Couple of things to discuss....
What would the fate of the program be when it becomes known that taxpayer funds to teach an art that involved bowing to Chinese ancestors? To a Buddhist altar? To a Korean flag? To each other?
How would Title IX concerns be addressed?
Couple of good things in here... one option would be to make the classes optional, just like something like football, soccer, etc. Not make it a required class. I think something like Judo, TKD can be done w/out heavy influence of culture or implied religion (at least to most peoples level of acceptance). Making it optional would eliminate alot of concerns.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Title IX apply to colleges and mostly scholarships/number of athletes? I admit, I'm not an expert on the legistlation. I don't think it would deal specifically with your local high school gym class, especially since girls are capable of doing MA just as easily.
But I know that the weapon arts should not be taught in a public school, in my opinion. If a parent chooses to take their child / young adult there then so be it, but to just make it an elective to learn how to use a knife would not be the smart thing to do. Once again in my opinion.
It might just be your opinion, but it sure is a good one. I full agree with that.
Brings up a couple of other issues. Most martial arts teach you not only how to defend yourself, but also how to attack. Are we willing to teach bullies how to more effectively beat up someone? Most of the bullies in lower grades tend to already be larger and stronger than other kids. Are you willing to let some bully spar with some frail little kid that totally lacks coordination? Boy, I can just see law suits coming out of this. "Billy got his nose broken by Butch! We want money!".
On that topic, should there be sparring if instruction is given?
One thing I do think should be made compulsary in all schools is basic first aid, the Ambulance Service here say that if everyone learned at least how to put people into the recovery position it woulld saves lives every year. I think that is relevant in martial arts too.
I agree. That would be nice for kids to learn. As well as swimming and maybe some other minimal survival skills/logic (keep survival kit/blanket in your car, how to tell direction w/out compass, etc). Education about online security, identify theft, even credit cards potential problems may save alot of trouble in the future.
On another topic, if this ever gets passed, how will you find enough instructors for millions of kids? I am sure there are alot of good instructors out there, but for THAT many kids? There are alot of complaints about McDojos already, I expect there would be alot of illegitimate people teaching if this ever got codified.
