Rose Is Rose

The storyline for the comic strip "Rose Is Rose" this week concerns the fear and trepidtion of the kid knowing that in PE class he has to "climb up the rope".

It's a theme found in Daniel Pinkwater's "Alan Mendelsohn", and I suppose elicits memories from the reader of the time in public school where they had to "climb the rope" in PE class.

Here's the thing: I... don't remember that experience. When and where is this standard Physical Education protocol? It seems like something that was moved beyond from in, maybe the 1970s. I keep seeing things like this pop up in the comic strip "Zits", where I'm supposed to "know" the key growing up experience, but I simply don't.