Did you dislike PE? Do your kids dislike PE?

[chris1987]

I'm studying to be a PE teacher and I'm curious to know what people's views are on how PE has changed over the years. Do your kids enjoy or dread it? Why? How could it be better?

I hated it. I was told as a kid it was very likely I have dyspraxia but my parents didn't want to pursue a diagnosis.
I was awful at pretty much all aspects of PE and the teachers were fucking horrible to me. Calling me names, laughing at me and encouraging the other kids to do the same.
I was viewed as a massive inconvenience for everyone involved, always picked last and kids would fight over who had to pick me for their team. The teachers just let all this happen. Eventually I stopped turning up.
I finished school in 2008 so were not talking decades ago.

Dd1 is 5 and about as coordinated as i am but loves PE because everyone is kind and inclusive.

I hated it mainly because I was in the mixed group for the "non sporty" kids whereas I could have probably done quite well if they had given me a chance but they didn't so I would purposely not take my stuff so I didn't need to take part.
My DS 10 loves it, it's about the only thing he actually enjoys at school and gets really upset if he misses it for any reason.

ToastyFingers

That's disgusting, I can't believe they treated you like that!

I enjoyed PE at secondary school but probably wouldn't have admitted to liking it at the time as most of my friends hated it

My kids seem to enjoy it too. Neither of them is particularly talented in any sport but they both seem happy to join in and have a go.

I didn't like PE much, never any good at throwing/catching/running so ball games weren't much fun. Hated having the sporty kids get annoyed when you let the team down. Fortunately despite being a very run of the mill comprehensive our school also did outdoor education which I LOVED. We did canoeing, rock climbing, horse riding, orienteering etc. I enjoyed the occasional PE lesson when we did trampolining too.

So I would say if the goal of PE is to get kids to be active I would suggest a variety of options and allowing pupils to put the options in order of preference so they can do more of the ones they enjoy.

I loved pe in primary school - I was in the netball team and I enjoyed swimming. In secondary school I hated it because I was bullied and it seemed as though the popular kids, those who bullied me, were always the ones who were team captains and made it their mission to pick me last for everything. We were separated from the boys and weren't allowed to do football or running. We had to do hockey and those who bullied me would use it as an opportunity to whack me with the hockey sticks. We did swimming, which I enjoyed, until they changed it to water aerobics and I hated it.

One of my dc likes pe, the other isn't that bothered. They're still in primary school though.

I don't like teaching pe (I'm a teacher in primary schools) simply because I don't feel properly trained to do it well enough. I don't feel there was enough coverage of pe in my teacher training course - in 4 years we did 12 weeks and most of that covered the curriculum side rather than the actual teaching of it.

I hated it.. 1970s grammar school... bullying sneering teachers, over, competitive . enforced communal showers , stupid short kit and no change to it eveni n in the middle of winter ..The 'favoured girls' picking the team ever week and arguing over the last ones left ( because they didnt want them ) ,

Just another way to make you feel bad..
I have never done or watched sport since and never will.. (luckily at my age I dont have to ) ..

quite frankly out PE teachers were just sadistic..

I disliked pe.

I was not fit, I often didn't have the right kit which I was always being told off for, I don't like being cold, wet, sweaty, breathless or outside, I don't care if someone else 'wins' - let them - and I see no value in team sports over any other cooperative activity.

My pe teacher was a bitch. I mean, she was a real bitch. She yelled constantly, accused us of being lazy if we failed to catch a ball or show enthusiasm for a game we always lost, and it didn't help my attitude.

I hated it.
Top tip, have a range of activities on offer. I really enjoyed it in later years when we could do dancing and badminton (both indoors and don’t hurt!!).

Also, let people wear tracksuits for goodness sake. I never understood this bizarre issue of making pupils where shorts in March because wearing warm clothing is some special privilege only bestowed on adults.

*wear not where

I tolerated it in primary but I hated it in secondary and did anything I could to get out of it. I wasn’t remotely sporty so it was pretty torturous. It made me unpopular with my peers because I was so shit I would never win at anything. Puberty was not kind to me and there was no covering up in the changing rooms. I’ve always really encouraged DD to try hard in PE but she hates it.

OP hasn't come back..shes probably considering a career change!!

Good thing .. Dont spend your working life making kids miserable..

(I expect I shall get flamed now..)

Hated it. As others have said, compulsory showers, being forced to play hockey in a leotard and tiny skirt in freezing weather, not being one of the PE teachers favourites. But most of all it was because it was taught on a competitive basis rather than for individual enjoyment.

I did like a few things - cricket, badminton but they were rare moments.

One of my DC was quite good and didn’t mind it. The other is dyspraxic and due to injury never did it much after 14 although he loves going to the gym nw.

I hated pe. As do all five of my children.

In my mid forties I did c25k and have since done 94 parkruns 3 10 mile races a half marathon and numerous 10ks. I am a run director for my local parkrun and help out with beginners groups.

My children are scared that this is their future 😂😂😂

I hated pe but love sports as an adult. Pe was just torture, athletics, netball and bench ball if we was lucky.

As an adult I love yoga, hiking, climbing, powerlifting and pole dancing. So more individual sports that don't involve running more importantly.

As a kid there was never any kind of choice, sucked any fun out of it

drogosnextwife I know, I still feel angry about it sometimes. It doesn't help that I live really close to the school I went to and still see the main offender in the supermarket from time to time.

I can't say I loved PE and I put as little effort in as I could get away with during lessons. But I did enjoy two particular sports and was on the school teams for those, so I got plenty exercise during lunchtime/weekend practice. Tbh I think it was seen as embarrassing to do more than the minimum in lessons - much 'cooler' to sneer at it and have to be chivvied into it at my school.

DS is in Y8 and hates most PE - he has dyspraxia (as do I) and his school is obsessed with Rugby which he detests. Nothing fun about being in the lowest set out in the driving wind and rain all afternoon - he ended up with pretty serious hypothermia during the Beast from the East! He does enjoy rowing and swimming though so puts lots of effort in on those days. The boys at his school all seem pretty keen on competitive sports, they frequently win national and international competitions so it's a world away from my 90s comp! No wonder DS isnt so keen in that environment with his coordination issues.

Hated, no, despised PE.

Didn't like having to go out in the freezing cold in not enough clothing.

Didn't understand the rules of most of the games we played and never managed to pick them up. Or any skills. I still have crap coordination, can't catch, can't aim a throw. I was about 25 when DH told me that you don't kick a ball with your toe. I didn't know! Someone mentioned knowing what to do with your arms when running - I don't know this now.

Didn't like the way the more sporty girls would be really aggressive - e.g. Whacking ankles in hockey. Don't like typical "sporty" forms of encouragement which are basically shouting and whistles blown in your ear. All of this simply convinced me that sport is something to be avoided at all costs, and consequently I have never got into fitness as an adult.

Competition is no fun when you have zero chance of winning and I'm not a competitive person. I also used to get blamed when our team lost because I was bloody hopeless at catching the ball or I did the wrong thing in rounders etc. So typically I'd try to stay out of the way and then I'd get even more cold and miserable.

We didn't have to shower thank god but I used to hate the smell of sweat and mud and damp hockey boots. And the clouds of impulse in the changing rooms! When we did drugs education my best friend and I tried to bring this up as a risk of accidental solvent abuse but the teachers thought we were joking.

I quite liked gymnastics because I could do that, my teacher would come up and help me do bits I got stuck on and be nice and encouraging rather than just shouting "Come on! Yes! Get in!" etc. Also there was no winning or losing and it was warm.

DS loves sport at school because he likes running around, he says "we just get to play games".

.The 'favoured girls' picking the team ever week and arguing over the last ones left ( because they didnt want them )

Same at my school. It's amazing this was allowed, even in the 80s/90s. Can you imagine the fuss if every maths class had started with the 2 kids best at maths being allowed to pick teams and leave out the strugglers?

Actually I think kids should just be able to opt out or PE and sport .. I'd have been far happier (and learnt more) if I had just been banished to the school library to do English or History just as long as I wasn't made to study sports books

I hated it. I was always slightly overweight and unfit and spent every lesson feeling self conscious, especially in swimming when we spent a lot of time standing by the pool rather than in it.
In my school (back in the late 90s) classes were not set by ability- that’s something that I really wish would happen with PE. Instead it was mixed and I ended up in a group with 90% of people who excelled at it. I always felt that unlike with other subjects where things like quality of your written work were easier to keep private, everything was on show in PE. It was embarrassing having to do things like try and score a goal whilst everyone watched or wait to be picked last in team sports. I know some might say that’s morale boosting or similar but as a shy teen I found it horrendous. It actually put me off exercise as a young adult for a long time.
Many of our teachers were horrible as well. I’d like to think that was just at my school though! One was known for openly laughing if you weren’t very good at it eg missed the ball. Another was way too familiar with some of the students (it later came to light that she was actually grooming/with a 15 year old and she went to prison for it).
So in a word- no not a fan of PE as it used to be taught.

Toasty I feel angry about it still also!! Do right now!! ffing sadists

A mixed bag for me. I have been a gym member my whole adult life. I have mostly been fit/very fit since the age of 24 (now 46).

Having to wear shorts/pe knickers and pe skirts and do cross country and go in horrible communal showers was just horrid. Also playing hockey in the middle of winter in a pe skirt. Torture and lots of nasty girls as pp has said.

I now wear lovely sweaty Betty leggings and cycle for miles in spin class. I would still hate it all if I had to get my legs out (i live with it in the pool area at Center Parcs!)

Also girls' sport was so blooming dull apart from a bit of tennis in the summer.

Make it fun. Don't be an utter dragon and use it to build self esteem. And let them wear tracky bottoms!!

Amazing how many of us hated PE at school but discovered C25K in our 40s!