Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Showers after PE

62 replies

luciemule · 22/09/2010 11:48

Hi,

DD moving up to middle school next year and having read the school brochure, saw it said about having showers after PE.
I can't believe (from my own experience) that they still subject chidlren to the misery of standing naked in a school shower with no curtains.

Can the school make the chidlren have showers after PE? I would have thought not due to child protection issues but not sure. Anyone know and anyone told the school that their child won't be having humiliating, naked showers after PE Sad

OP posts:
DustDustDust · 22/09/2010 17:17

There are showers without curtains at my school, but in 6 years I've never seen anyone use them. They definitely shouldn't force the poor children.Confused

Original poster
luciemule · 22/09/2010 14:46

I was extremely emotional about having to shower after PE (more so when I had my period, which I statred at age 11) and it stick in my mind from then on! I can remember having to get undressed and into and out of the shower and then get dried all whilst I had blood running down my legs, without anyone seeing! I was only 11/12 and it was completely humiliating and none of my friends had started their periods but they too hated it. In the end I used to leave my underwear on, wrap a towel around me, then when the teacher wasn't looking, used to stick my lower legs in to make it look like I was wet (even though sometimes the teachers used to check if your shoulders were dry!)

Obviously in an ideal world we would all shower after PE, but surely the kids can wait until they get home a couple of hours later, before having their shower and wearing clean clothes the next day.

OP posts:
PixieOnaLeaf · 22/09/2010 13:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

DancingHippoOnAcid · 22/09/2010 13:03

DS age 8 has communal shower after games, compulsory for all - but very understandable given the mud-caked state most get into! Grin. He does not seem to be at all bothered.

DDs school do not require the girls to shower after games - I wish they did, they can get a bit rank! Shock

seeker · 22/09/2010 12:55

God, I wish all schools did this. I think it's horrible that they have to put their clothes back on without showering when their are either hot and sweaty or cold wet and muddy.

ElephantsAndMiasmas · 22/09/2010 12:45

Sorry not saying that it will be anything like that, obviously. Just making the point that it rarely ends up being compulsory in practice.

ElephantsAndMiasmas · 22/09/2010 12:44

We had communal showers at our school (in past 10 years), and we were told that it was compulsory, but after a couple of weeks no-one used them AFAIK. And even before that the vast majority went in in swimming costumes. Apart from the embarrassment we also had a male PE teacher who (I later found out totally against the rules) used to come in and chivvy us all to get in the shower.

It was only a few years later that he got sent to jail for sex with a minor, so I'm really glad that we all ignored him.

psammyad · 22/09/2010 12:34

Um... did the brochure specifically say the showers would be 'naked & humiliating' ?

If not, then perhaps they won't be...

Middle school is approx 9-12 isn't it? 9 year olds usually get changed for swimming in a (single sex) communal changing room without being horribly traumatised.

I think P.E. teachers are generally a bit more sensitive to things these days as well, e.g. encouraging unsporty kids to find a fitness activity they enjoy.

It may not be as bad as you remember!

Butterbur · 22/09/2010 12:25

I still remember the misery of communal showers at school. I used to go through in my knickers I was so embarrassed (they were a sort of U shaped tunnel effect you had to run through). Oh the joy when I went to a school reunion and we found those ancient showers were now a games cupboard.

I can't imagine that being a bit niffy is worse. Nor that dangerous bacteria are going to grow on unshowered skin.

ShatnersBassoon · 22/09/2010 12:24

My (very old-fashioned) school had individual cubicles with curtains twenty years ago, so I'd be surprised if any school has a communal shower today. It wasn't a trauma to shower after PE, but pretty pointless seeing as most people just stood under the water for a second then jumped out.

Don't worry about it too much. Have a look at the shower block and then judge if it will be too humiliating to use.

rubyrubyruby · 22/09/2010 12:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

prh47bridge · 22/09/2010 12:19

There are no child protection issues unless an adult is in the showers with them.

The school is acting in loco parentisThat means that while your DD is in their care they have the same rights and responsibilities as you. They would argue that there are health issues involved as the shower gets rid of bacteria which grow when we perspire. It also prevents unpleasant smells which cannot be fully masked with scented powder or deodorants. I don't know if it has been tested in court but I suspect schools are able to make children have showers after PE.

I believe some schools now have individual shower cubicles, so you may want to check what the situation is at this school.