Under what circumstances would you have ten and eleven year old boys and girls in your gym class use the same open room to change into their gym clothes?
Parents staged an angry protest after their young daughters were forced to strip to their underwear in front of boys at school.
The girls, aged ten and 11, were left in tears after being ordered to change for PE in a mixed classroom under a school policy blamed on health and safety regulations.
The headmistress of Hillside School in Baddeley Green, Stoke-on-Trent, said the children had to get changed together as there were not enough teachers to supervise them separately.
But furious mother Dawn Bedford said her ten-year-old daughter Sam was reduced tears by the rules.
This girl took matters into her own hands, repossesing her gym bag, running to the bathroom, and changing there. Other young ladies were reduced to attempting to hide under desks while changing. Many were in tears.
Truly, men and women are not the same– neither are boys and girls. There should be no reason in a culture (a western culture) that is as sexualized as ours that boys and girls should be forced to change in the same room. I mean, even in families we start separating boys and girls into their own rooms way before this age.
There’s no reason for this to happen– they could have been excused to the restroom or they could have found another teacher. Just another reason why you should be homeschooling.
Yikes. The more I read about public schools, the more determined I am to homeschool our future kids. When I graduated high school 9 years ago, I’d been in the public school system since Kindergarten, and I wasn’t so sure that homeschooling was a good option…and I saw what happened in the halls and heard the kinds of philosophies that were taught. Thankfully, I’ve matured since then!
Posted by Princess Jami | October 2, 2006, 3:12 pmI heard a lot about homeschooling, and saw some positive and negative results in my own extended family. However, it’s got to be a lot better than what’s going on in these public schools!
Posted by MInTheGap | October 2, 2006, 3:39 pmWhen I was in primary school, we always changed for PE in the (mixed) classroom. I’m not sure I see a problem with that at primary age.
Posted by Stephen Kingston | October 2, 2006, 4:41 pmWell, a couple of things have changed from when we (or our parents) were children. For one thing, this girl was just now going through some sex education classes– nothing like talking about ones private parts in one class and practically displaying them in another! The other was that kids seem to be “blooming” younger, and that can be a problem as far as what they see and what they know.
Posted by MInTheGap | October 2, 2006, 9:20 pmMy daughters would be mortified if this happened to them…and I’d be incensed. I hope the school gets in major trouble over this. That’s just ridiculous.
Kids can be so mean to each other too…(girls especially)…if they’re the slightest bit chubby, they’ll be called fat and so on. There’s no excuse for what they allowed.
Posted by Mary | October 2, 2006, 11:57 pmI really think there ought to be some other way to get around that. I mean really, why not call the principle or the school nurse or something to watch one group? There is absolutely no excuse for this if you ask me.
Mrs Meg Logan
Posted by Mrs. Meg Logan | October 3, 2006, 1:32 pmPoor kids; it’s appalling. I can’t see using that as a reason to homeschool though — it’s not as if that sort of thing is usual.
Posted by Heather | October 3, 2007, 1:09 pmWell, it can’t happen if your kids are not in a public school setting, can it?
Posted by MInTheGap | October 3, 2007, 2:57 pm