In these past couple of weeks, there have been rumors that the Pacer Test was unhealthy and no longer an adequate way to measure endurance. An article, written by the Neo-Mongolian News Network, reported that the Pacer Test had been banned in schools all over Neo Mongolia. The article claimed that the Pacer Test was deemed “too cruel for children” and that it “damaged their psyche, giving them PTSD.”
Besides the fact that Neo Mongolia is not a real place, nor is their President (President Chinkus) a real person, the website also featured a variety of different stories, from Cruz and Bush share Room in Psychiatric Hospital to Furry Confused for Sick Dog, Euthanized by Parents.
However, is the Pacer Test really bad for you? Did this fake news network, in its quest to be clickbait, actually stumble on a good point?
What Is the Fitnessgram Pacer Test?
As any high schooler and middle schooler can tell you, the Fitnessgram Pacer Test is an endurance test that requires you to run 20 meters over a period of 20 minutes at a faster and faster pace.The actual creator of the Pacer Test, Luc Léger, published it in order to estimate an athlete’s maximum oxygen intake. The infamous starting lines, “The FitnessGram™ Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues.” is used as memes as well as Instagram captions all over the world.
What Does It Do?
The Pacer Test is meant to measure your endurance. “You have to…pace yourself. You have to use your stamina. ” said Rachel Gehret, physical education teacher here at Leesville. It is also used to measure an athlete’s maximum oxygen intake. It is extremely helpful in sports such as rugby, tennis, and football, as there is a lot of stopping and going.
Is it Effective?
Jack Rogers, the athletic director and a physical education teacher, believes that the Pacer Test is an accurate way to measure a student’s endurance. “I think that [the Pacer] is an excellent way to measure physical fitness. There is a lot of starting and stopping. A lot of sports depend on these skills, like soccer and football. You go hard for a little bit, than rest.” said Rogers.
How Do Leesville Students Feel?
“If I could describe the Pacer Test in one word it would be…Intense,” said Meghan Ford, junior. Since high schoolers are so competitive, there is a lot of rivalry in activities like the Pacer Test and the mile. “I didn’t especially like them, but I didn’t hate them either,” said Ford.
Cecilia Marks, sophomore, said “The Pacer Test is exhausting. I wish I was one of the people who could continue to run and run. To be honest, the voice was the only reason that I kept going. I got so encouraged and it made me laugh so hard. But I feel that I improved overall,” said Marks.
Overall Takeaway
The Pacer Test, while it may be difficult at the time, actually increases your stamina and helps your endurance level. Because the severity of it is stressed over the internet and other social media platforms, it has caused an unnecessary fear. No matter what the Neo-Mongolian news network says, the Pacer Test is here to stay.
PLS BAN THE PACER TEST IN MUNCIE I HATE IT I REALLY HATE IT CAUSE ONE OF MY FRIENDS HAS ASMA SHE PASSED OUT WENT TO HOSPITAL (SHE ALMOST DIED )
Coming from someone who’s been doing it since kindergarten- pacer should not be a thing, thank you very much. I understand the meaning of it, so potentially use it for sports/ activities it would be useful for, not just forcing kids to do it for gym. Also, just for reference, I’ve also played sports since kindergarten, so I’m not just ‘getting obese’ as some people have said. I like gym, but pacer just brings fear, and guilt for not being the last person running. Thank you and good night 🙂
The fitness gram pacer test is one of the worst this for middle and high school students. Not only just the running part but also the sit ups, push ups, and flexibility test. It makes kids so stressed and anxious. These poor children should not be judged or graded on how much they can run or how many sit ups they can do it’s embarrassing and can turn into kids judging other kids for not being as active as another which is terrible. School systems like to say they care about our mental health and want us to be confident but all these test do is make kids feel anxious, insecure, and completely stressed. Anxiety and depression is already a huge problem for teens today and the fitness gram tests just add to it.
this test is so dang harsh i was the only one running once and it was humilating and it was cold so i couldnt breath so i stopped and was hyperventilatng the teacher told me to keep going so i went inside and got water and layed down cause it was harsh and frick them
Lazy excuses all these kids want to do is play video games.
This test sucks along with the overuse in my school. We have to do it almost every week and we have to get at least 65 to pass. I feel dead after this test and I end up feeling really sick after.
you guys are all so dumb, this test is not cruelty. just because your children are lazy doesn’t mean it is needed to be banned. I hope your kids get fat and can’t even walk outside their house because their obese. This is fun, and makes you actually get some cardio when you know you’re not making your child “run outside.” Have funn
Those of you who call this biased, you are a dumb donkey. Its MEANT TO PUSH YOU, so it can measure your endurance. And if its affecting social wellness, then its the students that need a talking, not getting rid of the pacer test. You are only calling this biased, because YOU dont like it, your comments are biased, not the article. The mile run and the pacer test is the same the thing, one just has a limit while the other doesnt, you can stop anytime in the pacer test. PE teachers chose to use this program because the class you’re in is Physical Education. I’ve done this plenty of times myself, and its not that bad. YOU just dont like it, simple as that.
This article is accurate, its not biased. It states that its meant to Measure your endurance and stamina, as well as improve it.
It should defiantly be banned for the whole world it is exhausting and is forcing you to run more than 50 so that makes people have anxiety and not wanna go to school which feels horrible and I experienced it before.
yo this test is garbge I have to get 60 and horrible at running.
The pacer test gets way too competitive and i don’t think its a good way to measure endurance. It pushes kids WAY too far and nobody likes it. The article has a big bias and was probably written by someone who has never even done the pacer test. If they haven’t experienced it and are only talking to people who support it they don’t have any idea about what the kids being put through it think.
I have to do the test and it hurts people all the time. I bet half the school would rather eat chocolate and raw eggs with anchovies. The first time I did the test I threw up luckily I had my friend cheyenne to help me. STOP giving us these tests. I go to Blanch junior high in taft tennessee.
This article is clearly biased. First of all, the quotes used to describe the test and its effectiveness are from PE teacher, you know, the people who actually ADMINISTER THE TEST. They obviously support it because they are the ones that chose to give the test, over and over and over again. Also, any student will gladly tell you that the pacer test is universally hated. I’m sure the writer of this article had to specifically find two students who would betray their peers and say that the test is actually ok. Whoever wrote this should be ashamed to call themselves writers, as journalism is supposed to be UNBIASED.
Pacer test gave m asthma…
At my school in Ireland we do it every Monday morning first class, due to this many girls in my grade skip breakfast as they are worried about getting a stitch and how that will affect the level they get to.
We do the pacer test three times every semester (half a year) (I’m in bellevue, WA), I actually like it…
I hate the pacer test if you don’t do well for whatever reason people will make fun of you or look at you differently.
The pacer test personally made me feel worse, most of the year I spend worrying about it. Most people can run almost the whole thing meanwhile I cant. It’s super embarrassing for all your friends to see how much you can actually run. The pacer test is too intense and puts too much pressure on kids.
this is child cruelty and this is dumb, I live in Seattle and we do it every Friday
In my school (UK) we have the bleep test its 15 levels with like 5 parts per level and if you feel you can’t do it you drop out at whatever point. Are Americans being forced to run for ever back and forth until they complete it if that was so in the U.K. the school would be shut down for cruelty I don’t get why they try to push kids so hard and they probably know that if they drop out they’ll be taunted by their friends here in the U.K. we’re just like wtf are you on about.
We don’t have the pacer test at my school, we just have the mile run test
We do the pacer test for the fitness gram and everybody hates it so much. It’s terrible! If it was banned I think everybody would be much happier and there are other ways to improve endurance and stamina.
I hate the pacer test so much, I always get around 50 on the test. This week we did the pacer on monday,Tuesday we had health class, then today we did thr pacer again. My teacher had to break a law of some sort. I am a very athletic kid who plays travel sports but this is insanity
I do the pacer test every Wednesday. I DO NOT enjoy it and I DO hate it. Doing this every week tends to have some of my fellow classmates skip school. We even did a survey and it proved 92% of the students hate the fitness test and would rather get suspended for a month than do the fitness test :c
I doe the pacer test in gym class and I was so out of breath wane I was done with my test