# Texas charter school students forced to do pushups; some may have permanent health issues as a result **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 18, 2026, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351 "2026-04-18T01:31:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/41 "2026-04-18T23:21:21Z")
People who work at the hospitals where these youngsters were patients could potentially get in very big trouble, as in instant termination, for looking up their records when they were not involved in their care. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/42 "2026-04-19T02:24:08Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > Did you remember them? Pretty much. ---
**Author:** ![STonyPacheco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stonypacheco/32/21111_2.png) [@STonyPacheco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/STonyPacheco)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/43 "2026-04-19T05:54:50Z")
As apposed to students in the 80’s who loved to go outside and exercise? What has happened to our children. Where are the foathers whoat one time took their children to run, play and get strong? ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/44 "2026-04-19T06:28:00Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Playing through injuries has also long thought to be a measure of dedication In baseball, there is also the example of Wally Pipp to consider. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/45 "2026-04-19T07:07:42Z")
I’m surprised that nobody said “Fuck this,” and walked out. I know that students should defer to teachers, but when teachers make asinine demands, especially when those demands might cause permanent physical disability, it seems to me that students should be able to say, “No, I’m not doing that, no matter how much you threaten me with a low or failing grade.” I’ve had a couple of just plain sadists as gym teachers in my school career. Had I known then what I know now, I would have told them to get stuffed when they forced us to do all the crap they ordered us to. I agree with **Darren** : > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > That may be fine for people who _choose_ to be ordered around by coaches, but as someone afflicted by coaches I never wanted in PE classes I never wanted, I never had anything other than seething contempt for any of the slack-jawed thugs. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/46 "2026-04-19T07:52:43Z")
What are you talking about? Our “gym teacher” was also the coach for our football team, and he ran us until we threw up…then mocked us for doing so, then made us run four laps around the track for not keeping up. Gym class had nothing at all to do with making us hale and hearty, and everything to do with finding perspective sports stars. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/47 "2026-04-19T08:13:15Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Gym class had nothing at all to do with making us hale and hearty, and everything to do with finding perspective sports stars. I’m sure that you meant “prospective” sports stars, but that’s okay. This thread has really made me recall how much I hated gym class. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/48 "2026-04-19T08:14:12Z")
You of course are correct with your correction. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/49 "2026-04-19T08:55:43Z")
Does the Texas constitution have an 8th amendment analog? Because I’d love to see these “coaches” made to do pushups in the hot sun without water until they piss blood. And the school administrators next to them, ditto, keeping count. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/50 "2026-04-19T12:07:07Z")
I’m still hung up on this (quoted from the article): > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > The pretext for this mass punishment? “A jersey mix-up,” the lawsuit claims. "Two students had been assigned the same jersey number—an error caused by the coaches themselves. Rather than correct their own mistake, the coaches decided to punish eighty children for it. How do you get from “we screwed up the number assignments” to “the children deserve to be punished”? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/51 "2026-04-19T14:46:42Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Our “gym teacher” was also the coach for our football team, and he ran us until we threw up…then mocked us for doing so, then made us run four laps around the track for not keeping up. Gym class had nothing at all to do with making us hale and hearty, and everything to do with finding perspective sports stars Exactly: the mentality on display in many of these venues is not seeking fitness, but prowess, _macho_ attitude, and absolute obedience to the point of injuring yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/52 "2026-04-19T16:25:28Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I know that students should defer to teachers, but when teachers make asinine demands, especially when those demands might cause permanent physical disability, it seems to me that students should be able to say, “No, I’m not doing that, no matter how much you threaten me with a low or failing grade.” This was my first thought too. It says in the article that the students were trapped in the gym with the doors closed (it doesn’t say they were locked) and 5 gym teachers for 80 students. It sounds nightmarish. eta: the gym teacher I had for my entire grade school (k-8) career never taught us anything except how to do the hokey-pokey, and even that instruction came from the recording. The kids who knew how to play ball knew that from outside of school (little league, Pop Warner football), the rest of us were just losers. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/53 "2026-04-19T17:03:51Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > How do you get from “we screwed up the number assignments” to “the children deserve to be punished”? Punishing people to flex your authority when proven wrong is a pretty common behavior among authority figures throughout history. It’s outright written into myth, like Athena punishing Arachne. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2026, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/54 "2026-04-20T00:58:44Z")
Injuring people, bad. Bullying people, bad Exercising until you can’t lift your fork to your mouth – a tougher than usual day at work. Also “not picking out a particular person from the team when something goes wrong” and “teaching the team to take responsibility for mistakes other people make”, unusual, but there for a reason. When you take your coaching further than usual limits, you are entirely responsible for any damage you do. Which is why competent coaches, managers, and motor vehicle drivers work **inside** safe known limits. Not excusing these people. Also not excusing school coaches and PE teachers in general – we’ve had a PE teacher on this board explaining that most school PE and sport programs are abusive waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2026, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/55 "2026-04-20T02:06:01Z")
Hope nobody here thinks I’m fat-shaming, but a Facebook friend posted a picture of her teenage daughter’s basketball team, and the coaches were both built like sumo wrestlers. She said they’re actually very respectful and know their stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2026, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/56 "2026-04-20T02:22:36Z")
Yeah, the fat coach is a trope for a reason. Proponents of school sports talk about how important physical fitness is, but I suspect that sports actually decrease overall fitness, on net. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2026, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/57 "2026-04-20T02:59:15Z")
I wouldn’t be at all surprised; in my experience they might as well been deliberately intended as aversion training for physical fitness and exertion. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2026, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/58 "2026-04-20T04:30:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Proponents of school sports talk about how important physical fitness is, but I suspect that sports actually decrease overall fitness, on net. Certainly sports fandom does; spending most of the weekend on a sofa watching sports on TV and the scarfing of foods and drink associated with that pastime. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2026, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/59 "2026-04-20T04:59:12Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I know that students should defer to teachers, but when teachers make asinine demands, especially when those demands might cause permanent physical disability, it seems to me that students should be able to say, “No, I’m not doing that, no matter how much you threaten me with a low or failing grade.” There is an immense amount of peer pressure in team sports. Like I said, when I asked for a water break it wasn’t the coach who grumbled it was my teammates. It’s why irresponsible sadist shouldn’t be in charge of kids. > [@Spoons](#): > > I’ve had a couple of just plain sadists as gym teachers in my school career. Had I known then what I know now, I would have told them to get stuffed when they forced us to do all the crap they ordered us to. I had a sadist gym teacher in 4th grade. In 7th grade our gym teacher, also one of the football coaches, was an abrasive jerk, but he wasn’t a sadist. Overall I guess I just lucked out. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > What are you talking about? Our “gym teacher” was also the coach for our football team, and he ran us until we threw up…then mocked us for doing so, then made us run four laps around the track for not keeping up. I think physical education has come a long way from when we were younger. There’s a focus on teaching the fundamentals of common sports instead of trying to make the less athletic kids throw up. My 4th grade gym teacher was a fan of punishing the kid who came in last place or couldn’t climb the rope and touch the ceiling. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2026, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351/60 "2026-04-20T05:05:12Z")
This is your anti-sports bias showing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-charter-school-students-forced-to-do-pushups-some-may-have-permanent-health-issues-as-a-result/1029351.md?page=4)