Minnesota student questions swimming requirement to graduate

I'm stunned at the number of people where I live who never learned how to swim... In California, by the time you get to kindergarten, there might be one or two kids who can't swim. Here, there are plenty of middle class, college educated people who never bothered.

It blows my mind, but it's not uncommon at all where I live.

 

My freshman year in college, you had to take a swim test about when classes started. I couldn't do it when the rest of the class did because I had cut up my finger pretty badly and never reschduled the test.

I was told when the second semester began that I wouldn't be allowed to attend classes until I passed the test and I had to appeal the fact that I didn't make the dean's list despite having a good enough GPA.

The entire test was swimming no more than 15 or so yards.

 

I always wonder why we aren't also taught to swim underwater as a basic life skill in a panic situation. You don't even have to master staying afloat. It's a worthy fallback option.

 

We did three weeks of swimming every year of grade school. I remember one year, there was one student who was excused from it, and he had only lived in this country for a year or so. The other years, the entire class participated.

At the time, I would have thought they were doing that everywhere, but I realize now that it's a regional thing.

 

Hell, I barely remember it, but first semester, freshman year in HS, all the freshman in our PE class were automatically enrolled in swimming for the first quarter. The first two days were the students, a few at a time, showing they could actually swim, which satisfied the requirement. Then you had the option of staying in swimming for the quarter, or switching over to one of the other sports they were doing. It really was no big deal.

I clicked on the story to see if their was a compelling reason, but I couldn't find it. If you planned ahead and got it out of the way early, you'd have all the time in the world to get your college credit classes. This student and the two that joined her protest seem to me like three whiny teenagers looking for some attention.

 

Squirrel!!

 

I doubt even Cullen Jones-level swimming would keep a smart enough kid out of Harvard.

 

Should schools not require English since none of their students will likely write as well as Hemingway? Should they not require math since no student will likely turn out as gifted as Richard Feynman?

Heaven forfend schools teach students something other than what can be measured by a standardized test. It's a life skill, and a needed one at that. I'd mention that the country would probably be better off if students also learned some basic finance (and, if you want to be ambitious, basic cooking skills) during high school, but I already have a good idea which direction that discussion would go.

 

Stay gold, Ponyboy.

 

Guess the people who go on cruise ships are fucked.

 

Are you developmentally delayed? Because, if not, you're just dumb. All the time.

 

Did you read the article, creeper?