When I was a kid, I was nearly always in motion. In the morning I fed the animals, did chores, made breakfast, showered dressed and went to school. At school we were always playing handball or cricket or throwing a softball back and forth. Twice a week we had 2 hours of PE and

2. once a week we had an entire afternoon of sport: swimming, soccer, hockey, squash, athletics, but we were always on the go. After that, I'd go straight off to training - tennis or squash or softball or athletics or hockey. For every day of the week I'd have 3 hours of training

3. after school, rain, hail or shine - often under lights. In holidays we were always on bikes or horses or bushwalking or in the pool - hours upon hours of exercise.
I see that now Australia says kids need 1 hour of exercise. This is utter bullshit! If your kid is NOT outdoors

4. and moving about like a crack-filled ferret, then they aren't getting enough exercise. Kids now are fatter and less fit than in the 1970s and 1980s. They're sedentary, stuck on their backsides playing Fortnite. We need to revise the low expectations. Over 50% of Australians

5. are overweight and the reason for this, I dare venture, is the misery of low expectations. We need to get the kids back outside, back on bikes and horses. Running around training for sports after school and in the holidays. It teaches them more than exercise. It teaches them

6. compromise, patience, sports psychology and resilience. Exercise releases endorphins - happy hormones - that make kids better at learning and better as people. We need Norm back: Life. Be In It!