Letter for DDR

To Superintendent
It is common knowledge that obesity problems are escalating in our society. We need to inform our students of the dangers of inactivity and also teach them ways to counter the growing trend. The activity in physical education classes’ isn’t enough to keep our youth healthy and fit. We need to teach them activities that will benefit them outside the classroom. We need to inspire them to be active. They need to have the heart and desire and interest in activity or nothing will be accomplished. Often times we hear about how videogames are keeping the youth of today inside and glued to the television set. Well what if we could incorporate videogames and physical activity? It’s definitely possible. There is a game out where people stand up watch a screen and attempt to follow the actions on the screen. At first that might sound boring as if a waste of time however there's more to it. The students stand on a mat, which is touch responsive and records the student’s skills and ability to keep up with the game. The students will be able to track their progress and therefore will be motivated. After all isn’t that the number one thing we need to try and achieve is to get our students motivated. The game is dance dance revolution and is spreading worldwide in homes as well as arcades. The game is a rhythmic game where the students try to follow the steps on the screen to pop music songs. Sounds perfect right. We are trying to reach out to our youth to be more active so lets give them an activity that relates to them. The kids love pop culture and dance music. Why not exercise in an environment that is more comfortable and accommodating to the student’s interests? We often hear about the kids who stand in the back don’t participate in physical education class. Many times its because they don’t have the skill level as others and in a way are targeted and embarrassed. We need to change that. What’s great with DDR is that there are different levels of difficulty. The game can be played split screen so that less skilled students could work on an easier difficulty than more skilled students. What we need for equipment is a videogame system, along with mats, a projector and a portable screen. The environment for the game is set up so that all students face the screen where the game is projected and focus their attention on it. What’s nice about that is that everyone will feel comfortable in their own ability because they wont be singled out. All the students will have to pay attention to the screen. They will be preoccupied to worry about how well or how poorly someone is doing. That will absolutely spur more involvement from students. Students will no longer have to worry about being singled out. They will be able to exercise while having fun and building confidence. I would like you to think this over and consider adding it to the curriculum. Other schools are achieving great success with the system in place. I have a large assortment of information for you to see such as a k through 12 scope and sequence. I also have a slideshow presentation available to you with many visuals so that you can get a greater grasp on what I’m trying to accomplish.
Thank You For Your Time
Dan Murphy