Should sports day be optional?

[Nothinglefttosaynow]

I remember dreading sports day as a child, I was slow & awkward and always near the end if not last. It was public embarrassment for me & I dreaded it. My nephew has sports day next week & is already worrying about it. He is fit and healthy but not a fast runner & has come last for the past 3 years. I absolutely agree with kids taking part in sport at school & at home, but I wonder if forcing kids who clearly don't enjoy it to participate in front of a crowd is fair.

From working in schools I think children have a more fun and positive outlook so actually even a lot of the less sporty kids would opt in. It’s a minority that are so bothered by it they’d opt out I feel…Unless they were influenced by parents perhaps.

And btw I’m ND and loved sports day!

What a load of crap. I "opted out" a lot at school, playing truant, tricking parents into thinking I was ill, etc to avoid things like school sports and some other events. That was because I was being horrendously bullied. I could tolerate "normal" formal lessons, particularly with strong teachers, but would be bullied (not just name calling but physical abuse, theft of property etc) whenever things were informal or with weak teachers.

I've not opted out of anything as an adult, I've been involved in amateur dramatics, lots of clubs & societies (included being a committee member, treasurer, secretary, chairman, spokesperson etc)., ran a local "save the library" campaign, given presentations to large numbers of people, ran training courses, taught at our local college of FE, successfully launched my own business including marketing events, etc.

Funny how you're less likely to be spat at, have fag ends burned on your arms, had your books stolen or pissed on, etc., outside the school environment!

I don't think people like you know just what it can be like in schools when you're the target of the humiliation and abuse. I was suicidal at school, but absolutely bloomed once I managed to escape the hell hole and the bullies.

Wow a lot of responses! I stand by my belief that children should be allowed to participate only if they want to. My own child is in a competitive sport and so is used to winning/losing in front of spectators but sports day is totally different, especially for the races where some children are really slow and repeatedly last & you can see how embarrassed they are. I think times are changing and we luckily are noticing that shaming children does infact cause them harm. Look how many people here remember coming last at their own sports days in childhood, despite successful careers etc. The reality is sports days will carry on, and I will cheerfully encourage both my nephew and my child to participate and that it doesn't really matter if they don't win, but I still feel sorry for them knowing they are really worried about it & feeling embarrassed when they inevitably don't do well. We always just laugh it off & are lucky that they are resilient, but can I honestly say they get any benefit from it? No. They don't.

imo sports days should not be optional but it should cater for all abilities and should be fun

and also shouldn't necessarily involve parents watching.

You bet wrong then. He’s an adult at uni doing a highly competitive degree, works in the holidays, goes to the gym, plays on a football team and volunteers for a mental health charity. He throws himself into everything he goes.

I think it should be optional. I really enjoyed athletics, but I could see how many kids despised it and it was embarrassing for them.

What a shitty pointless (and as it turns out incorrect) response.

I don’t know. Gdcs enjoy it, but I do remember last time feeling so sorry for the little boy who was crying as he came in last - again. 😰

At our school there are no spectators and at any given time 8 different events are being held so realistically the only people aware of the result are those in your group at the time when you are competing.

I can see both sides as a parent of two children, one who wins every race and one who is last in every race. I try to frame it as its only one day a year and there are many other things that they shine at such as year writing competitions, photography competitions, drama performances etc.

I hated sports day when I was a kid.

I dislike it even more as a teaching assistant!
Basically, the parents /families attending make it a hell on earth.
I wish sports day was ‘behind closed doors’.
Parents are either competitive and moan about decisions/results. Or they interfere when we are trying to keep groups of children under control, or insist younger siblings be allowed to go and sit with them (!) or want to give them snacks/ juice/ hugs /cuddles and anything else which causes disruption. Basically, just being there upsets the kids. It’s more trouble than it’s worth in my opinion!🫤

Some children are not good In maths for example. They can't opt out of it, Can't out opt out of something just because you are not good at it.

I’m 50 and my parents always came. I loved going to my children’s sports days as well and wish I still could (secondary school doesn’t allow spectators). It’s not a big event as so many will not do it!

I don’t think you have to do the sprint race now? They tend to have a variety of events that are a bit less full on.

I was good at sprinting so loved it (despite the pressure to perform), but can see where you are coming from. I’m not sure being allowed to opt out is the right approach; so many girls seem to opt out of PE completely which is not good for them in the long run. We are getting less and less healthy as a nation and that starts in childhood. Even some sporty girls won’t take part anymore as it’s not seen as cool! Not sure what the answer is though.

No it shouldn’t be optional, children need to learn that sometimes they aren’t the best at things and it’s ok the world isn’t going to end, we really need to stop pandering to them

As someone who works in a school and previously organised sports day, no, I don't think it should be optional, where would we draw the line on what we cant and cant opt in and out of?! However, I think the activities that are run are important. Ours are a carousel of inclusive team activities in their houses so it's a group effort (which we also do as part of PE lessons). There are also races at the end but if I child desperately didn't want to take part, they would never be forced. Also, we have run SD without parents rhe last couple of years and have to say it was much smoother all round.
All children have their own strengths and should be given that chance to shine, whether that be sports, maths, spellings etc. We have a celebration assembly every week where these achievements are recognised across the school.

This dimwitted response has been posted multiple times already. When is school maths day in which everyone publically engages in competitive maths held?

In what area of post-school life are they compelled to publically demonstrate they are (or aren't) good at something?

My dd is fit and healthy too and swims 3 times a week. But she sucks at every other sport especially running she is always last. We did first two years of sports day and then we just took sick days off and she enjoyed doing something fun instead. Sports day is an excuse for sporty kids to show off which is usually physical advantage you are born with.

Can't out opt out of something just because you are not good at it.
and yet, at age 62, I am not compelled to still study Latin.

I actually think they need more competition in schools. Sports day yes but also spelling bees that everyone has to take part in, maths Olympiads, public speaking, and perhaps a musical instrument/solo singing concert, just so everyone gets a chance to shine and fail in public to see what it’s like.

Dimwitted, Insulting someone because they don't agree with you. Someone didn't get picked for the sports team 😅 Maybe we should stop testing kids because that's competitive. In life you have to do things you don't like . Or you end up a snowflake getting offered by a strangers opinions on the Internet . Have the day you deserve.😁

Hmmm tricky one, I see both sides. At the end of the day, you know your kid. If it’s really going to cause that much anxiety (and for lots of kids it does) then I’d call them in sick that day, and go do something fun like swimming or the arcade or cinema etc
But that’s just me 🤷🏼‍♀️ xx

@DaisyHaites
"No. We shouldn’t protect kids from things they’re not good at."

I agree. We should, however, protect children from public humiliation.

I can see I was right. You are right, I didn't get picked for sports teams. In fact the other kids said "we don't want that useless fucking spastic on our team" (apologies for the language but that's an actual quote).

I suppose it was preparation for meeting nasty people too dense to have a bit of empathy, but school sports didn't teach me anything except how nasty and cruel some people are - and how they will try to make you do pointless and embarrassing things and accuse you of being a "snowflake" if anything makes you uncomfortable.

Thankfully, once out of school, these kind of people are usually quite easy to dodge.

I don't know...! I hated it as a child, but I take on board some of the pro-arguments here.

But I think it should just be in internal school thing - no external spectators. That is usually the major source of stress and embarrassment for most non-sporty kids! Aternatively, if all the participants are volunteers then fine - invite parents along. The non-competing children could have helping roles instead, or watch with the guests if they prefer. I know I'd have enjoyed that!

In life you have to do things you don't like
Massively patronising and fucking obvious.
Thankfully I don't ever have to engage in a public tournament consisting of things I am shit at and will be ridiculed for - although I imagine judging by some of the ultra-dense patronising comments on here, many people seem to think adult life should be like that.