Wii consoles replace physical education at schools Down Under

Melbourne, April 4 (ANI): The New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education and the Australian Sports Commission has come under fire for allowing children to play virtual tennis, baseball and boxing on Wii consoles during physical education.

Despite growing levels of child obesity, video games are replacing sport in NSW schools under new government policy that puts Nintendo's Wii Fit on the PE curriculum.

Along with cricket, soccer and touch football, parents can opt for their children to play Wii Fit in PE class.

However, Australian world champion boxer Danny Green has criticised the move, saying that he would pull his children out of school if computer games were offered as a sport.

"I could think of nothing worse than having my kids stuck indoors in front of a computer and square box. They are inside a school long enough and to put them indoors for sport is disgraceful," the Daily Telegraph quoted the father-of-two as saying.

Mosman High School is trialling the technology, offering it as an optional sport parents can select from a list of outdoor activities such as kayaking and touch football.

A Mosman High mother said she wouldn't let her child participate and was surprised the Education Department allowed it.

A spokesman for the department said they supported incorporating new technologies in the 'delivery of sport and physical activity'.

"Wii Sports requires physical activity and it's being monitored for its effectiveness," the spokesman said. (ANI)