HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

13

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the department of education to work with appropriate entities to extend the length of the school day to accommodate increased physical education, art, and music requirements.

 

 


     WHEREAS, the number of obese children has tripled over the past three decades, posing serious health risks and rapidly rising obesity-related health care costs for ailments such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and asthma; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's adolescent obesity rate has doubled over the past two decades, with twenty-two per cent of boys and girls in Hawaii considered overweight; and

 

     WHEREAS, studies have shown that a child who is physically healthy is more likely to be academically motivated, alert, and successful; and

 

     WHEREAS, children spend a large part of their lives in school, thus giving schools the opportunity to help them get more physical exercise and provide education on health maintenance; and

 

     WHEREAS, although high school graduation requirements include one credit of physical education, there is a lack of an adequate and consistent physical education curriculum at the elementary and middle school grade levels; and

 

     WHEREAS, art and music instruction in the public schools has been curtailed or eliminated to focus on academic requirements and standards; and

 

     WHEREAS, art instruction promotes an appreciation for society's creative expressions of various art forms and encourages individual creativity; and

     WHEREAS, studies show that music instruction helps with a student's acquisition of logic and math skills; and

 

     WHEREAS, a significant increase in the amount of activity and exercise in a physical education curriculum, along with art and music instruction during school hours, would require a longer school day; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Education is respectfully requested to work with the Board of Education, the Governor, and the Hawaii State Teachers Association to consider extending the school day for elementary and middle schools to accommodate increased physical education, art, and music requirements to further the well-being of Hawaii's youth and to prevent the development of adult obesity; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education, the Chairperson of the Board of Education, the Governor, and the President of the Hawaii State Teachers Association.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

DOE; Physical Education; Length of School Day