to think this is unacceptable

[mileend2bermondsey]

Just found out that in my hometown high school PE activities are still split by gender. The boys do football and rugby, the girls do netball and hockey. When the girls do dance, the boys do tennis. I cant believe this seperation is still going on without question.

Apparantly if a child 'kicks up a fuss' about wanting to do a sport of the opposite gender they will be allowed to do it but would be the only boy or girl in the class, hence hardly any do.

I think this is outrageous, all children should be taught all sports available as standard. Why is a seperation based on gender neccessary, and why is this still going on?

If boys and girls were the same they wouldn't have separate football teams, separate sporting events.

We are not the same. Men are physically stronger then us.

My kids school does joined PE but then segregated sporting activities (compulsory but they choose the specific sport) apart from football and cricket. Hockey is the big one they keep separate, due to the risk level, the girls are apparently too small and fast and the boys are too strong and with the sticks and everything it apparently gets out of hand, so it goes both ways. I don't really have a problem with it. Activities are a little different but surely it's a waste of resources to run two concurrent P.E classes purely because of gender?

MrsJ - I think you've missed the point! Most of us are saying "allow the pupils to CHOOSE. My DD is petite - yet she played rugby and beat all of the boys in her year group at arm-wrestling. She is small and strong, and her face is perfectly in tact, thank you very much.

Let children be children, of course - but let them choose what sport they would like to participate in. What makes that gender-neutral nonsense

Not RTFT - but just wanted to say at my daughters school they don't split by sex, and have after school football and netball, both of which my older daughter plays and there are both sexes voluntarily participating in each activity.

Football/soccer is lower contact than netball these days anyway.

Rugby can be played as touch (I played touch footy at school).

No school would do something like boxing and I wouldn't want my kids (boy or girl) doing it.

Dance is usually part of drama/performing art here, it's not done in PE.

I dont have a defeatist attitude, I have a real one knowing that boys like boy things and girls like girl things
I supposed this is the sort of attitude that allows such systems to continue. Who decides what are 'girl things' and what are 'boy things'?

So, BrandNew Solution: girls football team, and boys football team. There - Everybody happy.

We are not the same, but does that mean we can't take part in the same activities? No, of course it doesn't!!

There is nothing wrong with boy sports and girl sports nothing at all. There is nothing wrong with differences. Feminism is about recognising differences and equality within that.

Touch rugby :)

I completely agree with you OP. And I'm sure the only reason many girls don't want to play football and many boys don't want to play netball is because they've been conditioned into believing it's for the opposite sex.

Dd age 7 is very cross that she's not allowed to play football at school. She plays out of school and is actually pretty good!

Boys ARE physically stronger than girls. It's a fact and sports depict that.

Ds school do this. He's just completed rugby and the girls did netball for 2/3 lessons and then the other session that week they all did football.

Now they are doing basketball and so are all doing it.

at my school us girls were DESPERATE to do rugby! spent years begging and petitioning but it never came to any good

How do boys know they don't like girls sports if they've never tried them?

PE should be about learning skills and a wide range of sports to try.

I had to do 9 weeks of rugby every year, then we had football,athletics, cricket, dance, rounders, cricket, basketball and tennis in rotation on different years as I remember.

Whilst I believe that children should have choice to do whatever, I think the choices are based on statistical data of what each boy/ girl prefer and allocating the limited resources to that.
I remember everyone thinking it stupid and not even trying when we had 6 weeks of dance.

Also if they don't want mixed classes depending on how the timetables are worked out it could mean one set of Girls/Boys doing say cricket in the rain one term and the other doing it in the sun the next.

Touch rugby is crap. My ds loves rugby as he loves tackling and diving in. However there are girls that play proper rugby on the team and they're as tough as the boys for the under 9s. They separate them at senior school level into girls and boys teams and no-one has a problem with that.

It's only on MN that common sense doesn't get applied.

Boys ARE physically stronger than girls. It's a fact and sports depict that

Probably why we have Men's Football Teams and Women's Football Teams. Men's Rugby Teams and Women's Rugby Teams. Women competing against each other in Athletics, and Men doing the very same thing. Surprise, surprise.

They both have teams, but not necessarily playing together. Why is this so hard for you to understand. (Oh, and not ALL men are stronger than ALL women) Another point you appear to have missed. You are stereotyping.

No one is disputing that boys and girls a physically different pinot, thats obvious. Its attitutudes like yours that girls should do 'girls things' and boys should do 'boys things' that I am agaisnt.

What is the problem with a single sex class of girls doing rugby or football? No problem with size/weight differences. According to you that shouldnt be the norm and girls should stick to what youve decided is girls stuff. Youve decided for them already that they wont like rugby so why bother giving them the opportunity to decide for themselves, on an individual basis?

But I suppose as a woman you know what all women want/like so can speak for the entire sex?

It's irrelevant whether boys are physically stronger than girls. That's why there's a woman's football league and a men's football league - because one sex is (generally) stronger than the other.

The point is girls DO play football and tennis and boys DO play netball and dance. You need to allow children to participate in all forms of sport.

By separating them and not allowing them to take part in particular sports it's just teaching children than dancing is a girls sport and therefore boys shouldn't do it etc.

What if a couple boys would like to try netball but are too afraid to ask as they would get made fun of?

What if a girl wanted to play rugby but is told she's too weak?

What are we teaching our children?

You're missing the point pilot, why can't girls play football as an all girls team? Of course girls and boys have different strengths and weaknesses. You're attitude is very rigid. I went to an all girls grammar back in the 90's and only about 10% found ways of getting out of pe. The rest were quite competitive.

No its not irrelevant. Not at all. Physically challenging sports are what men do and if you think not then put a woman in a scrum against brute force then see what happens.

I just am very thankful that I never had to do rugby or football or cricket! I hated games as it was.

How do boys know they don't like girls sports if they've never tried them?
PE should be about learning skills and a wide range of sports to try
This and SleepForTheWeaks post to the millionth power

Pinot what decade are you living in???

Woman DO play rugby and they DO scrum??

No its not irrelevant. Not at all. Physically challenging sports are what men do and if you think not then put a woman in a scrum against brute force then see what happens

AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH

It is absolutely nothing to do with 'conditioning' - I would have hated it.