Boys dominating the playground

[Namechangeforthiss]

I’ve noticed at DD’s school the enclosed, paved playground is quite dominated by boys playing their (rough!) games in the middle. Meanwhile the girls mill around the edges, seemingly a bit nervous to even cross it, let alone join in. I’ve noticed the boys also seem to feel more ‘entitled’ to play equipment as well as the playground space and will be quite rough and jostle past if a girl tries to play on it.

Do you think playgrounds should be halved, not to segregate by sex (and both sexes should be encouraged to join in any game they want) but to save some space for children who want to play less physical/rough games?

Feel free to tell me I’m being precious! (I have a son as well, not smug girl mum complaining about boys, but he’s only 1!).

That might be your personal experience, but many countries, including my own, have single sex education as the norm, outperform the (normally mixed) U.K. for education (although to be fair that is a systemic problem deeper than mixed/single sex schools), and still have normal coexistence between the sexes when we all go to university/work.

What country are you from, out of interest?

When I was at school, many many years ago the playgroung was divided into 2.
The boys (age 7-11) had one side as their playground.
The other side of the playground was divided into mixed infants (5-7 years), and girls (7-11).
Theoretically, it would seem that the boys had more space, but the school did not sit squarely within the plot, and I would not necessarily say that was the case. It was definitey the case that the boys tended to play more physical games, whereas the girls played more skipping, etc kind of games (a rope between several girls kind of thing).
I will say it was a large playground, but as the school has expanded, I have noted that first additional huts were placed in the playground, which later became proper extensions.
However, I note that these days school playgrounds (such as where my DGC attend) have far more things to do, whereas when my DC were at school (and myself), it was just a playground.

Many countries have lower divorce rates and arranged marriage - it’s not always that comparable as you say, other cultural factors are at play.

In my all-male school, the main part of the playground was also dominated by ball games and the more physical boys. Quieter boys were around the edges or like me spent playtimes in the DT rooms or library. I got all my homework done during breaks so my evenings were free.

I went to a girls' school and we all seem to co-exist just fine with men as adults!

I think this is a fair thing to bring up with the school- it might also be worth discussing with the PTA? Ours quite often puts money into playground equipment and it might be that some thought could go into purchases that could change the use of the space a bit.

Good God no!

I went to a single sex school for a while. The girls did not see boys as peers, colleagues or friends. Just as potential partners.

Shudders.

As others are linking too, look at Make Space for Girls, but also the national school grounds charity called learning through landscape - https://ltl.org.uk/ as they can help with all sorts of advice, ideas and some training for the school staff.

Some time ago, I taught in a school which reorganised its playground because of this issue; it had been ongoing for some time, but crystallised when one teacher reported to a Staff Meeting that when she had been on playground duty, one of the boys had called her over to assist him in clearing some of the more assertive girls out of the way of the customary football match which occupied the whole of one playground (one behind the building, one in front). In his eyes, this was the natural way of things, and she, as a mere female, albeit adult, was there to assist in the proper running of the status quo.
Solutions included providing more possibilities for other activities, making it clearer that some areas were for quieter activities, and encouraging the lunchtime assistants to initiate other pastimes, as well as providing seated areas; at that time, the LA actually funded training courses for running playtime supervision.
Of course, training, staffing and equipment all have budgetary implications, which may well be an issue.

Q.E.D.

You’re not being precious- welcome to playground life. I really think schools need to up their game on ensuring everyone gets a chance to play. And I say that as a parent of 2 boys.

I really like the charity ‘make space for girls’ - they’ve done loads of research into this and have lots of advice for schools and leisure services. It’s all about design.

Completely agree with @Snarffaluffagus that OPAL are the people to speak to here. They are brilliant at helping schools create playgrounds where everyone is active, not just the boys. As they say, there are fourteen different kinds of play, why does school space prioritise just one, locomotive play?

I saw the most depressing but evocative graphic on this a few weeks ago - from a group who'd been studying use of space in a primary school in Spain.

As the tweet says - girls are literally marginalised.

https://x.com/MakeSpaceforGi1/status/1753033693021544784?s=20

But why this matters is that by the end of primary school, girls learn this as a life lesson - space isn't theirs. So they stay at home in their bedrooms.

Also @TheYearOfSmallThings it has not changed enough yet. I was talking to another mum whose daughter was giving up football because in the junior mixed teams the boys refused to pass to the girls...

Brava @ZoeyBartlett

sorry pressed ‘post’ too many times 🙄

When I was a deputy head I ended up separating the playground with low wooden fences. Football/ ball games, area of grass under tress. Climbing frames, benched no running area. Tiny playground but worth it. It was frankly a horrendous uncrossable hell. I think all playgrounds need distrupting with furniture and fencing to prevent the take over. It’s not even all boys, though it is boy dominated. Some boys also need to read without being smacked in the head with a ball!

I was just coming on to post about make space for girls 😁
The physical design of play and public spaces is incredibly important if we want spaces that both boys and girls can use.

I complained to our school that boys were allowed to play football and there was no provision to allow girls to do any sport (netball, skipping) during playtime. I was told girls can play football too, which I responded to by saying, yes of course they can but the boys won't let them and not all want to because they've already been socialised by age 7 into gendered roles, so practically they won't and need other provision. I was told I was being sexist.

Yes exactly - and boys need to learn a bit of humility, how to behave around girls, how not to objectify them, how to function in work and like when, you know, women need as much consideration as men

I have been heavily involved in developing early years programmes, and this sort of behaviour is massively driven by the home, even at the baby stage.

People encourage little girls, even babies, to be careful, and not to spoil their clothes that are useless for play. The trend is often intensified if the children have been cared for mostly by grandparents - lots of "sit nice and quietly" care.

A little anecdata to back up the actual trends - yesterday a meeting with my antenatal group. Stark differences already between the boy and girl mums in attitudes, as outlined above. The babies in question are four months old.

Totally agree, but the amount of 'they're just different aren't they' among parents of boys/ girls drives me nuts.

This is how I feel. All very well saying the girls can join in but can they REALLY? Will the boys treat them as equal or just ignore them and shout to each other? DD loves boisterous play but is short and slight for her age and quite clumsy, she’s nowhere near matching the boys speed or force during these games. She wants to join in, not be knocked flying then ignored.

The votes are pretty split so it seems I’m not being ridiculous. I think I’ll email the head, just outline what I’ve noticed, include the info included in this thread and ask them to give it some thought. We want our girls to grow up feeling sport and physical activity is a natural pastime for them, not just for the boys while they watch on from the sides. I’ll update if/when they respond. Thanks.

I think limiting the number of days when football can be played is a reasonable compromise that also works for boys who are pushed out of the playground, but I imagine the howls of outrage from the football fathers will be heard in outer space.

I wouldn't say that the evidence that co-ed schooling achieves this is exactly striking.

Your observations are not wrong. It happened at my DD’s school. It was especially bad for her because she is very small. she got knocked over and injured repeatedly even in the tamest areas and eventually just retreated from playing.

I remember it happening at my school growing up and we even had quite a large playground.

At my school the boys played so rough the school actually banned girls from entering areas like the field where they were playing football, even if the girls wanted to play. We were told that games like hopscotch were sufficient. There were simple solutions, like taking the zones on alternating breaks or days, but instead the boys just ruled.