<p>Nature, I am a pianist and and I understand your concern. I would advise my kid to be a conscientious objector and simply not go near the ball.</p>
<p>Anne, if your son is being injured from practising, there is something wrong. There are ways to avoid it and his teacher should be taking pains to prevent practise injuries. If not, you might want to look for a different teacher.</p>
<p>In CO the marching band (and the football players) still need to take full PE credits. At one college we heard marching band counted for PE - I think it was Case.</p>
<p>In our school district, they have six periods a day. They have since increased graduation requirements, but they are much lower than what is needed to apply to college.
Pe & vocational education are required for instance, but foreign language is not.</p>
<p>By the time students are seniors, they likely have taken all the classes they can- my daughter only had four course periods available to her after the district canceled the global technology program she was in. ( One period she was in an advanced global tech class & one qtr she was a TA for that class) If she had not been able to use her team sport waiver for her PE credit, she would have not been able to have the flexibilty to take enough college prep courses. Still her high school is familar enough to colleges that she was accepted to all.</p>
<p>My oldest was also able to use an after school program to count for PE credit. It allowed her to take two arts courses on top of her English, History, Math, Science & Foreign Language classes.</p>
<p>I would be more concerned with football players and marching band members getting enough courses so that they were prepared for college, than I would be about them getting enough exercise.</p>
<p>I think some of the varying reactions on this thread may tie into the feelings engendered about how young musicians, especially classical musicians, are sometimes viewed in our culture. In a culture that glorifies athletics, it may seem ridiculous to emphasize the need to avoid certain activities. </p>
<p>I don’t think some of the comments were “mean” as has been noted. I think they were blunt and to the point. I, too, remember being ridiculed about my musicianship. as a young, classically trained pianist, I sprained my finger playing basketball in gym class. My idiotic gym teacher actually responded with “ha ha - now you won’t be playing piano for a while.” Times may have changed, but there is still a culture out there that does not appreciate musicianship.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, I completely support the need to “normalize” the school experience for most children. As I mentioned upthread, my son is a violinist at a high level, now pursuing this in college, and continued to play sports for fun in school. I cringed sometimes, but knew it was his choice and never restricted him from it. As others have noted, injuries can happen for any reason.</p>
<p>It also could be a regional thing. As I said earlier, in NYC, if you are “prepared” (which means showing up every day on time and with the appropriate attire) and don’t violate conduct rules, you must pass, so kids who aren’t athletic or interested have always had an out from inside the class. Just show up dressed and you don’t actually have to play well or play at all, so no need for conflict. However, reading this thread, it seems that performance actually matters in some places. That is totally foreign to me, but I can tell you that in my son’s senior year of high school, I would go to the mattresses to protect his fingers. Luckily for us, I won’t have to because he is a varsity golf player and in his school that counts. I am completely fine with working that to his advantage because my son actually is a klutz and I could easily see a broken finger or something. There will be NONE of that because my son is a good student, but he didn’t cure cancer two weeks ago and has no expectations of brokering world peace in the next three years, so his jazz clarinet is the only thing about him that will stand out.</p>
<p>If a major event is coming up, it is certainly prudent to restrict some activities to lower the risk of injury. The week before I have a concert, I won’t do yard work or any heavy house projects that could leave me with sore hands or sore arms, because it impacts my playing.</p>
<p>I think my DW might have something to say if I tried to say I could never do yard work because of my playing. ;)</p>
<p>I am in music and went to Interlochen and we had mandatory exercise. Also, my music teacher works out every day and tells me that I should. So I doubt the class will hurt you.</p>
<p>^ do you mean, your teacher plays with balls every day (including the day before some major performances), and tells you to do same? If not, I do not see the point. Of course, anyone, including musicians, should do physical activities.</p>