Posted on: Tuesday, June 5, 2001

Surfing for credit considered

By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Education Writer

Surfing is riding a wave to becoming an official school activity. While states like California offer surfing in physical education classes where students can earn credit for hanging ten, some are asking why Hawai'i — where wave-riding was born — does not.

Surfing and other ocean sports have been barred from schools because of a Department of Education policy resulting from a drowning on a field trip years ago, Windward District Superintendent Lea Albert told a Board of Education committee yesterday.

But the recent introduction of paddling has opened the door, and Albert and others want students to be able to join school surfing clubs. At this point, supporters are not seeking a surfing tournament league.

"(Students) want to represent their schools," Albert said. "We just hope it doesn't take a decade. It has already taken many years."

The department is hesitant because of the question of liability, said administrative services director Francine Grudzias. But the department will explore what it takes to "make it safe," she said.

Albert argued that surfing is no more dangerous than any other sport. In one year, as many people drowned in their own bathtubs as they did surfing, she said.

"We understand the resistance to this sport, but we need to really focus on the fact that we have hundreds and hundreds of young people who are surfers," she said.

It's also a way to encourage good grades, she said, and it could even lower school violence by keeping students occupied during the after school hours — the prime time for experimenting with drugs or other risky behaviors.

Board committee members appeared to agree.

"Surfing is and has been a part of our tradition through history," said board member Donna Ikeda. "It seems to me that in this case, rather than looking at why it can't happen, we ought to look for ways to make it happen."