To want to ban primary school sports day?

[namechangingagainagain]

I HATE sports day. I REALLY REALLY hate it!
Don't get me wrong as a child I was sporty. I did well at sports day and loved it.
However now I'm a parent Ive had to drag DS6 to school this morning. I have 3 school age children. They are all competitive but only the eldest is good at sport. He liked sports day. The other 2 found it the most painful day of the year.

Don't get me wrong they can all play a board game and lose without too much bother. They are all active and fit. They just hate sports day..... the sitting around...... the cheering parents...... DS aged 9 said " I hate it when they clap you and you're last.... it's really humiliating....."

It seems once you get to high school it's more opt in... which is fine.
FWIW I'm not anti-competitive at all but it just seems to me when they are little they don't have the emotional intelligence to cope with it ( or maybe it's just my children...)

( and yes I probably just should have let him have the day off in hindsight )

[Shouldwestayorshouldwegonow]

Oh get a bloody grip.

I hate this attitude that if my kid doesn't win let's stop all kids doing it.
What about the kids whose one day to shine is sports day? You need to teach kids to win and loose gracefully.

Should we ban spelling tests because some kids can't spell? Or exams in general?

Sorry this sports day angst drives me batty.

[namechangingagainagain]

well unless you're in the US then I think it's unlikely to have a public spelling Bee. Exams ... fine.... you are 16+ usually for the important ones.

I think sports day turns some children off all sport for life.

As I said I was the one who had a chance to shine when I was a child as did eldest DS.... but I also remember other children crying/ falling over and generally hating it.

[MollyTwo]

'The emotional intelligence' yes get a grip and sort that out with your kids. Why should it be banned for everyone else because yours can't manage?

[MadHattersWineParty]

I hated sports day too. I knew I wasn't good at sport. No hand eye co ordination. And I'm clumsy.

So it wasn't my favourite day of the year but I did understand that it was just something that you just got on with! The kids who were good at sport, that was their time to shine. For others it was just a nice afternoon out of the classroom.

Maybe we just didn't overthink it.

[RoganJosh]

Mine would be fine with a public maths or spelling competition, but hate sports day. I don't see that that's how it should be.

[ElleBellyBeeblebrox]

Not all kids enjoy it. I went to my Dds the other day and I lost count of the tears from various kids. I like how they do it at her school though as they have about 15 different activities (something for everyone hopefully) and they are split into small groups and the parents follow them round to watch. So less pressure for the anxious ones about having to get up and run in front of hundreds of parents.

[OddBoots]

It sounds like it isn't the sports, the children have no issue with playing sports in teams or individually it is the way sport is singled out as the annual lesson, stretched to half a day or a whole day that everyone (including parents) watches you do and knows how you rank in the class/school.

[areyoutheregoditsmemargaret]

My children always come last at sports' day (and invent excuses about tripping etc). I find it boring beyond belief.

Too bad. Someone's child comes first and that makes someone's child very happy.

[EdmundCleverClogs]

I was crap at sports, really awful. My coordination is still a joke to this day. I would never call to see it banned because I'm awful at it, it's a time to step back and cheer on those who are good at it. Would you build a whole school curriculum on only what your precious kids are good at? Perhaps just teach them it's ok not to be good at everything, as is the case with everyone else.

[JuneFromBethesda]

It was PE lessons that put me off sport for years. That and the compulsory annual cross country race at my primary school - god, I hated that. At the age of 38 I took up running and amazed myself by loving it. If it hadn't been for the cross country race I might have tried it sooner.

I wasn't particularly good at sport as a child either but I remember sports day at my (primary) school being quite fun - as well as the serious races we had silly ones, egg & spoon and stilt-walking. Neither of my daughters is likely to be particularly sporty (although the youngest can run fast enough when she chooses too ) but it's a nice day outside and we all have a picnic lunch together.

I think it can be run in a way that makes it fun for the less sporty kids - at my children's school they do races, but also play games led by teenagers from local secondary schools.

[MadHattersWineParty]

I won the slow bycycle race. Proud moment

I never ever won anything else. Meh.

Seriously are there really kids going around in tears and crying and carrying on because of sports day? Are they tiny children? Reception or year one? Because if not then I fear we are breeding a generation of special snowflakes.

[BathshebaDarkstone]

My DC enjoy it. There's no real competitiveness, they get to go to school in PE kit, spend half the day in the park, have a packed lunch (which school doesn't allow the rest of the year), then go home. And this year, the next day's an inset day too!

[Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost]

The mum's race used to get me. They'd be running with faces like thunder. Taking it really seriously. It was a school race. Imagine what they'd be like it the Olympics.

[AvonleaAnne]

My children are not great at sports but very good academically. I think it is extremely healthy for them to see other children having a chance to shine. If they don't learn how to deal with this while they are little they will make very unpleasant adults.

I do make sure that they realise that not all exercise has to be a competition - it can just be fun. We all do Parkrun together at the weekends and spend a lot of time swimming, walking and cycling.

[user1465823522]

It's one day - surely you can suck it up for that long.

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

School needs to manage it properly. My middle child has real issues about competition and losing and Sports Day has been a good learning opportunity for him. They are very careful to group the children in races with others of similar ability, rather than just their own year group, so even the ones who are bad at it get a proper race. It works really well - it means you still get to celebrate the achievements of those who are genuinely athletic without excluding the rest.
I just wish I didn't have to go....

[featherpillow]

I used to keep my DS off school for sports day. He tried it for a few years but he got to the stage where he would feel sick at the thought of doing activities in front of a field full of parents.
I think its a shame that they dont let kids decide if they want to take part. For some its a day of fun but for others its a nightmare.
Like you say OP, a spelling test isn't taken in front of a room full of cheering parent/siblings/grandparents etc.

[theworldaccordingtome]

I'm with you on this. It is just an exercise in public humiliation. If they tried to do the same with other subjects for example compulsory competitive maths but with all the rest of the school and all the parents watching and cheering and patronisingly applauding those who come last, there would be an outcry! Do it for all subjects alike or none, or else you're saying it's okay to embarrass kids who are bad at sport, but not okay to humiliate people who are poor at maths/spelling/science etc.

[KoalaDownUnder]

I was shit at sports, but so what. It was a fun day out of the classroom for most, and the 'sporty' kids got a chance to shine.

Kids need to learn that it's not all about them.

YABVU.

[Raaaaaah]

My eldest two are pretty rubbish at sports day but seem to enjoy it. They are both fit and very active just not vaguely coordinated. I do think that there should be an award for good sportsmanship though. There is a little girl in my son's class who really struggles but loses with such good grace and always supports the sports billies who win every year. It would be nice if that was acknowledged. I'm aware that I will probably get flamed with lots of "get a grips" for this comment .
I on the other hand HATE sport's day. I wait in terror for the Mother's race. My pelvic floor is simply not up to the job!

[NickyEds]

Two of your kids found it "the most painful day of the year"? Well they are very lucky children. For some it will be the best day of the year. I still remember that there was one boy in my class at primary who struggled with everything in the classroom , came last in every test but won on sports day- you'd want to take that away because other children can't cope for one day with what he had to cope with every day?

[RaskolnikovsGarret]

DD1 won every race she entered, and DD2 came last in every single race. But they both enjoyed it and were fine. Sounds badly run at your school. Sorry your DCs don't enjoy it, but I think it should still take place. I think having an overall House cup to aim for helps, as well as individual medals.

[gleegeek]

I don't think it should be banned but I do think sports day could be run better. It's the only curriculum area where children have to demonstrate their ability or lack thereof in public. Have to, not choose to. My dad actually coped OK with primary sports day because she was middle if the road so never felt 'on show'. The school also let anyone who really found the idea unbearable to get involved in holding the finish ribbon, handing out badges etc, so quite sensitive tbh.
Dd is in an incredibly sporty class at secondary and is dreading sports day apparently a lot of judging goes on by the so-called popular set and it's all exposing and not good for self-esteem.
I think if heats were held during pe lessons, then the very best could compete against each other on sports day and the rest could cheer their house representatives on and take part in sport activities instead eg aerobics, circuits, tennis etc etc.