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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU to think that PE is a complete waste of time for non sporty children

165 replies

onceamai · 09/03/2011 00:10

Why is there an obsession with PE/Sport in schools. Great if children are sporty but why does it have to be compulsory. There are so many other ways to get exercise and throwing/catching balls is not the be all and end all. I hated it and it (together with a vile PE teacher who told me I was uselesss) made my school days a complete misery. Why does exercise have to involve netball, hockey, gym, grubby showers, etc., when it can involve dance, aerobics, walking, fresh air, etc.. I detested the humiliation of it all and can see no reason why it should be compulsory. I was also slim and fit and at fifty remain so (ish) without ever having participated in sports. Some of the gung ho girls I went to school with are now the fattest and unfittest you can imagine. It also seems to be taught by the roughest, nastiest, most bullyish types one can come across and I can't see what the benefits are for girls who are non sporty, don't like being teased and bullied, are feminine and don't like getting dirty.

OP posts:
Themumsnot · 09/03/2011 10:07

DD's school provide the bikes. I don't think buying 30 bikes should be a huge for a large secondary school (1500 kids in DD's school) but obviously it depends on the size of the school.

Themumsnot · 09/03/2011 10:07

As far as can ride a bike goes - surely that is as much the point as anything - those that can't are taught to.

cantspel · 09/03/2011 10:08

and storage problems for the bikes, space to use to cycle, safety helmets and possibly insurance if they are leaving the school premises. if they use their own bikes some might turn up with unsafe bikes ect. It would be a nightmare to arrange.

Abcinthia · 09/03/2011 10:10

Themumsnot Where I went to school, we had 2 PE lessons a week, one mixed sexes and one single sexes. The people I knew at other schools had PE in a similar way. But maybe it varies in different parts of the country?

Netball, rounders, hockey and rugby were single sex (the boys did basketball, football, rugby and hockey). Aerobics, dance, cross country, badminton and tennis were mixed sex.

elphabadefiesgravity · 09/03/2011 10:10

I think its a great idea for school sthat can afford it but can see how some can't.

twopeople · 09/03/2011 10:10

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bruffin · 09/03/2011 10:11

PE at DCs school is very different from my day
They actually get to chose what sports they do.
Ds's do trampolining, swimming, badminton, dance and even golf.
My DCs are not really the traditional sporty types not into kicking balls and running and they even have a lesson in the gym in the sports centre attached to the school but they really enjoy PE nowadays. Once they are year 9 or 10 they get free access to the gym after school as well.
DS does sports out of school such as kayaking and climbing and is actually very fit

twopeople · 09/03/2011 10:12

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BaroqueAroundTheClock · 09/03/2011 10:14

but what about those children that can't (like the boy I mentioned above - believe me it's not for a lack of trying that he can't ride a bike, he just physically can't do it). I believe while many children with dyspraxia do successfully manage to learn to ride a bike, many don't

bruffin · 09/03/2011 10:14

DC's school do some sports mixed including rugbyShock

DD was one of only two girls in her badminton class, but it turned out well as she made a lovely new friend.

DS used to run at the girls screaming in rugby so they just put the ball down and run away. He never had to tackle them.

twopeople · 09/03/2011 10:19

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cantspel · 09/03/2011 10:20

there is always some sport even a disabled child or non sporty child can do. My sons school has ping pong which a lot of the non sporty children choose over basket ball or football.

elphabadefiesgravity · 09/03/2011 10:22

There is a dyspraxic girl in dd's class. She attempts most things. She does ballet outside of school as it helps her co-ordination. For most, not all, sports there are ways of adapting the sport to account for disabilities.

Lollypolly · 09/03/2011 10:23

When I was at (private) school in the 80s, we did an hour of PE a day including rugby, football, cricket, rounders, swimming, cross country and obstacle races etc in the gym. It was a mixed gender school.

Although I hated it, it taught all the soft skills employers look for today - competitiveness, teamwork, decision making, strategy and planning etc etc. Sport is key to relaxing and re-energising during periods of work - there should be more of it in schools.

BaroqueAroundTheClock · 09/03/2011 10:27

I'm talking specifically about the idea of children taking their bikes into school "as an option" (nice if they have a bike and have the option.......).

If you want a way for children to feel even more alienated and miserable in PE then I think that cycling is a sure way to do it personally. Especially as it's being suggested for seigniory school age!

By that age I think most that are going to be able to ride a bike will be doing so, and those that aren't going to be able to (or who don't have a bike) won't

vintageteacups · 09/03/2011 10:30

You could have a PE menu - where the kids choose from an interesting list and then staff pick the majority and do those for a week. The school could buy a few simple bikes for those who don't have them.

Each child could have a choice of 2 options for a week/2 week block and then they get told what they have been picked for. So if you hated x-country, you could select trampolening and badminton for example.

vintageteacups · 09/03/2011 10:31

I don't mean baroque at secondary cycling would be teaching them how, just that if they wanted to go for a bike ride, then they could for certain weeks.

cantspel · 09/03/2011 10:32

cycling would be ok in primary if the school provided the bikes and they had a large enough safe area to use.
In secondary it would be nightmare.

UnquietDad · 09/03/2011 10:33

The PE teachers at my grammar school were horrible and enjoyed belittling the people like me who were crap at sport. They didn't seem to have any interest in encouraging those of us with no natural ability. Games afternoons were puragtory as far as I was concerned. I'm hoping my children's experience at secondary school will be different.

Lucifera · 09/03/2011 10:34

OP what is all this guff about femininity? Women and girls who are sporty are as "feminine" as those who aren't.

TapselteerieO · 09/03/2011 10:37

I agree with BaggedandTagged, about thePE teacher ignoring the majority. I think PE is important but that what they have in school is pretty outdated. We also have a very unfriendly/intimidating PE teacher at the dc's school.

I would like to see children being given the opportunity to opt out of the tedious cross country running(outdoors in February onwards from the age of 8) more team sports like badminton, ping pong and muscle/posture training like yoga, pilates and tai chi.

Lizcat · 09/03/2011 10:40

YABU participation in sport increases lung volume capacity, increases blood oxygenation, increases oxygen supply to brain, improves mental ability.
Plus very active children get to burn of energy and are able to concentrate better in class.
Good schools will have inclusive sports policy which develops team and leadership skills all essential for future life. A good variety of sports develop a range of skills, DDs schools (all girls) play netball, hockey, gym, dance, tag rugby, cricket, rounders, tennis, climbing, swimming, athletics. In addition to the 5 sessions of PE in the timetable they are encourage to parcipate in at least 2 sports clubs at lunch time.
I was not'sporty' at school yet still recognise the skills I acquired on the sports pitch.

Themumsnot · 09/03/2011 10:41

Elphaba - precisely. DD has been doing ballet since she was four. When she was 6 or 7 she used to come home from school really upset because she couldn't manage what the rest of them were doing in PE. She always, always came last in the races on sports day despite the fact that she used to get me to bring her down to the park for weeks beforehand to practise running with her. Every year she would say 'I'm not going to be last this year, and she would be.' My heart broke for her. But she never gave up and now she is no longer last - she came something like 80th out of 150 in the school cross country last year.
She failed her grade four ballet exam a few months ago, because her body just can't do what it needs to do, but she held her head high and went back to class and is working as hard as ever. We went to buy her first pair of pointe shoes in half-term, and she slept with them on her pillow for three nights. It kills me sometimes that she has to work four times as hard as a normal child just to do what most people can do without trying, but the rewards for her are amazing - she knows she will never be a ballerina, but at least she gets to dance en pointe. She is fulfilling her own potential and that's what matters. I think all children should have the chance to do that.

MillyR · 09/03/2011 10:58

There is clearly a problem in this country that people don't get enough exercise and part of that is because many people don't have a habit of exercising because they don't enjoy it.

It seems far more important to me that people learn that exercise is enjoyable, while having good hand-eye co-ordination is not hugely important.

On of the schools I attended organised lessons so that the entire year had PE all at the same time. There were various activities available so if you didn't like tennis, for example, you simply chose to do something else. I loved PE because of this, and was on many teams representing the school as a consequence, because I found the sports I loved and had the opportunity to get good at them.

The school I attended after that made you do the sport the PE teacher chose, and as a result I did really badly and got a D in PE on my report 3 years running.

The capacity for humiliation in PE is greater. If you cannot do something physical, it is immediately obvious to your peers. Academic struggles are easier to disguise. The nature of team sports means that your failure has an impact on a whole group of people, in a way that getting a sum wrong in maths isn't going to.

DD finds PE intimidating. She is a Summer birthday in a class that covers 2 year groups. So some of the children are nearly 2 years older than her. Her school report 2 years running has said that she finds PE difficult because she finds the older children intimidating when running around. I think that is quite natural. I wouldn't want to play any kind of contact sport or even a sport with close proximity to people much bigger than myself.

thornykate · 09/03/2011 11:05

I hated PE at school & agree that is probably because I was no good at a lot of the sports we did although I do quite a bit of running & gym now & I love it.

But I think YABU as there are a lot of kids at school for whom PE is the only lesson they can excel in & just as some kids dread PE for some it will be the only thing they look forward to at school.

Kids who aren't academic have to get used to coming bottom of the class in maths etc so it's no different for kids who have to get used to coming last in the race.