Should sport in school be damaging?

[Zontiki]

The teacher in DDs sport lessons (who is the head of sport there) told the pupils that they should not be afraid of lacrosse sticks and of falling down etc., as braking legs, arms, fingers is normal in sport and everyone of them will sooner or later break something in the PE lesson.

DD was shocked and is really afraid of PE now. Indeed last year one girl from DD's class broke her leg and another girl broke two fingers as she was hit by a lacrosse stick.

DD is very serious about her musical studies, she plays piano and violin and has high grades in both, and she is in two orchestras. If she breaks arm or finger it will be disaster for her.

What should we do? Is it possible to ask for permission not to attend PE lessons?

We are not against sport, and in fact I like sport and always encouraged my kids in jogging, cycling etc. However we always thought the sport should be for health and not against. Of course there can be accidents, but if you don't care to take precautions and your sport is damaging, why should my child be forced into it in school against her and my will?

I don't think it is normal to break something in PE. I think grave concerns would be raised about a school where "everyone of them will sooner or later break something in the PE lesson". That said, it is a risk in sport, but then there are risks in cooking, science, woodwork, crossing the road too.

Wwyd!? Complain!!! They are meant to plan out such incidents as part of their lesson plans. They're obviously not planning properly or even showing a duty of care to students by teaching them about ways of mitigating risk! Ask to see or ask for an investigation from the HT into the conduct and planning of the PE dept.

Right, there is a risk when driving cars, but saying that "sooner or later you will smash into lamp post or hit someone" is a bit strange approach.

is it possible to ask for permission not to attend PE lessons
Eh?!
The teacher shouldn’t have quite phrased it like that and broken bones are not to be expected and are not part of the subject.

However there is such a thing as personal responsibility- if your DD is careful in PE lessons I.e doesn’t do anything she deems too risky and as long as she obeys the safety rules, there’s no reason why she should break any bones.

Goodness me.

My son fell backwards on the gym floor and banged his head and broke his arm, this was high school and not little clumsy kids but still unusual and he was just unlucky

Having said that though his head was fine but it did lead to osteoporosis being diagnosed about 6 months later. If it wasn't for this fall it could have been years before we found out and broken something like his spine.

Teacher was teasing.

Bad accidents are pretty rare. One or two in a large school in a year if unlucky, but usually less. You know - from your own experience and from family/friends - that it's simply not true that everyone gets broken bones at school.

Lacrosse isn't especially dangerous, but if she hates it, what other sports are available?

Email the PE teacher/form teacher and explain how DD is feeling really reticent regarding PE because of this comment in light of her musical interests. Hopefully there should be some reassurance given.

I think you need to take this with a pinch of salt.

If you think about it, risk of having accidents is everywhere.

Football is a contact sport
Rugby is a collision sport
Netball is a contact sport
Hockey is a contact sport

They all have high likelihood of injury in varying degrees.

But so does everything else we do... from making dinner in the kitchen to making a cup of tea, to walking down the stairs. Everything we do comes with a risk.

The important thing with sport is to emphasise warm up and stretching to prepare muscles and protect from injury.

Withdrawing your DD from sport would be silly IMO. PE teachers are notoriously short on empathy.

Lacrosse is a crazy sport. You are running about with the ball in a net by your head while other people try to hit your net with a stick. Luckily there is only one ball between loads of people so you can avoid getting near it.

Agree teacher was winding them up. And no, I don't think that's outrageous of teacher. They need to learn to spot BS.

I've been rather shocked by the number of broken bones at DDs high school, mostly football related and amongst the girls who play in teams rather than during lessons.
I think the teacher sounds like they have misread their audience though.

The way the teacher spoke was a bit unfortunate and a poor way of handling things. I think their intention was just to get the kids to have a go and get into the game properly and not be precious petals.

Luckily there is only one ball between loads of people so you can avoid getting near it.

This reminds me of Flora Poste's approach for any Cold Comfort Farm fans!

Seriously though, lacrosse balls are really hard and as justajot says, much of the tackling and catching happens around the head and being whacked on the fingers isn't that uncommon either. I think it is a game that requires physical courage, more than footie or netball but less than rugby imo.

I have to admit to pulling my son out of hockey in the term he had music scholarship auditions (year 8). Actually all I did was speak briefly to his teacher about whether it was an option and he was all for it straight away. My son didn't really enjoy team sports anyway - at senior school he mainly chooses to run, which is a good option for musicians!

Whilst I agree that the teacher's comments may have been meant TIC, it would be very appropriate to discuss whether playing lacrosse is right for your daughter, and if she is to continue it, to ensure she is given good advice on how to play without undue risks to her hands! Depending on the response you get to a polite discussion about the real risks and alternatives, if it appears the teacher is actually blasé about the risks then I would raise it with the school.

I think you are feeding into your dcs fears with this instrument thing. You are catastrophising minor fractures. I work in children's sport and come across some children who are utterly terrified if they hurt themselves because of parents like you. If they break their fingers they would probably only miss a week or two and an arm maybe 4-6 weeks
You realise that running carries a considerable risk of injury ?

Talk to some year 11s, and ask them if they have broken anything in PE lessons.
All things carry a risk, some sports are more risky than others:
But I know a girl who broke both arms swimming.
I know a lady who gave herself severe concussion playing tennis.
My df pulled a muscle playing chess.
And a friend at university ripped her leg muscles so badly jogging that she was told she was at risk of ending up in a wheelchair unless she rested for a year.

My dd is very sporty (and very clumsy). She broke her arm very badly - she was in a cast for 3 months. Was it the time she tripped over a post in cross country? Or any of the myriad times she face planted during football? Or the crack across the knuckles in hockey? Or the time she picked up her friend’s jumper?

Honestly OP, your ds could break a bone at any time. Having said that, I did refuse to let ds go bmxing the weekend before his 11+.

imo sports (all sports including pe) should be challenging and minor injuries (bruises, maybe a twisted ankle) should be accepted.

imo pe at school involves too much sitting around and not enough rigorous exercise, i.e. getting sweaty and out of breath.

however, the teacher/trainer should make sure that everyone knows the rules that are there for safety reasons (hockey sticks never above knee level for example)

Same problem here. It depends on the sport. When I played varsity basketball and volleyball, hardly a week went by without broken fingers. Not a good choice for a string player. Lacrosse, as rugby for boys, is also pretty bound for bruises etc. Not that much of a risk to fingers, though ( though great risk for broken noses) DD report cards always states that she is rather delicate and too eager to avoid injury/not prepared to keep playing with strained ankle etc. I think she is rather sensible! I wouldn't seek situations in which I am beaten up with a hockey or Lacross stick. But it seems there is quite some macho attitude among PE teachers, especially at public schools. Does your DD have any choice? Could she choose swimming of athletics or tennis instead?

Lacrosse isn't especially dangerous.

The American Indians played it to the death.

The French women's national game.

Those little nuggets of information and my own personal experience of playing it for five years at school would lead me to argue with the idea that lacrosse isn't especially dangerous.

But then, like the indigenous population of North America (can't answer for French women of the 1970s), we played with little protective kit (other than in our case a sturdy oiled wool games jumper) and I understand that things are a little different these days.

Being on a hockey pitch with the Finnish girl who had only previously played the ice version and could not grasp that sweeping like that just wasn't allowed in the field game, now that was dangerous.

The teacher was joking. Tell your dd to pull herself together.

Dd plays lax, hockey and football. She's had the odd football injury and nothing from hockey or lax.

Lacrosse - so this is an independent school I’m guessing.

So in the bubble of the Prep school environment our DS was once in, Sport was 3 times a week. Contact rugby started in Yr4 and when we moved Back into the state sector his Maths was mega behind.

3 times a week! Every day at dds private school. Might as well stay in the state sector if you only want sport 3 x a week.