Should sports day be optional?

There's a difference between acceptance that a kid isn't good at something and putting them in a situation where they're going to publicly humiliated, bullied and ridiculed for it!

No. We shouldn’t protect kids from things they’re not good at.

This. My eldest has many strengths academically and it can make him cocky, it does him a world of good to not be one of the best on sports day & recognise strengths in others.

Depends on the school. Our son's school included football, cricket, rounders, , etc., on sports days along with the usual athletic style of running/throwing events.

I remember my mum coming to our sports day in the 1980s, and she definitely wasn't there to witness my glory . I remember her letting me have a cola flavour cup drink, which in retrospect was probably a sympathy offering.

I don’t think it should be banned but I think there needs to be lots of fun / silly races or mini events so it’s not just about who can run the quickest.

Non academic children aren’t allowed to opt out of maths just because they get embarrassed getting the answer wrong

If a child does or says something ridiculous, at worst it's a quick giggle and soon forgotten.

This really isn't the reality for many kids.

Totally agree with you OP

Dreaded and hated every sports Day and was glad to leave due to it . That was a long time ago in the late 70s and I would have hoped, by now, it would already be optional
Not all of us are Sporty, or even like it

I don’t understand why parents attend sports day. That was never a thing when I was a child, I would have hated it.

I think sports day should be compulsory but it should have a range of events - some where the sportier can shine but others that are just more fun.

I think it’s good to make it a team event so kids can cheer on their team and get excited even if they won’t perform well themselves.

‘Sports’ Day is misleading. It’s bloody Athletics. There are many other sports that suit children who don’t enjoy running or throwing things.

They don’t do any of that at DS’s school. Every single child has to do a 50 metre sprint. They do it 6 or 8 kids at a time. KS1 then do something with a beanbag and hoop, but that’s it.

It shouldn't be optional - but it should be fun and inclusive.

Sports Day is a ridiculous anachronism that deeply unfair and unpleasant. Ritual humiliation. Schools don’t have a “maths day” or a “French day” where the most able children get to show off and win prizes while everyone else gets left behind, do they?

If schools want to get everyone together and have a picnic, fine. Just don’t do it in the name of sport. It’s damaging to make kids think the most important thing about participating in sport is being fastest/winning. For most, all it does is put them off completely. For some, it makes them hate sport forever.

It should absolutely be optional. Especially in front of an audience, the sympathy claps were the worst.

But it isn't always speed sports. My child can get a place in the egg and spoon as she realises that if she is steady and doesn't drop it, she can get ahead.

Last year they did a 3 legged race- 2 of the slower children won- they had worked out a brilliant little march which meant they didn't fall over. They got a massive cheer and there were children falling down all over the place.

A good school will put on a variety of events which will cater for everyone.

Exactly. Kids have about as much experience of each sport as they do with each instrument.

None of that directly affects the other kids though. Most will be only half listening and either reading/doing their own work or just day dreaming anyway. If a child does or says something ridiculous, at worst it's a quick giggle and soon forgotten.

When it comes to team sports etc., a kid who's poor can cause the team to lose. That's when the bullying etc is at it's worst! The sporty kids get very annoyed when they've put loads of effort into something, only for their team to lose because "Little Jimmy" came last, or let a goal in, or misjudged his throw etc.

I think it should be optional in theory. But in practice this just doesn't work. As soon as one is allowed to opt out, many others will follow, and probably more likely to be the ones who are not as athletic.

Which will then be followed by cries that sports day is elitist and some children are discriminated against. And it will probably bias against girls. My 8 year old daughter was the slowest in her class last year. Yesterday they did practice for sports day and my daughter came first in every race. She asked her much faster friend 'what hapenned'. The response was "I like X boy and if I beat him it will upset him and he won't like me anymore". My daughter got moaned up by a couple of the boys for beating them. So I have a feeling that mny more girls than boys will opt out if able, creating a divide and feeding into "boys are stronger/faster than girls" narrative.

I absolutely hated sport and PE at school. I was fat and slow and it was humiliating.
I'm retired from teaching now but in the last school I worked at, we had a small playground that wasn't suitable for a whole school sports day so Y6 would organise some activities for each class (after SATs) and each class would go out and have fun. We didn't put it in the newsletter so parents weren't involved. I wish I'd had something like that when I'd been at primary school back in the 70s!

I also remember having to read books out loud in class and the teacher would go round picking kids at random, or doing the same thing with times tables.

Of course it was obvious that Jane was the slowest reader or that Tommy wasn't great at sums. And those kids had to go through that everyday.

Kids aren't stupid - they know when they're the worst at something even if it's not officially announced anywhere.

@taxguru I used a few examples but I clearly mean all other subjects.

It should absolutely be optional.

I hated sports day. It was a ritual of humiliation for me and I felt I would rather have been just about anywhere else on that day each year.

I left school in 1984. Sports Days were shit right through primary school and secondary school.

Of my own three DDs, only one was truly sporty. Neither of the other two liked team sports or athletics but were often forced to participate. At least one of them actually hated it.

There should be options to participate, spectate or just do something else useful.

@taxguru you certainly knew at my school - results even used to get put up
on the wall for everyone to see!

I still remember doing spelling tests where you went around the room and had to spell stuff out loud. One girl (who has since been diagnosed dyslexic) always got it wrong and often got teased and laughed at for it.

Yes, you know which 20-30 pupils are in each group, but you don't know which particular child is really crap at it, i.e. bottom of the bottom group. It's not personal!

With a sports day, it's blatantly obvious which kids are no good, usually they're the ones who are grossly obese, or have no co-ordination skills, etc. It's those traits which the bullies pick up on and use against them.

Have you asked the kids if they agree. I remember being mortified at my inability to understand maths when everyone else in the class seemed to pick things up easily.