Caring for students' mental health starts with '2 hours of physical education every day'
2025-10-30
Recently, the General Office of the Ministry of Education issued the "Ten Measures to Further Strengthen the Mental Health Work of Primary and Secondary School Students", requiring the "comprehensive implementation of the sports standard of 2 hours per day" to ensure that all students in compulsory education can carry out physical exercise according to the prescribed class hours. This measure is a concrete implementation of the "Student Physical Fitness Plan" in the "Outline of the Plan for Building a Strong Education Country (2024-2035)", and places physical exercise in an important position in student mental health work. For a long time, our response to adolescent mental health issues has often focused on post event intervention and counseling. However, what is more crucial than treating "already" is how to prevent it before it happens. How to reduce the occurrence of psychological problems from the source through scientific arrangement and daily practice in the education process? Physical exercise is one of the most economical and effective preventive measures. Numerous empirical studies have shown that regular physical exercise can effectively promote the secretion of "happiness hormones" such as dopamine and endorphins, significantly reduce negative emotions such as anxiety and depression, enhance emotional stability, and improve individual well-being. For primary and secondary school students who are in a critical period of physical and mental development, exercising for "2 hours a day" can not only strengthen the body, but also build an "immune barrier" for the soul to resist negative emotions. In practice, to transform scientific cognition into universal achievements and truly implement the policy goal of "strengthening the heart with the body", it also relies on the joint efforts of education administrative departments, schools, families, and society to build a comprehensive guarantee system. Scientific coordination ensures that students have time to exercise. We must resolutely prevent the phenomenon of cultural courses occupying and diverting sports activities. Schools should optimize the curriculum structure and class schedule, allocate dedicated time for physical exercise, explore and implement plans such as "15 minute break time", and extend students' outdoor activity time. The education management department should incorporate the implementation of sports activities into the school's quality evaluation index system, while deepening the reform of the student evaluation system, reducing students' heavy homework burden, easing their anxiety about exams and further education, and allowing students to truly "have time" to exercise, rather than "squeezing time" to exercise in the gaps of academic pressure. Faced with the practical difficulties of tight campus venues and insufficient sports facilities, explorations in Zhejiang and other places have broken through the limitations of traditional thinking, shifting the perspective from "big playgrounds" to "micro spaces": making good use of the "capillary" areas where students are most frequently seen, "carefully using every corridor, every corner, every courtyard, and every wall", transforming the originally monotonous corridor into a "sports corridor", installing adjustable basketball baskets and climbing points on the walls, setting up micro sports points such as skipping ropes and rings at corners and door frames, and transforming the rooftop into an "aerial sports field"... Taking advantage of the opportunity and transforming the cramped into an open space, every corner of the school can become a potential sports venue, greatly expanding the school. Improved space utilization efficiency. Enrich the content to ensure that students are 'interested in sports'. After ensuring the basic conditions for exercise, it is even more necessary to "brainstorm" the connotation and form of exercise. If '2 hours a day' is just boring running circles and mechanical queues, its effectiveness will inevitably be greatly reduced. We need to innovate sports forms, enrich project content, and stimulate students' intrinsic interest in physical exercise. In addition to regular events such as track and field and ball games, traditional games such as spinning tops, jumping rubber bands, kicking shuttlecock, and throwing sandbags can be introduced, as well as emerging sports such as rock climbing, frisbee, and skateboarding. It is encouraged that various regions develop school-based physical education courses based on ethnic culture and local characteristics. At the same time, regular organization of all staff sports competitions such as "class competitions" and "grade competitions" allows students to experience the charm of sports and transform physical exercise from a passive task to a conscious and lifelong lifestyle of love and companionship. The meaning of sports is not only about physical fitness and physique, but also about spirit and personality. The implementation of "2 hours of physical education per day" is not a simple numerical requirement, but a profound change in educational philosophy, resource allocation, and educational methods. From ensuring time and expanding space to enriching content, from 'I want to exercise' to 'I want to exercise', every step tests the wisdom and determination of educators. Only in this way can the sunshine of policies shine into the daily growth of every child, and let them forge a strong physique and inner strength that can withstand wind and rain in every cry and sweat, laying a solid foundation for the future of the Chinese nation. (Author: Ding Jieqiong, postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Legal Education Research and Evaluation, China University of Political Science and Law) (New Press)
Edit:He Chuanning Responsible editor:Su Suiyue
Source:Guang Ming Daily
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