Kids in North Carolina Will be Able to Take PE Classes Online Next Fall

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The concept of "gym class" has become crystallized in our public consciousness as the stuff of towel whips and stinging insults about your naked body and maybe a hard-ass gym teacher who always sides with the bully. Should our nation's youth be exposed to the same scarring locker room scenes that have plagued young protagonists in movies and on TV for generations? A school in North Carolina thinks not, which is why they're going to start offering a virtual gym class when the next school year rolls around.

According to a news release from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the NC General Assembly is providing the North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) with funding to set up these virtual PE classes, which, from the description, sound like something close to Wii Fit.

"NCVPS teachers will provide video demonstration of a physical activity or sport," the release says, "then students will practice those skills and build their own video portfolios to document their progress and display mastery."

"We knew there was a need to offer PE online," said Karen Creech, an instructional director for NCVPS. "So we thought outside the box and came up with a program that we believe will give students a valuable high school physical education experience."

The pilot program launches this fall and goes for nine weeks. If you want to get an idea of how well this virtual home exercise routine will work, go dig that scratched P90X DVD out of your closet and think about how in shape that got you. At least the kids won't have to face the wrath of a rat tail.