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Original poster

Did anyone in your secondary school ever use the showers?

240 replies

Soubriquet · 24/08/2021 13:16

In American programs, teens are always shown using the showers after PE

I remember never seeing anyone using the showers at my school. At best, they were used for some groups of girls to change in semi privately. At worst, they were completely ignored.

So. Your school?

OP posts:
DukeOfEarlGrey · 24/08/2021 21:12

@SeagullSong

Only a very quick rinse of the legs after a muddy cross country run, the water was always freezing. We all doused ourselves in Impulse instead. Assuming similar for the boys as they all reeked of Lynx.
If my brother and his mates were anything to go by this is what they did at home as well!
Silversun83 · 24/08/2021 21:14

@FuckingFlumps

Nope they were only ever used as extra space to get changed in. I don't even think they worked if I'm being honest.
This.
Runrigdan · 24/08/2021 21:16

Nope I never saw a single person use ours. We would change out of our PE kit, spray on some impulse and be good to go!

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Beamur · 24/08/2021 21:17

1980's. No one ever showered. Ever.

gemloving · 24/08/2021 21:18

I grew up in Germany and we all did but Germans are a lot more comfortable with being naked in front of each other than English people.

Aposterhasnoname · 24/08/2021 21:20

Weren’t given a choice in my day. We were all forced to shower, naked, in the communal shower. For late, or early developers, it was pure hell.

SirenSays · 24/08/2021 21:24

Never used them, don't think they ever got them working. We used to beg the teachers turn them on after morning PE lessons on the boggy field so we could wash our legs. They were horrible lessons and we always came back caked in cold thick mud. We always got the same response, they'd speak to the male PE teacher about getting the showers working and that we should just try our best to scrape the mud off.

EverythingsComingUpRoses · 24/08/2021 21:25

Yes, communal showers, teacher checking off on the register that you'd been in and also logged when you said you were on your period which you could just about get away with 2 weeks in a row

If you were on your period then you were told to have a strip wash in the sinks

When we got our timetable we all prayed for PE in the last period of the day because then you didn't have to shower

Comefromaway · 24/08/2021 21:29

We were made to.

LouNatics · 24/08/2021 21:30

Forced to shower fully naked twice a week in front of 30 classmates and two PE teachers. Teacher would check you in at one end and out at the other. If you weren’t wet enough you would have to line up naked and go through again. You were permitted one period pass a month which didn’t need a letter but would be marked against your name in the register and you wouldn’t be allowed to use that as a reason not to shower for another four weeks, no matter what.

Late 90s.

I wonder why I didn’t like exercise.

irresistibleoverwhelm · 24/08/2021 21:34

Yes, but for some reason I never knew we didn’t in year 7, did occasionally in year 8/9 and then didn’t again after that. Maybe it was a specific PE teacher who required it - I don’t know. It wasn’t too bad. Cubicles with curtains but nowhere to put your towel - so you’d get a friend to wait outside and hand it to you and also make sure no-one came and pulled the curtain back.

Kitkat151 · 24/08/2021 21:36

Never

converseandjeans · 24/08/2021 21:39

Yes - all girls grammar 1980s. A teacher would make us line up and watch us to make sure we showered. It was awful!

CornishPastyDownUnder · 24/08/2021 21:42

Same here..teenager in the 80's & our showers were the changing room extension..not sure if they worked? It never even occured to me to turn the tap,or carry a towel&toiletries-im not even sure after a1hr run in mud and icy rain(coincidentally,the only days i remember tho there was surely sun around on occasion?) through the local woods what we did ahead of the next class-i remember walking home with
legs so cold it took hours to warm up&for my feet to dry out-the threat of"chilblains"from hugging the radiator&lying so my feet were on the metal-golden memories 💝...My teens who learnt surfing and lifesaving in warm clean oceans with beachfront shower cubicles dont know theyre born🤣

Dinosauratemydaffodils · 24/08/2021 21:42

British Forces school abroad late 80s/early 90s. Had to strip at our pegs, head to communal showers naked, shower, walk back naked to towel. If the supervising PE teachers thought you weren't wet (and miserable) enough they'd make you repeat the process. Apparently it was meant to toughen us up.

Was very happy when dad got posted and the new school was showerless.

sociallydistained · 24/08/2021 21:44

OP, I just had this conversation with dp after seeing it in an American tv show set in a high school. We both said no nobody did no matter how sweaty as it was too embarrassing to get naked.

happymummy12345 · 24/08/2021 21:52

Same answer as some previous posters.

We had two changing rooms, both had showers in, one of them still had the curtains in, the other didn't. We used the cubicles ad extra or more private changing space. I remember always hoping we got the changing room with the curtains still in it.

We were told on our first day in year 7 that the showers were never to be used in any circumstances. At the time we thought maybe it was only the older year groups who were allowed to use them, like from year 9 onwards, but we were wrong. Then we thought perhaps those in key stage 4 only so years 10 and 11, could use them, but no. When we were doing GCSE's, some people did GCSE PE or GCSE dance. We assumed that the showers were only used by GCSE PE and dance students, thought they would definitely be allowed to, they couldn't, not ever. Not a single person ever used them the whole 5 years I was at secondary school.

I remember we asked one of the teachers once why they were never to be used. She just said "showering after PE is not permitted". We did wonder if they even worked, so once we tried. Turns out they did work. But we got into trouble for it. (We did PE several classes per year group together. We meaning the group my class was part of. We asked as a whole group out of curiosity).

SwimmingUnderwater · 24/08/2021 21:55

@Aposterhasnoname

Weren’t given a choice in my day. We were all forced to shower, naked, in the communal shower. For late, or early developers, it was pure hell.
Exactly.
Kitkat151 · 24/08/2021 21:57

@Aposterhasnoname

Weren’t given a choice in my day. We were all forced to shower, naked, in the communal shower. For late, or early developers, it was pure hell.
Harsh...was this at private school? How old are you now? I’m 55 ...we had 2 showers.. I never once saw them used by anybody in 5 years....always bone dry
Chaotica · 24/08/2021 22:00

Yes. We always used them (at middle school and then upper school, so from 9 onwards). It went from being mortifying to something we just got on with, then to something we did out of choice. We were regularly freezing and covered in mud after PE though, so that might have been a motivation. (We did a lot of cross country running.)

Timeisavirtue · 24/08/2021 22:12

We literally just wet our hair as the teachers would check, other than that no....

wonderstuff · 24/08/2021 22:41

Yep, state comp in early 90s, communal shower, remember us all being ticked off for avoiding the water. Never any soap involved, couldn't have ever got clean. Don't remember it being too traumatic.

We had green gym knickers that we were supposed to run in but I don't think we ever did, think we always wore a gym skirt. We protested about them, being unable to play football and not being allowed to wear trousers, and got all those things changed so must have been some sympathetic teachers.

Sarjest · 24/08/2021 22:50

We used the showers, early eighties, but only after double games, not just a PE lesson as there wasn’t time. Northern grammar, didn’t think a great deal of it although there were a few girls putting forward reasons not to use them.

00100001 · 24/08/2021 23:02

We had cubicles, bit I vaguely recall they didn't lock.
Noone ever used them.
Except for one time when for some reason the PE teacher decided we should all have showers.

Nobody had towels or soap/shampoo.. we were told we should have to use our PE t-shirt as a towel Confused

So she made us all go in, there was probably 15 girls with 4 showers so you had to wait.

I "showered" while pushing the door shut with my foot, fucking terrified that someone would find it hilarious to shove the door open/peek over the top. Then as injad no towel,and had to go back into the changing rooms. I out my t-shirt and shorts back on...

We were all late for the next lesson and had soaking wet hair etc.

Never had to shower after that....

Very odd.

DahliaMacNamara · 24/08/2021 23:13

In theory, we were meant to shower. In practice, half the year group would be in the changing room at the same time, and there couldn't have been more than 6 shower heads in there. Never set foot in it myself, and never saw anyone else do so either. Only time we got near water was in swimming lessons at the leisure centre.