Cannot believe boys & girls are still taught different sports in PE..

[CityFox]

When I was at school 20 odd years ago, girls played netball, tennis and hockey. The boys got yo play basketball, football and rugby...

I always thought this most unfair, and after much petitioning we were offered an after school rugby club for girls.

I am to hear via another thread that this is still the case, why??? Aibu to think it's pretty sexist all round?

I don't think it's a realistic expectation to expect someone to like every sport. If children try as many different things as possible they will hopefully find the right sport for them. My son enjoyed doing hockey and pop lacrosse. He hates football, but likes rugby. He didn't mind netball, but found the rules complicated.

Our school has same sport for boys and girls. I thought that was normal.

Dd is currently doing rugby.

Yes it is ridiculous. Girls at DC school get to all the sports boys do, plus other sports which boys aren't allowed to participate in. It was the same at primary school.

Never heard of this. I was at school in the 70s and 80s doing rugby, football and cricket with boys (also learning to fill in a cricket score sheet.....). My daughters now do a range of sports at school (football, baseball, athletics, yoga, gymnastics) and it's all co-ed.

There are a few more differences now.
Showers are available but none of the kids use them. Cubicles.
Girls tend to wear make up quite a lot in secondary and so they are reluctant to take part. Not really a problem because, seemingly according to a recent MN thread, the vast majority of parents are happy to make up a lie to get them out of it!

Women still do a shorter cross country course at county championships. This is despite women's natural strengths in athletics is toward endurance rather than flat out speed( it actually suits me as I am much more competitive at 7 k than 10k but that isn't the point really). I asked a official why women didn't do the longer course and the logic was to keep the programme of races moving quickly ( men , women and age groups of each sex run separately) and they felt I would take the slower women too long to run 10k and there would be more waiting around!
I actually love racing separately from the men ( nice to the chance to actually cross the line first) I believe that women and girls should compete against each other but both sexes to be offered the same sports.

At my kids primary school the boys and girls did all the same but some parents complained the girls didn't like doing football or dodgeball, they were asked what alternatives they wanted for their daughters and the suggestions were 'Zumba' or 'gymnastics'.

Was a bit myself at wanting to pigeonhole the girls into 'girls' activities, then again I guess the girls wanted those (unless it was the parents who really wanted them).

Girls and boys play the same sports at my daughter's school

I coach rugby after school - under 9s are taught mixed sex, over 9s would be taught separately. (I say would be because it clashes with running club and we currently have no girl players)

At my dcs primary school the children all do the same sports in PE. Gymnastics, netball, rugby etc. At secondary I definitely did rugby and boys did dance too.

At my DCs school it's rugby and basketball for boys and netball and hockey for girls, the girls also get rugby and football while the boys do basketball - the boys can't do netball.

I preferred the girls' sports with the exception of hockey, which was brutal!

I'm not a sporty person and I'm really glad I didn't have to play rugby and football actually. I would have hated that.

I liked gymnastics, trampolining and dance and those were things I actually would have continued after school had I not been totally put off all PE and wanted to avoid it at all costs.

(Am thinking of seeking out a gymnastics course actually)

I would love to have done football or rugby rather than twatting DANCE. Dance is such bollocks if you're not that way inclined.

When we got to Sixth form we had mixed PE and I played mixed basketball and hockey. That was hard work, but I loved it, and we didn't have to. I was tall and athletic so managed it. I think the lack of choice is what turns lots of girls off PE that and not wanting to look sweaty.

However I'd not have wanted to do a sport with the boys which meant they were at a physical advantage like rugby.

Netball was okay because you don't get jumped on by giant muscly sporty people.

I do feel for schools re PE as there are so many competing demands

• Everyone should get to try a range of sports
• The school should specialise so kids get reasonable at one sport
• Girls should play rugby
• No-one should play rugby as it's too dangerous
• Rugby should be available but optional
• Team sports are better
• My kids don't want to do competitive sport- let them do Zumba
• Zumba and dance are sexist as only the girls do them etc etc.
• All sport should be co-ed
• Co-ed sports discourage girls and PE lessons should be single sex

[school has to hire 10 extra PE teachers and convert the whole campus into a gym/ playing field complex]

My DC attend a British curriculum school overseas and the school is quite open in that PE at school is pretty low key (esp at primary- basically almost taster sessions/ general physical stuff) and any kid who wants to play a sport properly plays outside through the clubs. Both DD and DS play soccer and mini rugby and have swim lessons. Netball for girls doesn't start till they're about 8 but is v popular due to the large Kiwi/Aussie/ Safa populations here and DD keen already. Hockey also a huge club sport but kids tend to pick it up a bit later (10ish).

I think ball sports are a bit like languages- you learn one and it's easier to pick the others up. Most women I know who play rugby started at University and had a background in netball/ hockey.

I actually don't see the problem with this, unless you consider that football and rugby are 'better' than netball and hockey because they're traditionally male. Not everyone can do their favourite sport in school, if you switch to rugby then the people who like netball will be disappointed. As long as kids are doing some sports in school, I don't see why it matters which ones they are.

It's the fact it's dictated by your gender.

There are plenty of amazing male dancers and gymnasts and plenty of amazing women footballers.

Hm well personally I think single gender PE lessons are ok for team sports (I agree there's no need for gym/dance/athletics).

Not at our school. Boys and girls play rugby, football, gym, rounders (yawn), hockey etc. Not together all the time, but for many sports.

I have said earlier in the thread that my point is not about mixed gender classes. It's about the sports you learn being completely dependent on your gender.

There's no point workplaces trying to treat the sexes equally if schools are still teaching kids that the sexes are unequal.

The 'workplace' of professional sports and athletics don't treat women and men the same though do they? Nor should they, IMO.

We did mixed basketball, circuit training, tennis, athletics, dance, gymnastics, cross country runnng.

Girls did netball, hockey and Rounders while boys did Rugby, football and cricket.

"
At my kids primary school the boys and girls did all the same but some parents complained the girls didn't like doing football or dodgeball, they were asked what alternatives they wanted for their daughters and the suggestions were 'Zumba' or 'gymnastics'. "

Maybe some of the boys would like Zumba or gymnastics. The U.K. Has produced some outstanding male gymnasts.

Girls and boys did pe separately at my school and i'm bloody glad of it as a very self conscious teen. Never heard of a school that does it mixed.

Boys did football and rugby, girls did netball and hockey.

The boys did play netball at primary school but only because there were only 6 girls in my year so we couldn't play without them. They were bloody good at it too.

We did eventually get a girls rugby club going, as a lot of us played it outside of school. But it was only allowed to be after school and tag rugby . This annoyed our pe teacher as much as us so we would focus on skills, laws and tactics at school and then the full game on the weekends when we could play full contact.

In the summer the girls did tennis and rounders. Not sure about the boys, can't remember. We all did athletics, but not together.

"The 'workplace' of professional sports and athletics don't treat women and men the same though do they? Nor should they, IMO"

I don't get your point in relation to equal opportunities to learn various sports.... So women don't play professional football and there are no male gymnasts or dancers?