THE WAR WITH CHINA - WE ARE DOOMED

Most Americans realize China is a huge competitor to the USA in business, in the financial world, and with the military. China wants to be #1 in the world in almost everything.

Can the USA compete with China? How do our kids stack up vs. China? Please listen clearly. US kids are at a huge disadvantage.

How do USA kids stack up academically? It has been recently reported, “China’s school kids beat American students in all academic categories – reading, math and science”. When you look at the US standing in math, US kids were ranked 15th in the world in year 2000. Now, we are ranked 40th! China? Well, they are ranked #1 in math with a mean score of 591. The USA is ranked behind 30 other countries with a score of 478. And, for the last 3 years, our education results have been a disaster. When it comes to education, USA kids will not be competitive in the future.

How about business? Too many businesses have ‘sold out’ to the Chinese Communist Party. We gave China advantages to do business in the USA but do you know how hard it is for many USA companies to do business in China. Our policies and USA company decisions are empowering Communist China to beat us long term. Quarter to quarter profitability mentality has hurt America…and especially average Americans.

How about militarily? We know China’s military is getting stronger and bigger. They want to dominate the world. And the USA military, at least physically, is getting weaker and weaker. Do you know ¾ of all USA teens are not fit enough to join the military? US military recruitment standards have been relaxed. National security is at risk. And, there is no optimism as US kids become more and more sedentary, weaker and softer.

How about screentime? Our USA kids are dependent and being ‘polluted’ with the huge amount of time they are living in front of a screen. In a study by The Lancet, they found kids' mental health is directly impacted by too much screen time, and not enough physical activity. I can also say kids today are not good communicators. They don’t want to look at you. I guarantee you screentime is a big reason for this.

Chinese kids are only allowed 1 hour of screentime per day. USA kids spend 6 hours per day in front of a screen. USA teens spend 9 hours per day. And guess what? TikTok’s China platform or edition is very educational while the USA version of TikTok is very, very different. Wonder why?

Even Tim Cooke, CEO of Apple, sees we have issues here. “It is, I think, really important to set to set hard rails around it (screen time)”. Tim also said he didn’t want to see his nephew using social media and argued that tech usage in schools should be limited. Wouldn’t it be nice for other leaders in this ‘screentime world’ to say the same…and put policies in place create positive change?

What about the health of USA kids vs. China? According to UNICEF, USA Kids are ranked LAST in physical health among 38 countries. Chinese children must receive 2 hours of physical activity daily. 20% of Chinese kids are overweight or obese while 45% of USA kids are overweight or obese. USA obesity rates for children are trending higher while Chinese obese rates are trending down. Chinese kids are much more active and healthy. This is another place where we are losing.

So, can our kids compete with China as we are constituted today? I say definitively “NO WAY”. Chinese kids are literally ‘kicking our butts’ academically, physically, militarily, and mentally.

Do you want a real solution? Something that will help us in all of these areas above? Yes, there is a ‘Miracle Drug’. It is physical activity and daily physical education delivered by a certified PE Teacher for all kids.

Think I am crazy? Well, EVERY Chinese kid gets active for 45-60 minutes before the school day. They realize that kids need to be physically active for better health, and more importantly, to achieve great things academically. They realize that physical activity improves the blood flow to the brain. Kids who are more active do better in school. The research is conclusive.

In the USA, almost 50% of schools have eliminated or dramatically cut back hours for physical education. I see it firsthand. Schools stretch the truth about the amount of PE they have. I visited two school districts who say they have ‘daily PE’. Well, in both cases there is only 1 day with a PE Teacher. The other 4 days was with a classroom teacher. This is really recess…with kids usually using their electronic devices. Schools lie or stretch the rules to say they have PE. It’s a crime but the real loser is our kids. In the USA, the average budget for physical education in an entire school is less than $462 per year for an elementary school. That is for the total school…not per kid.

Why have schools cut back on PE? Education leaders have basically implemented a ‘sit and learn and test’ approach. This approach has FAILED. Look at the results. There has been no improvement in academics and now are trending down.

The crime of it is that we know increased physical activities improves academic performance. There are 15 different research projects that show active kids do better in school. Why don’t more educators see this and want to make sure that every school has daily physical education every day of the week top by a certified PE teacher?

The truth is USA kids are very soft. We’ve made life so easy and we are way to soft on our kids. The lack of physical activity has limited the amount of blood flow going to the brain so these kids can grow physically and mentally to be able to handle the stress of life, especially in today’s world.

Look at these 12 benefits of physical activity. Name me one other thing…one drug…that does all the great things you get by being physically active.

This is the only sure way to get our kids…our country… to compete with China in the future.

This is why I started my charity, PHIT America. We have already helped 850,000 children but there are almost 40 million kids who need our help. Do you want to help us, contact me at Jim@PHITAmerica.org.

Jim Baugh, Founder, PHIT America

Jim Baugh is the former President of Wilson Sporting Goods. He has been inducted into two hall of fames – The Sports Industry Hall of Fame and Tennis Industry Hall of Fame. He was also the VP of Sales and Marketing at Prince. Jim has been a leader in the sports business world and for caring about the physical and mental health of children. Jim has studied children, how active they are and the factors to help them become more physically active. He has started two charities, PE4Life and PHIT America. PHIT America has already helped over 850,000 children in over 1500 schools. Ironically, Jim’s first job while he was in grad school was a PE Teacher. For more information on Jim, go to Jim.PHITAmerica.org.