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

[onceamai]

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.

The only time I enjoyed PE was when they DID cross country running! Only did it once, everyone hated it, but I LOVED it

CrackFox - I used to long for the team-picking thing to happen in French or English, my two best subjects! It never did. But I did once get the chance to choose a team for an end-of-year General Knowledge quiz... revenge was sweet, if brief.

We had rugby twice a week (twice a week! Were they insane??) for a whole afternoon. I actually felt physically ill before every session. I never gave a damn who won the game - indeed, sometimes, at the end of the game, I was none the wiser. I just used to count the minutes until it stopped.

i dispare of this genration of parents is not about weather they like it or not a good lession it is

somtimes you have to do thigs you dont like, you cant always be a winner and somtimes you will be picked last

dear lord jo lummley was right

if a little cubby child dosent want to do pe then tuff to be honest they are problay the ones who need to be doing it the most and will get the most out of if

i hated pe tried to bunk off all i could but got caught and just got on with it most of it was lazyness children should be running around and those parents who would try to get their kids off pe most likey dont make sure their kids are very active

We had compulsory sport two afternoons a week, and inter school games Saturday morning. Plus PE twice a week. Sport, sport, sport.

Luckily by age 15 one could do squash, the drop out choice.

Glad we had to. although it was a pain. Goods for ds too.

I hated PE as a child. Especially because we were made to shower naked in front of our peers and because they let the sporty girls pick the teams so I was always one of the last ones picked.

Now I have seen some classes as an adult, and the teachers around today seem much more understanding and while there is still a lot of competition, being the best isn't the be all and end all, at least where I work. The emphasis is on participation and effort.

We have the best PE teacher ever. She includes all the students with special needs, encouraging them to do their best. She runs round the pitch with the girls who are struggling, and if they have pushed themselves she give them commendations for effort, not just for talent. Last year one of the students with Downs Syndrome competed in Sports day, and she was running along with her cheering her on. The girl didn't win, but just the sheer sense of achievement in taking part with non-special needs kids was really emotive.

She is really inspiring and her attitude rubs off on all the students too, who are amazingly tolerant and inclusive for teenagers.

So, I think YAB a little bit U, but I know where you are coming from.

God I hated PE,my mother did,my sister did,my 3 dc are also now following true Mila family tradition of being crap at and hating PE.

Shivering on hockey pitches,chucking javelins,the shot putt,f*g cross country-why oh why oh why??????

Screaming PE teachers(funny teachers aren't allowed to do that in maths lessons)that think they're gods gift to strutting round in track suits(you see them doing little else).

What really annoys me is if you're crap you get no special help like in other subjects,just screamed at and insulted.

I sadly was very tall so every PE teacher I encountered foolishly assumed I'd be gifted at netball.I wasn't.

I shall be passing on my top tips to dd when the time comes of PE avoidance:- go in goaly during hockey,then you can hide up the end of the field and avoid getting your ankles pulverized,lag at the back during cross country with the ashma suffers,always have your period on a PE day,get changed veeeeeeery slowly.....

Oh and we're a very active,slim, fit family that do a lot of outside stuff at the weekend.We just don't like PE for PE sakes. Mountain biking,swimming,hiking now that's different.

Problem was in my school if you tried the "getting changed very slowly" ruse then the little Hitler in the tracksuit would come round, clapping hands and yelling at you to get a move on.

And communal showers. YUK.

Well thankfully being a girl my lady PE teacher was always first out on the pitch striding round in her shorts(in mid January) trying to impress the Welsh ex rugby player PE teacher with her tanned legs.

You should have gone to a co-ed school

Just out of interest how did PE teachers have permanently tanned legs in the 80s,there was no St Tropez or tanning booths?

Just back from work and have read through the thread. Very interesting. I don't believe at all in the notion that everyone must have a prize and am committed to the notion of competition. I also believe obesity and laziness are significant problems in our society and that they need to be tackled. However, I don't believe children benefit from ritual humiliation and I question whether enforced ball games (netball, rounders, hockey), athletics and gym actually encourage non sporty children to exercise. I am pleased that other posters have made the point that English and Maths teachers are not expected to screech and shout and tell children in front of their peers that they are useless. Neither are children in those lessons allowed to pick teams for spelling bees or debating to ensure ritual humiliation. PE to me appears still to be the last bastion of approved and justified bullying of children by adults.

An improvement at DD's school is at least that the communal showers are no longer compulsory. I recall my brogue wearing PE teacher watching all the girls go through insisting that towels were discarded under her gaze so that she could make sure a thorough wash was had. Not just the humiliation of the under and over developed but looking back I think the behaviour was inappropriate and nowadays parents would complain collectively and formally - it still makes me shudder to think of it. I still recall being asked to demonstrate what I was doing in front of 59 girls and thinking for once I had done something right and then hearing her shout "and that girls is exactly how not to do it". Team spirit I don't think so and if she had treated an adult like that she would undoubtedly have been slapped.

From a femininity perspective - not my experience of the netball and hockey sticks mob she promoted and as a teenager and as an adult I have no desire to be trainer shod, sweaty or loudly vulgar. And I hope DD doesn't develop in that way either.

To reassure those who think I have allowed the DC to be precious the DS plays for London Rugby club and has trialled for junior country cricket he is good at sport and has been encouraged. DD has had tennis lessons, done playball to help improve co-ordination, swimming lessons and can ride a bike. At 4 she managed a five mile walk up hill and down dale. She is happy to ride and has a wide range of interests that certainly doesn't stop at a screen. It is regrettable though, that apart from the showers, the PE/Games lessons at her school are run along similar lines to mine in the 1970's. It is vile, it does nothing to encourage the quieter and less sporty girls that sport is a positive and I fail to see the benefit except of course that it trains the young to participate in things that are unfair and unpleasant but the same could be said, IMO, for bullying and I'm not sure that is the way to develop team spirit.

Years on I still fail to see the point of standing around chucking a ball from person to person to person. I just don't understand what it achieves. I just cannot see how it is constructive.

I thought PE in schools had changed, but that's not my experience.

If someone is a Maths teacher or an English teacher they have an obligation to ensure that all students, including those no good at Maths/English make progress.

My experience/observations of secondary school PE teachers is they are only interested in those students who are good/talented at the sport already. There doesn't seem to be much teaching or learning.

And the range of activities offered is always very limited.

My boys enjoyed PE at primary. ds1 loathed it at secondary from day 1.

"I used to long for the team-picking thing to happen in French or English, my two best subjects! It never did." Great! UQD

I was useless at PE at school, except running, but I still really enjoyed it. I don't know why. I loved the showers too. Probably cos at home we had no central heating, so it was baltic in the mornings in winter-time (we used to get dressed in bed under the blankets) - no question of taking clothes off and getting WASHED! And hot water was limited at home.

I think PE is a great opportunity for many children to try different sports and that can only be a good thing.

I discovered that I loathed netball, aerobics and doubles tennis and loved squash, badminton, rounders and cross country (though now I just call it running ). I suppose the important thing is to provide options so that children get to do a range of activities through the year.

Do secondary schools have gym equipment?
If not, why not?

I reckon the children who azren't keen on ball games like netball and hockey could be quite motivated with a cross trainer or rowing machine.

That's the sort of stuff the PTA could raise money for.

I think you should be able to drop PE after yr 8.

I think there should be fewer (if any) PE lessons and more focus on joining a club for basketball or dance or whatever your preference is.

hadn't reallythought about it before maybe because dd is not yet at secondary so haven't been confronted with it.

By the sounds of this thread, PE classes could do with being changed radically really.

PE at my school involves dance mats and a big screen with a dance computer game. You are talking about the old days.

some schools are still in the old days it seems though

I do not know a single school where PE involves dance mats and computer games. That sounds shit.

I used to hate PE when I was younger, then towards the end of school I did actually quite enjoy some of it... still hated Cricket though.

One thing that did capture me was Quasar (Laser Quest/Laser Tag). To the extent that I now run my own venue and play in world tournaments! I would have loved that to be part of the school PE lessons.

I wonder if schools are allowed to have their PE lessons at a Quasar/Laser venue from a legal and financial stand point?

I believe that enforced competitive team sports for non-sporty children is an absolute waste of time. On the other hand I firmly believe that encouraging physical activity is an essential part of education.

I know that the majority of sports are competitive but in adult life the sports that people continue with tend to be more solitary. Running, swimming, cycling etc. Sports in secondary school are a little better than primary but they are still heavily dependent on the team sports, rugby, football, netball etc. My DS is an exceptional swimmer but a disaster when required to handle a ball. Why should he and children like him be forced into playing football when he would enjoy swimming or cross training or land exercise more?

I hated PE lessons and won't even watch sport nowadays because of it. I am however quite active and swim well. That's nothing to do with school who failed to teach me to swim. Schools need to address the problem of non-sporty children better and offer more choices to encourage them. It's not all about football