She does have a point that it’s weird we make teens change clothes, get naked, and shower as a group.
Like, it would be less weird if they did it as children. But waiting until some kids start going thru puberty and then making everyone strip together while an inevitably creepy gym teacher watches with too much interest…
The whole thing is fucking weird.
Like, why can’t shower stalls include a changing stall?
Everyone’s happy, and nobody’s looking or being looked at
Some of the high school showers I used were vertical pipes with shower heads pointing horizontally kind of spiraled up to the top. That way like 6 guys could share a shower area that would only be big enough for one guy. At my school we had normal (I guess) open showers with a showerhead and valve handle every 4 feet or so. With those verticle pipe ones just about the whole team could shower at once in the amount of space we used to shower 6 guys in our locker room. Very efficient?
Schools really don’t do gym anymore. I think the last time my kids had it was once a week, and I just didn’t see a point. It probably helps that my youngest is an athlete but what good does anyone get from once a week of screwing around?
We had different experiences, as did our kids. In the 70s/80s, we’d jog a mile everyday to start gym class. I was the wimpy kid, always picked second or third to last for a team. Sometimes last. :(
When I took my kids on a hike down to the creek summer before last, “A whole MILE!”
“Are you telling me a 52-yo man with emphysema can out walk you?!”
Best part? They were so much more fit, had no complaints walking to the creek by the end of that summer. Weird part? They didn’t even notice.
I have to say it’s been long enough for me that “a whole mile” seems unusual again. This summer was “let’s walk to the diner for breakfast. If we take the new bike trail it’s only a bit over a mile”.
I grew up in a rural area where we’d be out all day, and a mile wasn’t even worth measuring. Then is used to live in Boston, where walking and trains were more convenient than cars most of the time, so a mile wasn’t even just a short walk to whatever. But now in the suburbs I’ve fallen into the car trap, and it’s only since COVID that I started rediscovering how walkable my town is
1980s 7th and 8th-grade showers were basically prison showers for us. Was terrified to have to get naked, but glad it happened.
Despite being a scrawny little fuck (still am), I learned I was packing heat vs. the popular preppies. Nothing to write home about, but I’ve never been insecure about my penis size.
Also got me over my fear of being seen naked. Now I don’t give a fuck. (Part of the IDGAF is middle age.)
No, every student should use them. If they’re only optional, you still have the bullies together in a gang to pick on everyone else. You’re singling out people who choose privacy. You’re putting peer pressure on everyone who doesn’t conform.
She does have a point that it’s weird we make teens change clothes, get naked, and shower as a group.
Like, it would be less weird if they did it as children. But waiting until some kids start going thru puberty and then making everyone strip together while an inevitably creepy gym teacher watches with too much interest…
The whole thing is fucking weird.
Like, why can’t shower stalls include a changing stall?
Everyone’s happy, and nobody’s looking or being looked at
Seems like a ridiculously easy problem to solve.
Y’all’s showers had stalls?
Some of the high school showers I used were vertical pipes with shower heads pointing horizontally kind of spiraled up to the top. That way like 6 guys could share a shower area that would only be big enough for one guy. At my school we had normal (I guess) open showers with a showerhead and valve handle every 4 feet or so. With those verticle pipe ones just about the whole team could shower at once in the amount of space we used to shower 6 guys in our locker room. Very efficient?
And people ask why I never play sports
We had mandatory gym class in the 80s. Showering was also mandatory.
Schools really don’t do gym anymore. I think the last time my kids had it was once a week, and I just didn’t see a point. It probably helps that my youngest is an athlete but what good does anyone get from once a week of screwing around?
We had different experiences, as did our kids. In the 70s/80s, we’d jog a mile everyday to start gym class. I was the wimpy kid, always picked second or third to last for a team. Sometimes last. :(
When I took my kids on a hike down to the creek summer before last, “A whole MILE!”
“Are you telling me a 52-yo man with emphysema can out walk you?!”
Best part? They were so much more fit, had no complaints walking to the creek by the end of that summer. Weird part? They didn’t even notice.
I have to say it’s been long enough for me that “a whole mile” seems unusual again. This summer was “let’s walk to the diner for breakfast. If we take the new bike trail it’s only a bit over a mile”.
I grew up in a rural area where we’d be out all day, and a mile wasn’t even worth measuring. Then is used to live in Boston, where walking and trains were more convenient than cars most of the time, so a mile wasn’t even just a short walk to whatever. But now in the suburbs I’ve fallen into the car trap, and it’s only since COVID that I started rediscovering how walkable my town is
1980s 7th and 8th-grade showers were basically prison showers for us. Was terrified to have to get naked, but glad it happened.
Despite being a scrawny little fuck (still am), I learned I was packing heat vs. the popular preppies. Nothing to write home about, but I’ve never been insecure about my penis size.
Also got me over my fear of being seen naked. Now I don’t give a fuck. (Part of the IDGAF is middle age.)
Private stalls for changing and showering should be mandatory and any student should have the eight to use them for any reason
No, every student should use them. If they’re only optional, you still have the bullies together in a gang to pick on everyone else. You’re singling out people who choose privacy. You’re putting peer pressure on everyone who doesn’t conform.