Swimming lesson changing room rules . AIBU

[ExplodingCarrots]

Since children's swimming lessons has re-commenced at our local leisure centre they have changed how the changing rooms are used.
There are no longer separate male and female changing . The way they've worked it is that deep end lessons use the male changing rooms and shallow end lessons use the female changing. They're very strict with this rule and have people manning it.

This means that boys and girls are mixed . My DD is 8, and is in a deep end lesson so uses the male changing room. There are no cubicles in there and it's all benches and open plan. She has started puberty very early (and is very dark haired) and is obviously very self conscious . The female changing rooms on the other hand have 10+ cubicles.

She got very upset at the realisation she'd have to change in front of boys up to 12 years old and men who are there with their kids. The first lesson we struggled to hide her in a corner but now we just put a long towel robe over her and we leave straight away ..which is a pain because it's a 30 minute drive home and she's freezing.

When I brought it up with reception I had a sympathetic nod and said yes they understood it was difficult but because of Covid that's the way it is and because of mixing we are not allowed to use female changing to use a cubicle.

Has anybody else's leisure centre got this set up?

Would you feel comfortable with your developing DC changing in front of the opposite sex with no access to cubicles ? I'm sure the boys hate changing in front of the girls too. If they're only toddlers I could understand but most of the deep end lessons are children 7-12.

I want to gauge if IBU before I send an email to the leisure centre.

That's an awful way of doing it.

YANBU - I would definitely complain.

This sounds bizarre and awful for girls such as your daughter also I don’t think boys want to be seen naked by girls bet they are all mortified.
I would be moving to a new leisure centre that either has unisex changing rooms with cubicles or male and female separate
Covid is being used for some bizarre reasons

Our local leisure centre has separate cubicles, individual and family size, in a gender-neutral area. There are only small group changing areas for male/female and their use is optional.

I'd complain. The pool I'm currently using has pop up tents for kids changing, the sort of thing that would be used as a camping toilet tent, because of the covid rules.

No way is that unreasonable. Being naked in front of boys and men at that age is completely inappropriate. They wouldn’t be allowed to implement this for school swimming lessons.

Totally inappropriate of them.
I’ve never come across this before. I’m sorry, OP - I totally understand why your daughter would be upset by this.

Doesn’t make sense “because of covid” you don’t go to pub and told sorry you are in this half so you all have use the men’s toilets. Worse comes worse track trace mean telling eveyone there that session not just their group. So what surely that better to have privacy to change away from boys and men.

No I wouldn’t be happy with that at all especially not with the ages concerned. It would be fine if lots of cubicles. Our leisure centre has mixed changing but no open plan areas for changing. It isn’t acceptable to do what your centre has done in my mind. During covid itself, no issue with the extra rules of shoving on a robe and leaving but they have made up something pretty pointless which feels risky from a safeguarding point of view.

I would be furious. This is not acceptable.

I would complain. Expecting girls to get undressed in front of men and boys is disgusting. They're also breaking the law.

Thank you. I felt like I was going to be 'that' person by complaining. I was shocked that kids of this age were expected to change in front of each other . If they switched the changing rooms and put the deep end lessons in the female then all the kids would have access to a cubicle.

Are there any toilets, I'd pop in there.

Thats the bizarrest set up I've heard of.

The pool were at has staggered lesson times to reduce people in the changing room. (So half the lessons start on the hour and at half past, the other half are on the quarter past/to). Everyone uses same changing room with cubicles.

@ancientgran

Are there any toilets, I'd pop in there.

Yes, there are 2 toilet cubicles , one of which is blocked off due to social distancing . There is a sign on the door saying 'please don't use the toilet as a changing cubicle so it's free for users' . So they must know that the lack of cubicles are an issue .

www.decathlon.co.uk/p/kids-surf-poncho-550-135-to-160-cm-etni/_/R-p-309929?mc=8574513
That's rubbish, get her a kids surf poncho. She can change under it

Horrendous, and won't do anything to stop the spread of Covid. I'd complain formally.

That is unacceptable and a safeguarding issue and I would complain using those words. I am a teacher and if this was suggested for school swimming I would immediately raise it as such.

@ExplodingCarrots

Thank you. I felt like I was going to be 'that' person by complaining. I was shocked that kids of this age were expected to change in front of each other . If they switched the changing rooms and put the deep end lessons in the female then all the kids would have access to a cubicle.

Can you suggest this?

Completely unreasonable and indefensible.

Or with my kids I literally dry them off in costume and put a huge furry onsie on plus coat

I'm a swimming teacher and it's definitely a safeguarding issue what happens when the public are using the changing facilities. We have a changing village which is mixed but it's all cubicles. Personally I'd report them.to the local authorities and change swimming lesson provider.

@ExplodingCarrots

Thank you. I felt like I was going to be 'that' person by complaining. I was shocked that kids of this age were expected to change in front of each other . If they switched the changing rooms and put the deep end lessons in the female then all the kids would have access to a cubicle.

The alternative is the fill the mens with pop up tents and make it unisex. The popup tents aren't ideal but better than nothing.

They also have staggered lesson times too . They said it's to spread people out because it's mostly mums who take the kids swimming and the female changing is busier than the males. But as the lesson times are staggered there isn't the same amount of people as it used to be.

I'll be writing an email this evening, thank you.

We have a big robe, but she is very paranoid about being watched changing in a small space and accidentally showing something.

This is appalling. I'd be very surprised if you are the only one complaining OP.