Did you have to shower after PE?

[Quanon]

Question due to a conversation about when this became unacceptable. Was it ever OK? Really? I didn’t ever experience it but DH did, with a teacher enforcing that everyone showered properly. It’s surely not expected now in secondary schools for safeguarding reasons? Our kids certainly don’t.

Were you required to shower after PE at school?

If you could give me an idea of when (decade) and yes or no, it will help our discussion. I wonder if it was more boys than girl?

For us
90s, female, no
90s, male, yes after rugby (teacher watching)

Late 70s - mid 80s. There were communal showers, nowhere near enough of them to accommodate every girl even just filing through without troubling the soap. PE lessons were huge, multi-class affairs. Showers were supposed to be compulsory, but I certainly never took one unless it was after swimming. To be honest, I barely ever broke sweat during PE lessons. I put more effort into walking to the shops at lunchtime. I don't recall any attempt to coerce us into the showers, and I was a pretty compliant, docile pupil.

Mid to late 90s female. Yes it was horrendous. I remember fighting a PE teacher for my towel whilst she tried to pull it off me with everyone watching on to see if I had showered properly. You were still expected to have a shower if you forgot your towel. At least 1, sometimes 3 or 4 teachers watching on.

So what? Just because the teacher was gay doesn't mean she's going to fancy the children, clothed or unclothed!

90's, female - we were supposed to, it made me absolutely hate PE so I would avoid it at all costs.
Our bodies were changing and we were all massively embarrassed - I still hate communal changing rooms now, even after having 2 children.

I totally forgot about this OP!

I went to high school in 2003, Female and we were suppose to shower. We didn't sometimes nobody watched.

I remember my mum saying in the 80s the teachers definitely stood and watched.

Early 1980s - terrifying PE teacher made you drop your towel in a pile then walk into showers naked and scramble to pick your towel up from a big pile afterwards. We were 11, it was mortifying. She stood, arms folded, watching.

They seemed to care less as you got older, we would go in wrapped in a towel and splash water on shoulders.

Seemed to be an exercise in humiliation more than anything.

I hated PE and never broke a sweat so really didn’t apply to me.

That argument would mean it would be acceptable for a heterosexual male teacher to watch the female “children” shower!

Thank goodness that CONSENT is so much more important these days.

I couldn't give a fuck if a person of either sex or sexuality fancies me or not; I just value bodily autonomy and the right to privacy post puberty, and rightfully and thankfully, I got it. I'm just sorry that not everyone was so fortunate.

@Shonla wondering if we went to the same school!!!

90s, yes, watched through communal showers. Would no doubt be illegal now. Certainly felt degrading.

Yes at middle school (1979-81).

Secondary no

Thinking back on it, our objection wasn't to seeing each others bodies, it was that the showers in school were freezing and never having enough time to dry, we had to sit damp through the next lesson.

However, when we played rugby on games afternoons where the pavillion showers were really hot and we had bags of time to dry, we'd all shower quite happily.

Can't recall any masters watching us shower though.

1980s, showering was obligatory except when you had your period. The PE teacher kept a register of when you had your period so you couldn't use it as an excuse to not shower. If you got to the showers before the teacher, you could wrap up in a towel and wet your legs and shoulders and pretend you had already showered. The showers were not cubicles or curtained. It was grim.

You think that's bad at my early 80s primary/infants there were built in brick paddling pools in the playground and after paddling we had to run naked to the hedge at the end of the field and back to dry off.

At secondary there were showers, I think they were communal but not really policed so we just swerved them.

Secondary modern school 1960's. We had to shower. PE teacher watched us walk through. They kept a record of the girls' periods so we couldn't use that excuse more than was reasonable. I dashed through one day and slid over on the tiled floor. I was in full view of the teacher and classmates! We all hated it but had no choice. We were also always late to our next lesson as the PE lesson never finished on time.

Come off it, male teachers in a girls' changing room pose more of a threat than if the roles were reversed and girls would feel much more vulnerable.

I had no clue of the female PE teachers at my school's sexuality. Chances are some of them were probably gay. It didn't cross my mind. I wouldn't have wanted to get in the shower in front of anyone whether it be schoolmates or teachers

1990s. Our school had showers and you were meant to use them, we went through the pretence of going in but they were cold, horrible and not very private although they were individual cubicles.
DC school have showers but I don't think they are in use

1995-2002. Yes. The teacher would rip open the shower curtain when you were mid shower to check you were doing it properly.

Primary school - No
Secondary = yes (1993-4) YR 7 only as the showers (communal) broke (never did get fixed), That was probably the start of it being phased out.
Can't remember if a teacher was present or not.

Thread from eight years ago, probably a fair few repeats here, but might be of interest to anyone who hasn't read it.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2797519-to-think-stripping-naked-to-shower-after-PE-at-school-was-horrific-title-edited-by-MNHQ

Yes in secondary so mid to late 90s, 2 cubicles, 2 female PE teachers, we had to form a queue at each cubicle, teacher would stand at the front of each line, grab the back of your towel, whip it off and usher us into the shower. We weren't allowed out till they deemed we had been in long enough.

Thoroughly humiliating and horrible experience. We used to all try to use the excuse that we were on our periods but they would make a note in their register book and question you if you had a "p" against your name too often.

1998-2003. Early on we had to shower after double pe but not single as there wasn’t much time in a single lesson. We had individual cubicles with curtains. Told to put our towel over the rail so others would know we were in. Told to tell teacher if we had a period and we’d be excused.

at some point it changed because by year 11 we definitely didn’t and I started my period in year eight and don’t recall ever having to be excused due to my period.

wasn’t too bad with curtains but I still hated it. I was a late developer and was so embarrassed to reveal my flat chest!

the boys had open showers and were made to use them though! Awful really.

I was talking with someone about this just the other day about how humiliating it was.

1980s communal showers that you had to walk through - middle and high school so from age 9-16.

1990s yes but it wasn’t massively enforced. There were individual Cubicles with a shower curtain.

We used to do the wet feet and walk them back so looked like we'd had a shower, or possibly shower with towel held over gap to hide us. However, one PE teacher decided to fully police and would make us que and then wouldn't allow us to put a towel up whilst we showered - she would be standing watching and there would be other girls naked showering too - safeguarding nightmare now (and then just not policed in the same way).
Edit to say single cubicles, no shower curtain - 90s