Making the unfit kid who comes last run round the field again?

[Veuvelily]

Can anyone tell me the logic here.
What is the games teacher trying to achieve?

The child has tried his best and feels like he’s being punished unfairly
Plus he’s then used up all his energy, so is tired for the actual games lesson

I was made to do this one school sports day. I had stupidly (and maliciously, I think tbh) been put forward for some half mile run or something like that...all I know is it was 3 and a half times round the field. I was quite shit, sportswise, to put it mildly. And was against the more sports people (hence thinking my 'team' put me forward for it to take the piss) and was made to do an extra lap round, after the others quite literally rang rings around me.

It was such a ridiculous situation, as I was crap at running/endurance stuff, but was great with strength, and I was roginally down for doing javelin, which tbh given past attempts at that, I would probably have won that quite easily. But no, none of the other throwing ones either. Running. Worst. Possible. Category. Complaining to the PE teacher (who surely must have realised having the kids pick wh did what by popular vote could end in such a way...) bore no fruit, was told 'oh well, try something neeeeeeew, you may improve!' in a realy patronising tone.

I refused to do PE from that day onwards. Made various excuses of illness to start with, but then started to flat out say fuck it.

It had the opposite effect to whatever it was meant to do to me. Unless, of course, the point WAS to humiliate me, which worked well I guess.

The only reason they'd be forced to run again these days is if they've been messing around in class. It's not acceptable to do this in schools now and I doubt a teacher would do this.

I would be suspicious you are not hearing the full story.

Hmm. I see I defaulted to 'sportswise' for me being crap at, when I meant, running and such. Yeah, fucked up my entire view of sports, tbh.

You mentioned your DS doesn't like doing what he is told to do.

Have you thought he's telling this so you'll call the school and he won't have to participate anymore?

I'd worry less about the teacher being "mean" and help get his diet under control with his GP and a dietician.

It's far more humiliating to be an overweight teen boy than to run an extra lap.

@PanamaPattie

I’m sad to see nothing has changed since the 60s when I was at school. Sadistic PE teachers still being employed. Generations of children still being put off exercise for life. How depressing.

I don't think that's entirely fair.

The PE teachers at my DC secondary school do try - they usually do a wider range of activites then I did.

The female PE teachers are aware of excerise induced asthma - and one who suggested DD1 seek help.

They have been hampered by covid - reducing what they can do with the kids and I think DS PE teachers are a bit less imgative and less on the ball than my DDs PE teachers but they are miles better then the ones I or DH had in the 90s.

I think that's why this is so bad as in most case while not perfect most schools PE lessons have tried to improve and there's certainly more awareness that not all children enjoy PE and they do try for more variety.

I think OP is entirely correct to expect much better these days.

Could you speak to the Inclusion manager to explain how this will put your son off from even wanting to go to school and that you are working on his fitness.

It's shocking how people are willing for kids to abandon all exercise, for schools to remove all competition and pretend everybody is great and there's no need to put any effort anywhere.

There's a lot in between removing all competition and punishing and humiliating them for slowness or poor performance. The OP's son was no doubt aware that he had finished last and wasn't particularly 'great' at this activity. He didn't have to be singled out and punished for it.

And it's precisely this sort of thing that does lead to so many people 'abandoning all exercise' as soon as they possibly can.

It begs the question why is the child so unfit in the first place? All these bleating hearts on here moaning about how they hated PE.....It's why there are so many morbidly obese people now. Exercise is good for you and absolutely should be compulsory for every child.

Thats really unfair and terribly shocking if im honest, I would contact the teacher and tell them that your child will always be last but is trying their best and this is simply turning them off sport and ask him to stop immediately, I'd contact the principal if you had to.
There are loads of ways to promote a bit of healthy competition without resorting to this.

@Mojoj but is using exercise as a punishment a way to encourage kids to lead more healthy lifestyles. Some people are better at things than others...My stamina and core strength is phenomenal and I am exceptionally limber but running was just not my forte - my eye foot coordination was dreadful and i tripped over my own feet a lot.

As an adult I am fit and enjoy exercise but if you made me run i'd still be terrible.

We should be encouraging kids of enjoy sports to combat obesity not making it something they dread

From what your DS has said it does sound unfair. However, you only have your DS version of events.

You just need to make an appointment with the head and the PE teacher and go in and calmly find out their side of this story.

There could be a little more to it than simply your son being made to do another lap on his own for no reason other than just coming last.

Or if that is the full truth and full facts, THEN you have every right to lose it with them as that is just plain ridiculous and damaging your son's confidence.

I have been down the school before on behalf of my teenage ds, ready to rip them a new one, only to find out there were a few small details my ds had failed to mention which put everything into a slightly different perspective and situation was not as clear cut as he had made it out to be.

@Mojoj

It begs the question why is the child so unfit in the first place? All these bleating hearts on here moaning about how they hated PE.....It's why there are so many morbidly obese people now. Exercise is good for you and absolutely should be compulsory for every child.

Nobody is saying it's not good for you, but outdated teaching with added humiliation will NOT encourage lifelong fitness.

That's really awful! Definitely complain. I was a slow runner even though I was thin and actually quite fit (swimmer) because of painful knee joints. I would have been so upset and humiliated if this happened to me. I was a child of the 70s and it didn't happen then!. It sounds more like the 1950s.

@Mojoj

It begs the question why is the child so unfit in the first place? All these bleating hearts on here moaning about how they hated PE.....It's why there are so many morbidly obese people now. Exercise is good for you and absolutely should be compulsory for every child.

I agree totally! Compulsory PE when I was at school, with lots of humiliation on top was really good for me. I learned how to forge my mum's signature really well so I could make a fake note to get out of PE, I developed a load of medical knowledge so I could fake symptoms of various conditions to avoid sports and when all that failed, I had the independence to just stop turning up to school full stop and play truant. All valuable life skills.

Without a bit of tough love from my PE teacher I might have just kept trundling along and staying third from the back.

@bookworm20

From what your DS has said it does sound unfair. However, you only have your DS version of events.

You just need to make an appointment with the head and the PE teacher and go in and calmly find out their side of this story.

There could be a little more to it than simply your son being made to do another lap on his own for no reason other than just coming last.

Or if that is the full truth and full facts, THEN you have every right to lose it with them as that is just plain ridiculous and damaging your son's confidence.

I have been down the school before on behalf of my teenage ds, ready to rip them a new one, only to find out there were a few small details my ds had failed to mention which put everything into a slightly different perspective and situation was not as clear cut as he had made it out to be.

This.

I’ve sent the head of games an email, asking if it’s normal practice. Asking for the logic behind it as I find it puzzling, demotivating. Humiliating for ds
Even if he is messing around , exercise as a punishment isn’t good.
I’ve told them that he’s struggling with self esteem etc and I would like their help. Don’t want him to hate games as well as every game else

It's completely unreasonable. I have cerebral palsy and have horrendous memories of being lapped by others and then having to go around again on my own, with my awkward jogging gait, everyone watching me. Any decent teacher with any notion of differentiation would have stopped me when everyone else was finished. The others would have understood why.

After I left school I didn't exercise again until I was 30! I associated it with shame and embarrassment. And those feelings are the same whether someone has a disability, is fat, or is just not good at running. It doesn't do any good and doesn't make them any fitter, because a bit extra in PE doesn't make up for the avoidance of exercise everywhere else!

@DrCoconut

This is why traditional PE should be optional for those that like it and are good at it. The same as choir/chess/cooking/whatever are. The rest should be taught about health, why a good diet and exercise are important etc but not humiliated on a field 1950's style. I bet uptake would be better if the lessons were things like yoga, dance, fun games where no one cares who wins and the kids could wear whatever comfy clothes they choose rather than a horrible PE kit. It comes down to whether the aim actually is promoting health and fitness or forcing conformity. I suspect it's still the latter in many cases.

Well said. I thought I hated exercise because at school it revolved around team sports. I had very poor hand to eye coordination and got laughed at and bullied when I dropped or missed the ball. In my 20s I discovered dance and yoga and weight training - loved it all.

That is outrageous - what a horrible thing to do.

I’ll forward to hoy and organise a meeting, need a catch up anyway, we made
Some changes earlier in the year and I need feedback- both ways

Speaking as someone who was repeatedly subjected to this in secondary school PE in the 80s, i.e. being made to run extra laps of the athletics track for coming last in 400/800m and extra circuits for coming last in cross-country, all I can say is that it's shit, humiliating, did NOT spur teenage me to exercise more or become better at running, and YES, does put people off for life.

Cruel a d bullying

Your poor DC. Humiliating a child who is already unfit is the worse thing to do as it will just put him off exercise in the long run. I used to absolutely hate my PE teachers back in the 80s, they were sadistic bullies. I was the child who was last to be picked for teams, and I was always a long way behind everyone else on sports day. I was very skinny and just didnt have the energy to run around the field 3 times. I got shouted at by the teachers, but my mum took me to the Drs and it turned out my lack of energy was due to acute anaemia. So all the shouting in the world was never going to help me run around that field.Took me a long time (in my 30s) to find sports I actually enjoyed doing.

If he is spending an hour a night on an exercise bike/punchbag I can’t see that he would be unfit. Not if he is using them properly. That would be some serious energy he’d be using.
Also, at 5ft 9 it would be unlikely that “short legs” are the issue with running.
You say he is overweight, so this is most likely to be diet related. You should help him with this. If he were mine I’d get him running more often. Go with him a few times a week. Being able to run will help with all his other sports and his weight. Teacher could have been kinder but all children should be capable of running a fair distance.

@tattleandbagels

I am middle-aged mother so hardly a fitness icon to say the least.. 2 or 3 laps around a field is hardly a big deal is it?

I would be very concerned if my young teen was too unfit and "exhausted" for running an extra-lap that the rest of his class managed.

How can they be so unfit so young?

Depends on the school surely.