Here is my speech. If you could post it after editing I would really appreciate it. It is supposed to be less than 5 min long, and I’m not sure what to get rid of. Sorry, it is REALLY bad! Also, please leave any suggestions you may have for me to improve it! Feel free to write right on the speech! (or you can just put comments at the end, anything works!! Thanks SOO MUCH!

(Pretends to be Bowling with Wii remote) YES! Strike! (Takes another shot) Aww… gutter ball! I just love my Nintendo Wii, but should it be replacing my phys. ed. classes at school? Yes, it is an insane idea, and five schools in Worcestershire, England are getting mixed reviews on their new program that incorporates the Nintendo Wii into their curriculum. The program may have won a national sports award, but several people disagree with the idea.

Good afternoon (teachers name) and my fellow classmates. I am here today to speak to you about why the Nintendo Wii should not be incorporated in North America’s physical education curriculum. For those of you who are unaware of, or do not completely understand the concept of the Wii, it is basically a gaming system, like the GameCube, or the Xbox, but with a twist. Instead of controlling characters on the screen by merely pressing buttons on a controller, you actually have to move the remote, and the character on the screen will follow your movements. For example, in some games, the action required to make your character jump is to quickly flick the remote upwards. A game that is very popular on the Wii is Wii Sports. On it you can play five different sports: bowling, baseball, boxing, golfing, and tennis. You play these by mimicking the movements made while playing one of these sports in real life.

Now, I am certain that several of you are pondering this question, “Why would this gaming system be part of a schools physical education program?” Good question! How exactly is a game, where all one is required to do is to quickly flip their hand upwards or to the side, going to give kids the amount of physical activity they need in a day? Guess what? ITS NOT! A study done by University students in Halifax shows that the Nintendo Wii fails as a decent form of cardiovascular exercise. The game playing is just not intense enough, and the workout you get is being compared to talking a walk through a park.
Now, what is happening when these systems are being put into schools programs? Chelsea Intermediate School has purchased seven of these systems, twenty-eight controllers, and Wii Sports. The entire school has access to them, but gym classes take priority. So, depending on the size of classes in that school, some students may need to wait for a turn on the Wii, wasting time that could be spent doing effective physical activities. For example, if there is a large class of 35 students, 7 students will be sitting, being inactive, while they wait to play on the video game. Another issue is that each Wii system costs approximately $250, not including all the controllers. So, for a school to buy 28 Wii systems, without controllers or tax, it would cost about $7,000! That’s a lot of money for a school to spend on video games!
Now, I would like to speak to you about a new system for the Wii coming to North America in late May, called Wii Fit. It is a program that uses a platform called the Wii Balance Board. This board can weigh the user, tell them where their centre of gravity is exactly, and what their body mass index is. This game has about 40 different activities, including step dancing, skiing, yoga, pushups, and other exercises. This program also includes a virtual personal trainer. On May 21st, it will be available in Canada for $89.99.
Wii Fit is a much better option for a workout than Wii sports. It requires the whole body to do the activities, and is a lot more physical. Instead of just flicking your wrist, you may be required to squat down as low as you possibly can, without losing your balance, then jump up as fast as you can, to gain a good jump while playing skiing. Wii Fit actually affects your body and will give you a good workout. But does that mean it should be being used in schools? When kids have the option of running around outside in fresh air, or standing inside on a board, staring at a TV screen, which sounds better? When playing sports on the Wii, instead if with actual people, you don’t get the opportunity to learn lessons such as ones about working as a team. You don’t get to play with your friends, you don’t get to breath in fresh air, and you don’t get to feel the competitive aspect of sports. Some may argue that competitiveness ruins students gym class experience, but in small doses, it can be beneficial, and also teach some life lessons.
I have one last small, but important, point that I would like to make. When Wii Fit was released in Japan, the Balance Board had a weight limit of 300 pounds. There are rumors that when Wii Fit is released in North America, the Board will have a higher weight limit, for heavier users here. This says several things, whether it is just a rumor or not. If North America’s population is more overweight and unfit than the rest of the world, than we shouldn’t be inside saying we are getting exercise by staring at a TV screen and flicking our wrists.

Perhaps using the Wii for physical activities in the comfort of your own home isn’t such a bad idea, but it is a video game. And where do video games belong? At home! Not in schools! I hope today that I have convinced you that a phys ed. program incorporating the Nintendo Wii should not be coming to North America.

it’s absolutely wonderful! i suggest you dont use caps for "IT’S NOT!"
otherwise good job
*applause*