Sh@gbands.

[callaird]

Ok, I so know I am not being unreasonable, but I wanted to put this where a lot of mum's/carers would see it.

These are apparently part of a new game being played in school playgrounds.

The girls wear the bands and if a boy breaks it off her, then she has to perform a sexual act, rangeing from hugging the boy to full intercourse.

My ex-charge told me about these things at the weekend and I have told her parents and thought I would post this here to warn others. She is 10 years old, she didn't want to play and so didn't have any bands but then her friends would not talk to her. She was really upset, I am sooo glad that she thought she could come to me!

I googled them and there have been stories in a couple of newspapers (not particularly popular papers on MN!).

I do know that as soon as these have been banned there will be another "game" in the playground but wanted to warn people of these awful things.

[mumblechum]

Sounds like a load of bollocks to me.

[callaird]

Oh! Meant to add that different coloured bands broken equla a different consequence.

[BikeRunSki]

Oh good gracious (trying not to swear here). At least now I understand what the headline in our local paper is about.

[Mamazon]

i jave just skim read the forum for that link.

It is deeply troubling that young girls of school age have so little repsect for themsleves.

Why this isn't more widely publicised i will never know.

[LadyGlencoraPalliser]

It's just a silly playground fad. Not the basis for a moral panic.

[DunderMifflin]

What mumblechum said...

[cocolepew]

It was on Newsround yesterday, a very sanitised version of course! They were saying about primary schools banning them because boys were breaking them and wanting the girls to "kiss or hug them".

[Heifer]

again thanking my lucky stars that DD (5) goes to an all girls school!

One less thing to worry about at playtime

[MuffinToptheMule]

These were about when I was at school. It's just a fad and I never heard about any children having sex because of them.

[angelbymoonlight]

My 11year old bought some with her pocket money, she says both girls and boys wear them at her high school as bracelets, tactfully asked about the breaking them etc and she said she had not seen this happen as the boys wear them too.

[honie]

And this was the first phase I actually bought for my children. FFS

[SpookOnAStick]

My 10 year old son came home from school on Friday proudly showing me the 'shagbands' someone had given him. I kept on insisting that they are called 'gummie bands', as he was going to his Dads for the weekend and I didn't want this face from either him or his partner.
Anyhoo.. after some research, I found that these have been around since the 70's, (how come I missed them?!)
They are hard to break, apparently, and I find it hard to believe that any 10 year old girl, or boy to that matter, would actually take it seriously.

[valhala]

I thought it was just my DDs school which had this fad. I don't think the DC there think or speak of much else at present!

Try as I might to say how unpleasant the name is, DDs (12 and 14) laugh and think me an old fogey. Both the boys and girls wear them and I just hope that like most fads the craze passes soon.

One good note is that I heard DD1 say to DD2 that a boy had threatened to break one of them (the black one, which means sh*g me?), and she had come back at him with, "Don't even think about it sunshine!".

There's hope yet.

[ShutUpandDrinkYourGin]

we had them when I was at school - it was just silly tittering, nothing serious, no one was forced to do anything as the result of a bracelet snapping

this story has been reported before

[argento]

This "fad" was around at my school 10 years ago! No one ever shagged anyone because if gummi bands though, just lots of silliness.

[pointydoug]

an overreaction or what

[Quattrocento]

I think this has been quite widely publicised - was on the news quite a lot over the last few days

Ignore and it will go away, I think

[citybranch]

Yep, I'm 26 now and these were popular at my super strict christian school! No big deal. Especially after playing 'Pinch-Privates' in Juniors...

[ThatVikRinA22]

oh my giddy aunt....im soooo old i havent ever heard of these and rue the day i do. my 12 year old hasnt mentioned them....watch this space.

[pointydoug]

I'd've thought most 12 yr olds would be beyond them

[ThatVikRinA22]

oh thank god for that pointy.

[Wanderingsheep]

is that STILL going on! That game was going around when I was in year 7! It didn't mean anything though. At least not to me!

[pointydoug]

I think som epeople need to talk to their childrne a bit mroe

[Plonker]

My dd's have them.

Dd1 (9) told me that they're called shagbands but seems unaware of the connection to sexual acts (it was actually my mum who told me about the 'meanings' of the bands). My dd is only 9 ffs - she still thinks boys are smelly and weird, and the thought of having to sit next to one in class still makes her shudder

Dd2 calls them gummi bands and thinks they're pretty.

To them both they're plastic bracelets in pretty colours. Nothing more.

I'm not panicking yet ...

[shabbapinkfrog]

My DS4 - 12 years old longs to be 'cool.' He is quite short and stocky (sounds like me!!!) and his friends are tall, skinny and spotty!! He came home with a green band and a black band intertwined (sp??) on his wrist - he said all the cool kids at school have them. Then he read the Daily Mirror's story about them and went like this and took them off straight away!!!

We have already had the 'your body is precious and you dont have to believe the people who say they have had sex' talk. He goes to a borstal high school that is massive (2,500 pupils) and has an awful reputation. When he sees some of the year 10 girls coming out of school pushing their babies in buggys his face is like this it is a whole different world since his eldest brother was a teenager and he is only 27!!