Different PE for girls and boys

[Mich0027]

My son hates rugby at school and wants to do netball which only the girls play. AIBU to ask if he can?!

It makes no difference what sport you offer there will be some pupils that di not like it

Actually I think in this case it does make a difference because of the risks to an child who isn’t engaged and as a result the risks to the other children.

We're in exactly the same position.
Both of mine hate rugby but there's no choice.
Hopefully the sport will change next term and in summer term they all get to do tennis and athletics but the division of 'gendered' sports is such sexist bollocks!
There are quite a few girls at their school who play on the football team and some who are interested in rugby but they have to do this in after school clubs so I wish they'd sort it out.

@titchy they will tackle from year 7. There are things they can’t do until they are older like they’re not allowed to push in the scrum yet. It’s pretty full on contact though tbh.

My DS is 14, has ASD & dyspraxia, he hates all sport but especially rugby, thankfully he is in Y10 now & only has PE once a week. He takes a note more often than not on weeks they have rugby to excuse him, he's got a problem with very bad nosebleeds & we use it to get him excused. He doesn't mind when they have sessions in the fitness gym, he gets lots of exercise by walking a mile every day to get the bus to school & walking the dog when he gets home from school. It's time that schools recognised that some kids just aren't sporty & offered different activities, when I was at school there were walks, visits to the bowling alley or the golf driving range instead of traditional sports for pupils who didn't enjoy sport.

I was made to do rugby for a term each year at school and absolutely hated it. But they won’t be doing full contact all the time surely (as in, some lessons will be focused on passing etc)? It’s a bit shit having to do something you don’t like but I avoided being tackled by just never catching the ball during a game (even a ball thrown right at me would miraculously get missed and sail right past me). Used the same tactic to avoid getting whacked in the shin in hockey, just let the ball go straight past me every time.

Alternatively if it’s making him really upset, do you have a sympathetic GP who might right a note- if it’s affecting him badly mentally then it wouldn’t be a lie to say that “participating in contact sports is not medically advised.” I wouldn’t advocate this if it was maths stressing him out but as it’s a small element of PE that doesn’t stop him taking part completely and will mean he still gets exercise I don’t think it’s unreasonable.

You cannot please everyone but you can and indeed make sure that there is reasonable adjustment to individuals who cannot do contact sports to be able to exercise and train. This includes children with injuries as well as those otherwise unable to do so.

Also you cannot forge trust, camaraderie and sportmanship by forcing participation - if you do succeed it's usually in a way you weren't intending. Like when the PE department tried to do acrobatic gymnastics in year 9. They managed to unite the entire year group in condemming that as an absolutely terrible idea.

Thanks for comments all it's good to hear others experience and opinions.
I'll see what School say next week. Son is already stressing about Rugby on Tuesday

Bio banding - that is the method where children are sorted by size and physical development rather than just by age. This should be a more general PE development otherwise why would you expect the 1.4m 35 kg 11 yr old to vault the pommel horse 1st time with as much ease as the 1.7m 60kg 11yr old?

What exactly are the sanctions?
If he hates it that much, then the sanctions must be preferable.

I'm kind of on fence coz I do think it's good for us (including as children) to sometimes do things we can never enjoy.

I know in my case the sanctions were having to copy out from a book instead, or sitting in the corner (this was a problem how?)

I'm kind of on fence coz I do think it's good for us (including as children) to sometimes do things we can never enjoy

I would agree if there wasn’t the aspect of physical risk.

The problem with bio banding surely is a timetabling one. You cant have rugby practice for all under a certain weight or height at the same time as it will interfere far to much with other lessons. You could do it on a smaller scale wthin classes but doubt it would work well as groups would be low numbers.

YANBU.

Tell them he identifies as a female netball player whenever he sees a rugby ball.

@YeOldeTrout sanctions are after school detention or isolation for longer than the actual lesson. He'd still prefer either to rugby but I don't think he should be punished for not wanting to do contact

I hear you op.
It’s ridiculous and discriminatory in this day and age.
I agree after a certain age that boys and girls should be split into different teams to avoid injury etc, but why the different sports altogether depending on whether you’re male or female?

He will take A LOT of ribbing if he goes to play netball with the girls.

Is he afraid of injury, is that why he's afraid of full contact?
(total aside, my DD Lurved full contact rugby when girls were finally allowed to do it in yr10).

He will take A LOT of ribbing if he goes to play netball with the girls.

You know what - he may not care. Now that Ds is finally allowed to dance with the girls he doesn’t care what others say.

@AlexanderHamilton yes mine wouldn't care about the ribbing

@BertrandRussel
“Because after a certain age, boys are bigger, stronger and faster than girls.”
You forgot intellectually superior.

Too bad we don’t have gender segregation in other lessons as well, to avoid making girls compete with their aggressive and intellectually superior male peers. Born with vagina —>> play netball and do girl oriented academic curriculum.

Let us know what the outcome is after you ask about doing netball instead.

It is a problem, my daughter complains too because she hates Netball and likes cricket but girls don't get to do cricket at her school only boys. In an ideal world they would all be able to choose the sports they do but in reality they don't have enough staff to offer loads of options. There must be plenty of boys who would choose dance or Netball and girls who would choose cricket or rugby. At primary school they all do it together so it's particularly tough if their favourite sport from primary turns out to be something they aren't offered at secondary.

He gets called gay and girl and stuff occasionally but (& I do accept of course that dance is different than competitive sport where boys are often at a physical advantage) shrugs it off. This segregation adds to the whole ethos of if you like this you must be a girl and if you like that you must be a boy.

I'm also dreading when my 8 year old goes to secondary because he is rubbish at ball sports and a bit of a wimp so will hate and be bad at rugby. He hates football and enjoys street dance and karate outside of school. I can already tell he'll hate PE at secondary.

I'm really surprised that full contact rugby is part of compulsory PE.

But I do think that girls should have their own sports session. Your son's discomfort shouldn't trump their right to play in a single sex environment.

Can your son persuade any other boys to join him on a campaign for a different sport/netball for boys?

Thing is girls and boys can do all these sports although its invariably out of school time. For the main pe has to be taken as a group boys and girls so its far more limiting. Maybe schools need to update some sports but that again will ome down to facilities and money.