Still building American character: sport and the physical education curriculum

This paper describes a ‘local’ reaction to the global theme that ‘sport builds character’. It shows how the emphasis on winning in sports has led to the growth of a unique system of interscholastic athletics in American schools which provides important socialization experiences for students and acts as entertainment for the community. I suggest that the founders of physical education in America used the popularity of sport to establish their subject as a legitimate component of secondary education, and argue that the current popularity of athletics is now undermining that legitimacy. To support this claim, I give examples of how the system of athletics can compromise the current reform efforts in physical education which use sports as a medium to develop self‐responsibility and raise moral issues.