To feel forcing cross county on children can be counter productive in enjoying fitness

[rabbit12345]

Debate with my DH this morning . DH is a keen runner. He discovered his love of running two years ago after always being a big sedentary child/adult. He now runs 15k a day and loves running.

Today I gave DD a note (first time ever she is in year 9 and PE is a core GCSE subject at her school) so that she did not have to do cross country today. There was a good reason for her not to do it but DH thought I should be forceful in encouraging our daughter to take part.

I should say that we are a very active family. My DD in question dances 5 x a week for 2 hours a time.

My argument stems from my childhood. I remember having to run around a muddy school field in the freezing cold, gasping for breath (some girls were physically sick). You had the naturally sporty girls who would fly around the field and it only led to feeling more inferior and ultimately I ended up bunking off from the lesson or forging notes from my parents. I believe that this has led to a lifetime aversion to running. Every time I think I would like to try, I remember the muddy school field. In many ways I feel that being forced into it as a child, led to my general aversion to physical activity as an adult and it took me years to look at this differently and start finding activities that I loved.

So my argument is to encourage physical activity for the children but in areas that they love and not to worry if she decides that she does not enjoy running around a muddy field. (I told her to walk it if she wants) I feel by putting pressure on her could be counter-productive. I just feel health and fitness is so important and should be approached in an enjoyable way and I do not understand why the school do not make nutrition/lifestyle an important part of the lesson.

DH says that there are things in life you just have to do and we should take that view with DD. But surely this relates to paying bills etc. As an adult if she realises she does not have to do it then she will not if she has been forced through childhood. Surely it is better to educate a healthy lifestyle in it's entirety?

AIBU.

Road running can be bad for anyone if you overdo it and don't wear the right shoes.

I totally agree with trifle that it is ridiculously pathetic to call running round a field 'torture'. We are raising a generation of kids who are not all resilient. Having a healthy, fit body and being able to run 1k should be important to parents.

If you were training outside of school for the 100m and not doing any sort of distance running as part of your training, you had poor coaches!

I was doing some distance yes, but not to the extent of cross country. Did a lot of interval work and also some gym stuff
What I mean is I cannot run say 10k

I wonder if Kelly Holmes is a wimp who can't get a grip?

Cross COUNTY?!

That's some distance, unless you live on the border of one county and another

Just because Kelly Holmes didn't like xc doesn't make all the girls that don't want to look sweaty in the right.

hollinhurst I don't think any school expects kids to run 10k

I'm not one for writing notes to get kids out of P.E just because they don't like it. However, cross country is the most bullshitty sport to have on the curriculum it was stupid when I was at school and it's still stupid now. So in that sense, YANBU.
At my school, cross country was an excuse for the PE teachers to stand around and have a chat, drinking coffee out of travel mugs, the sporty girls would go with the motions and run round the track....then there was me and my friends, who would run half way round the track until we got to the wooded area on the far side, then slink off for a quick cigarette

I loved xc but hated dance and gymnastics. Does that a) give me an excuse to opt out and b) make it unreasonable of teachers to require me to participate? I also hated Music, Geography, Drama and Spanish. Shouldn't I have had a note from my Mummy to say I didn't have to do those things either? Come to think of it, I hate cleaning my house and paying taxes. Mum!!

yanbu, i loathed cross country (and it really was cross country, fields, hedges, stiles the lot)

I thanked god the year i was diagnosed with asthma, because we didn't have to do it.

Just because Kelly Holmes didn't like xc doesn't make all the girls that don't want to look sweaty in the right.

I just think it's rather interesting the number of people who seem to disagree with the likes of Kelly Holmes and Steve Redgrave on the importance of introducing children to sport in the right way, empowering them to find something they love so they'll continue with it into adulthood, offering choices, and generally not coming out with comments about wimps and dislike of sweating. I mean, they seem to have quite a lot of expertise on the matter.

I was forced to go skiing and later also learned how to snowboard. Despite being absolutely terrified of heights.

I'm still not a fan of skiing (although I do like snowshoeing and cross-country skiing is fine).

I'm happy my parents made me do it/told the teachers to call them if I was "sick". I'm still afraid of heights but I don't have any issue with using the lift, working in a multi-storey building and even went on the treetop walkway in Kew Gardens a few times...

So what if a kid doesn't like cross country. Running isn't torture... I think it's great preparation for later.

However, if there's a good reason why somebody shouldn't participate (time, an injury, not wanting to risk an injury because of being involved in an other sport...) then that's obviously different. But not "liking" something shouldn't be a reason to be excused.

I'm not saying children shouldn't be encouraged to find a sport they like (I certainly found mine) but making them do something they dislike isn't torture. It's healthy and necessary.

Being pushed outside our comfort zones is good for us.
Just because an experience is unpleasant or we will do badly at it, is not a reason to not do it.
It's an opportunity to teach resilience rather than say "You only need to do that if you like it."

I was always terrible at school sport, btw. Esp. running. The PE teacher was openly contemptuous of me. Git. Now I do loads of running.

Mumoftwoyoungkids

Dd was always terrified of getting injured in PE. SHE said they never warmed up properly for one thing.

Her current school don't allow dancers to do PE for risk of injury.

I'm not saying don't do it.

I'm saying start with the likes of C25K and teach kids to do it.

hyacinthfuckit

are you really suggesting that we all have to agree with Kelly Holmes and Steve Redgrave as us mere mortals can't have an opinion?

How ridiculous. FWIW, two of my dcs compete in sports at national level as have I in the past. I may not have won an olympic medal but I've done my fair share of running or standing in the cold and wet cheering others on.

I don't think she even said that schools shouldnt do cross country did she? Just that she hated it? I bet she still did it though. I bet she slogged away at it and got fitter and fitter, joined an athletics club and ran miles and miles every week, there and in the army.

Don't get me started on street dance. Yes probably fun but just as mortifying for the ones that hate it. Give me a long distance run anyday over having to look like Honey G to some crappy pop song.

My daughter tried to get out of cross country every time they had to do it at school. I refused to write her notes to be excused and she hated me for it. She had an attitude of trying to get out of doing any of the things she didn't like to do but I think kids have to learn to make an effort even for things they don't particularly want to do.
Mostly with kids it is laziness and parents who give in are not really doing the best for their child.

It's not always laziness though.

Within a few weeks of dd gong to he specialist secondary she was advised to go to a physio who diagnosed hyper mobility & gave specific strengthening excercises which the school co-operated with what she could & coudnt do.

Ds gets actual proper coaching at his school. The a dyspraxic girl in his school is allowed to miss PE & spend the time working on specialist ballet based excercises designed for her by a dance teacher who specialises in teaching disabled children.

But too many are left floundering, not helped to improve & put at risk of serious injury.

PE was utter hell for me. I'm so very thankfully I had an understanding mum who would write me notes when I just couldn't face it.

I wasn't lazy.

Wow so many of you have the wrong end of the stick when it comes to My OP.

At no point (and I reiterated further on) did I say that my DD did not like xc and that I was excusing her because she "didn't want to do it" nor did I say that I projected my feelings onto her.

As pointed out the debate was with my DH away from DD after I had made a comment to him about schools and xc.

I have no problem with XC. I also run and enjoy it. As an adult!!!!!

I just feel it is not taught correctly in schools and as many pp's have pointed out, I am not the only one to have this experience. In general school life has advanced in the last 25 years to a point that I do not recognise and yet the PE lessons have remained the same. Children are still told to just run and we know that not only is this distressing if you are unable to do this, it is also very risky in that you are open to lifelong injuries if you do not build yourself up properly.

Let's face it as adults we won't do anything we do not want to do and the point of my OP was to highlight that the way PE is taught is actually leading to an adverse reaction to enjoying these activities as adults.

OP

Let's face it as adults we won't do anything we do not want to

Really? I do quite a few things I don't want to do. Am I living in a different universe or...?

It's a cinderella subject, OP, not enough funding. There are charities you could donate for or fundraise for that are trying to get better coaching into schools.

OP, I don't know what you are talking about if I'm honest. Are you saying every school activity should now be a matter of choice? There doesn't seem to be a lot more to your argument but you are heavily implying that there is.

That obviously excludes the things we "have" to do spunky but I suspect you already knew what I meant!