Should sport in school be damaging?

Trewser - these were 7 year olds. I once did a calculation incorporating the longer day than state schools and the longer hols than state school to determine how long they spent on academic work. The state school was the winner.

However, the really important thing about the school was that Maths was significantly behind the tiny local primary he attended next.

At state secondary and top independent sector school locally, 2 times per week sport is the norm. I don't doubt it would be more at the 'day and boarding' minor public school here but they offer sports scholarships and the top local independent (one of the top in the country) does not.

I do like sport and my son does plenty of after school but he's academic so what he looks for is different.

The more skilled a player, the less likely there are to be injuries. Teeth are my big worry so I always buy custom fitted mouthguards.

Yes, injuries are a risk of sport. But I don’t think the teacher should be saying that: it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy if the pupils are told that injuries are “normal”, and play more roughly than they otherwise would. In my adult netball games, umpires say “tidy that contact up, we don’t want injuries”.

It reminds me of my university hall of residence, where they told us “vandalism happens, and you’ll collectively be charged for it”. Result? Vandalism. Lots of it. Axe presented to vandal on a golden platter.

I have only heard of one or two injuries in PE in my years of teaching especially in girls PE where none of them get too involved or take it seriously but then the school I am at doesn't do lacrosse and I don't know the rules so I can't comment on lacrosse itself. I mean though PE teachers are meant to plan their lessons safety I think as long as they're not the ones doing the damage they're covered.

The worst children's sporting injury I ever heard of (in my own social circles) was a cyclist. (Traffic coming the other way, one car overtaking another, the young person on the bike veered off the road to avoid a head on smash with the car and hit a tree at 20 mph. I forget all the details, but broken shoulder was definitely one of the injuries)

OP - you and your daughter need to get used to the idea that every day life is full of risk of injury and 99% of injuries are extremely minor and inconsequential. A broken arm or finger would be a pain in the neck for a few weeks, but not "a disaster".

I got ligament damage in my ankle... From cross country. And multiple sprained wrists.

I also got concussion falling off a chair.

there are padded gloves you can wear for hockey and lacrosse which help protect fingers - dd wears one after hurting her fingers too many times.

But honestly no - as everyone has said, take with a pinch of salt what the teacher has said.

3 times a week! Every day at dds private school. Might as well stay in the state sector if you only want sport 3 x a week.

Lacrosse - so this is an independent school I’m guessing.

So in the bubble of the Prep school environment our DS was once in, Sport was 3 times a week. Contact rugby started in Yr4 and when we moved Back into the state sector his Maths was mega behind.

Dd plays lax, hockey and football. She's had the odd football injury and nothing from hockey or lax.

The teacher was joking. Tell your dd to pull herself together.

Lacrosse isn't especially dangerous.

The American Indians played it to the death.

The French women's national game.

Those little nuggets of information and my own personal experience of playing it for five years at school would lead me to argue with the idea that lacrosse isn't especially dangerous.

But then, like the indigenous population of North America (can't answer for French women of the 1970s), we played with little protective kit (other than in our case a sturdy oiled wool games jumper) and I understand that things are a little different these days.

Being on a hockey pitch with the Finnish girl who had only previously played the ice version and could not grasp that sweeping like that just wasn't allowed in the field game, now that was dangerous.

Same problem here. It depends on the sport. When I played varsity basketball and volleyball, hardly a week went by without broken fingers. Not a good choice for a string player. Lacrosse, as rugby for boys, is also pretty bound for bruises etc. Not that much of a risk to fingers, though ( though great risk for broken noses) DD report cards always states that she is rather delicate and too eager to avoid injury/not prepared to keep playing with strained ankle etc. I think she is rather sensible! I wouldn't seek situations in which I am beaten up with a hockey or Lacross stick. But it seems there is quite some macho attitude among PE teachers, especially at public schools. Does your DD have any choice? Could she choose swimming of athletics or tennis instead?

imo sports (all sports including pe) should be challenging and minor injuries (bruises, maybe a twisted ankle) should be accepted.

imo pe at school involves too much sitting around and not enough rigorous exercise, i.e. getting sweaty and out of breath.

however, the teacher/trainer should make sure that everyone knows the rules that are there for safety reasons (hockey sticks never above knee level for example)

My dd is very sporty (and very clumsy). She broke her arm very badly - she was in a cast for 3 months. Was it the time she tripped over a post in cross country? Or any of the myriad times she face planted during football? Or the crack across the knuckles in hockey? Or the time she picked up her friend’s jumper?

Honestly OP, your ds could break a bone at any time. Having said that, I did refuse to let ds go bmxing the weekend before his 11+.

Talk to some year 11s, and ask them if they have broken anything in PE lessons.
All things carry a risk, some sports are more risky than others:
But I know a girl who broke both arms swimming.
I know a lady who gave herself severe concussion playing tennis.
My df pulled a muscle playing chess.
And a friend at university ripped her leg muscles so badly jogging that she was told she was at risk of ending up in a wheelchair unless she rested for a year.

I think you are feeding into your dcs fears with this instrument thing. You are catastrophising minor fractures. I work in children's sport and come across some children who are utterly terrified if they hurt themselves because of parents like you. If they break their fingers they would probably only miss a week or two and an arm maybe 4-6 weeks
You realise that running carries a considerable risk of injury ?

I have to admit to pulling my son out of hockey in the term he had music scholarship auditions (year 8). Actually all I did was speak briefly to his teacher about whether it was an option and he was all for it straight away. My son didn't really enjoy team sports anyway - at senior school he mainly chooses to run, which is a good option for musicians!

Whilst I agree that the teacher's comments may have been meant TIC, it would be very appropriate to discuss whether playing lacrosse is right for your daughter, and if she is to continue it, to ensure she is given good advice on how to play without undue risks to her hands! Depending on the response you get to a polite discussion about the real risks and alternatives, if it appears the teacher is actually blasé about the risks then I would raise it with the school.

Luckily there is only one ball between loads of people so you can avoid getting near it.

This reminds me of Flora Poste's approach for any Cold Comfort Farm fans!

Seriously though, lacrosse balls are really hard and as justajot says, much of the tackling and catching happens around the head and being whacked on the fingers isn't that uncommon either. I think it is a game that requires physical courage, more than footie or netball but less than rugby imo.

The way the teacher spoke was a bit unfortunate and a poor way of handling things. I think their intention was just to get the kids to have a go and get into the game properly and not be precious petals.

I've been rather shocked by the number of broken bones at DDs high school, mostly football related and amongst the girls who play in teams rather than during lessons.
I think the teacher sounds like they have misread their audience though.

Agree teacher was winding them up. And no, I don't think that's outrageous of teacher. They need to learn to spot BS.

Lacrosse is a crazy sport. You are running about with the ball in a net by your head while other people try to hit your net with a stick. Luckily there is only one ball between loads of people so you can avoid getting near it.

I think you need to take this with a pinch of salt.

If you think about it, risk of having accidents is everywhere.

Football is a contact sport
Rugby is a collision sport
Netball is a contact sport
Hockey is a contact sport

They all have high likelihood of injury in varying degrees.

But so does everything else we do... from making dinner in the kitchen to making a cup of tea, to walking down the stairs. Everything we do comes with a risk.

The important thing with sport is to emphasise warm up and stretching to prepare muscles and protect from injury.

Withdrawing your DD from sport would be silly IMO. PE teachers are notoriously short on empathy.