PE - did it promote a life long love of sport or was it ritual torture?

[LuckyMum96]

Just that really, for me it was mixed - too much PE was focussed on the school teams though and not enough on general exercise and activity

*pulled my knickers. Can't type as bit traumatised just thinking about this.

Ritual torture. A friend said to me recently 'I'm grateful every day that pe ends with school' so true!!!!

Also I went to a mostly lovely hippy independent school that was very chilled and non competitive. This resulted in any competitive natures coming out in games lessons.

Torture. I was really good at running and tennis but those weren’t the sports that mattered. The emphasis was on netball and hockey with the ‘cool’ kids that the PE teacher had cute nicknames for. My friend was bigger at school and bullied for it so I’d always make sure I finished the bleep test either just before her or with her, we were always chosen last and the sub. I was a straight A student with E in PE.

Torture.

Torture which led me to still to this very day detest any form of physical activity.... those teachers would undoubtedly be sacked today

I enjoyed PE because I was reasonably sporty. But not the best. I disliked netball because the popular kids were picked for the best positions every time and everyone else was sat on the sidelines watching. Not much exercise for them. Liked cross country but teacher was one of those who used the stick approach to encourage and I would respond better to a bit of positive encouragement.
In hindsight most of the sports weren't really taught to us except the basic rules of the game in the first week and then we were ignored in favour of the top 2/3 pupils. We weren't offered any pointers or instruction on individual form or suggested any training to do at home.
I was also an average and quiet pupil, well behaved so most teachers ignored me completely. Which suited me at the time but I woild have flourished more if I had been noticed and offered the odd pointer and encouragement. Any sort of critism always shut me down and turned me away from engaging. Iyswim.
Ah well.

Torture. The pe lessons were fine but the pe kit and naked communal showers as a 14yo were horrific.

Thank god my children have a much better system these days.

Torture. They only bothered supporting the naturally athletic few. There was one poor girl who was naturally athletic, she was on the county team for 2 different sports, until she developed an illness that took her a couple of years to fully recover from. They never bothered with her after that as she'd lost a lot of her previous form, & she commented some time later how hard she found it.

I was shit at all team sports. Short, asthmatic, & undiagnosed foot problems causing unnatural gait & frequently whole leg cramps when I did any exercise. I had great hand-eye co-ordination though.

Dreaded it - it was basically being shouted at in the cold for two hours. It frustrates me now because it really didn't need to be so awful. Why not let kids try different things out and let them do something they like? I wasn't even bad at sport, just hated being shouted at and having to stand out in the cold in tiny shorts.

Now at 33 I'm finally starting to get active and have even signed up for a netball league. I had to find one that doesn't use a school sports hall though - too many memories!

Utter torture and ritual humiliation. Thankfully my parents facilitated trying out extra curricular sports which I grew to love not least because those teaching were encouraging and lovely.

@derxa

This was normal in the 60s/70s. Not really

Was for me and lots of others.

Also the picking of the teams. They couldn't see it was humiliating that the people who were not great or unpopular were picked last. Teachers were totally oblivious.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/413540/School_Sport_Partnerships_-_summary.pdf
The School Sports Partnership scheme launched in 2002 in English schools was a great initiative. Money was poured into school sport. Money for equipment, teacher training in sport etc etc. Lots of focus on inclusivity. But carry on talking about PE as if it is delivered by sadists.

There are two issues here

I LOATHED PE at school
I hated every minute
I dodged it whenever I could
but I did dance classes 5 hours a week

AND
I am now a total gym bunny
because
PE for my kids included dance and yoga and weight training and pilates and all the things that I now love

such that my kids are both into fitness

PLEASE
do not judge today by what went on in the past

Torture for me, 2 hours enforced exercise per week. I was an overweight child and academic, and felt that by definition the PE teachers had written me off immediately. I was in the top set for everything and bottom set for PE. I enjoyed hockey at school and was actively put off applying to join the hockey team by the PE teacher, which I still haven't forgiven her for.

I'm still overweight - actually I am morbidly obese now, but I'm also a qualified sports coach, qualified to at least the same level as they would have been and could well be higher. And I hope to god i never make the mistake of making a child feel written off the way they and my drama teacher did (I'm a hobby amateur actor now too).

And yes, those damn PE knickers and skirts, bright red PE knickers under a grey skirt I was much happier in jogging bottoms or shorts. We did at least end up with school allowing joggers in winter and cycling shorts under skirts instead of PE knickers.

I wasn’t allowed to wear my glasses - then had to catch/hit a ball.

I hated it. I still loathe sports.

Wish PE could have focussed more on personal health rather than competitive games.

@Bargebill19

Torture and now a hatred of sport/exercise.

This

Torture. PE teacher was a bully who had no time for people who were:1

I didn't mind it. So not the traumatic experience many people here are talking about, but it was a real wasted opportunity. It took me until my late 30s to discover running. I'm actually pretty good and have the physique to be good. I really wish I'd been encouraged at school. Games at school was rather uninspiring and the only competitive side was lacrosse and hockey.

I absolutely hated it. I think the biggest issue was that we were never really taught, it was just about playing hockey, so if you didn't have good co ordination you didn't get extra drills to help you, or homework explaining the actual tactics, you just got dumped on the sidelines getting more and more behind.
Ds is in yr10 now, and they don't get taught skills, but he's in the 'low ability' sports group so they do non traditional sports, which he prefers. He's actually an incredibly good cyclist, and very fit, but has no interest in football

Toddler interrupted me! PE teacher was a basic bully - ruined my confidence.

I didn't answer the question properly. Pe coloured my view of sports significantly in a negative way. Which is in stark contrast to other subjects I really enjoyed, continued to learn as an adult and kept in touch with the teachers.

My dds however seem to get on fine with pe. They are quite happy to try out all the sports and do the half marathon schools challenge. Dd2 is quite sensitive and yet quite enjoys pe!

Torture

I didn't really fully experience the benefits of exercise of exercise until I was in my 30s and already overweight.

I took up open water swimming in my 30s. I went with a v fit friend and commented afterwards that I felt great. He said "that'll be the endorphins" and it was honestly a revelation to me that I could ever feel like that after exercise.

At my school, you could be academic or sporty and the two seemed mutually exclusive. I was academic therefore thought I couldn't be sporty. Seems to be something private schools get right, engendering both?

PS please do not project what you went through onto your children

One of my PE teachers was a predatory violent lesbian
she left the UK when CRB came in
she left all teaching worldwide when DBS came in
sooner or later she will be jailed

and people like her are gone from the system