Remember This? It’s Back, Bringing Good Memories or Bad?

There are things as a member of Generation X that we all remember.  Things that are mostly not around anymore.  Land lines, caller ID, star 67, pagers, Apple II computers, Walkman, inappropriate sitcoms, phy ed class with uniforms, and so much more that may or may not make you cringe.

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One of the things that happened every year was the Presidential Physical Fitness Test.

Some people absolutely dreaded that week when we had to do all the things, pass it and you got a cool patch.  If not, too bad!  Even if you missed one thing - too bad!  That's usually what happened to me.  I'd pass all the things, except one.  That long jump.  Boooooo!  If you jump and fall back, they take that spot.  Not where you actually jumped to originally.  I did pass it twice.

If you don't remember the events - they were a little different for males and femals.  But basically the same.  Some of the events just had different goals for guys and girls.  With the climate that we have now, how are they going to handle the genders?  That's a subject for another day.

These were the events we had in school:

Sit ups

Bar hang for girls, pull ups for guys

Shuttle Run

50 yard dash

600 yard run

Standing long jump

That last one was always the dragging anchor in my world.  Blech.

This test began in the 1960s and continued until 2013.  The Trump administration has brought this back in an effort to "Make America Fit Again".

After 2013, there was the Presidential Youth Fitness Program.  This program focused on improvement instead of end goal and score.

Students who complete all six events — Powerful PACER, Balanced Body Composition, Correct Curl-Up, Terrific Trunk Lift, Perfect Push-Up, and Stretchy Sit and Reach — are eligible to win the Presidential PhysicalFitness Award or join the Presidential Youth Fitness Program (PYFP) Fitness Club.

Now, we are back to the original test as of yesterday.  How do you feel about this change back?