charlotte Dujardin was outstanding. The state must support people like Charlotte.

[Richard]

With child care costs what they are it seems a perfectly sensible idea for school to open earlier and to close later. One hour of PT in the morning before lessons start would be a very good way to begin the day. Pupils could then do an hour of sport at the end of the day: football, rugby, swimming etc.

This is not just about creating more sportsmen and women at the expense of engineers etc, it is about getting all our children fitter, healthier and interested in sport.

[Susan Wade Weeks]

Two hours of sport would sort out so many of the problems teachers have today in controlling bored and restless teenagers. Teenagers need vigorous exercise and it is only in the last 25 years that they have stopped getting it.

We have some of the greatest schools IN THE WORLD in this country. Why can we not use them as a pattern for ALL our schools. Lengthen the school day to allow more sport and make life so much easier for working parents, eradicating the problems of latch-key kids. Boris is right. Why should the privileged few have the right kind of education?

I went to a grammar school in the late 60s where sport was part of everyday life. The regime there was very similar to the independent school I went to after it. Games every day.

School days finishing so early now is one cause of much of the anti-social behaviour we are so ready to condemn. Bored teenagers, all growing children, need serious exercise.