Is no-shower policy for high schools real?

[JackbytheSea]

I'm hearing some HS schools are allowing kids to opt out of showering after PE class.

Hell, why stop there?

Math made me feel inadequate and unsure of myself. It was a daunting experience that brought me a great deal of anxiety and low self-esteem. Should kids get to opt out of taking math also?

I was a chunky teen and often razzed for it at school. Most of the time, the verbal abuse occured during a class. Should kids also be able to opt out of the classroom environment and insist on private tutoring?

What study has proven that showering after gym will scar a student for life? What kind of lessons are we teaching kids, when we allow them to avoid anything that makes them the least bit insecure about themselves? How have the perceived anxieties of teens and pre-teens come to dictate school policy?

Is this no-shower thing actually the norm now? What a lame, pansy-ass country we're turning into, if it is.

 

[D_Dallavell Ogler]

as a freshman i would catch whoopings from the upper classman for being too hung for them to feel comfortable with. Then of course, rampant rumors followed of me being gay. Needless to say HS was rough. I think they should have that policy. My HS life would have been easier.

 

[Mattness]

I'm hearing some HS schools are allowing kids to opt out of showering after PE class.

Hell, why stop there?

Math made me feel inadequate and unsure of myself. It was a daunting experience that brought me a great deal of anxiety and low self-esteem. Should kids get to opt out of taking math also?

I was a chunky teen and often razzed for it at school. Most of the time, the verbal abuse occured during a class. Should kids also be able to opt out of the classroom environment and insist on private tutoring?

What study has proven that showering after gym will scar a student for life? What kind of lessons are we teaching kids, when we allow them to avoid anything that makes them the least bit insecure about themselves? How have the perceived anxieties of teens and pre-teens come to dictate school policy?

Is this no-shower thing actually the norm now? What a lame, pansy-ass country we're turning into, if it is.

I went to Public School outside of Philadelphia in the 70's and early 80's and we did NOT shower after Gym class at all. The only time it was even available to us, based on time constraints between periods, was in Senior High School (11th and 12th Grade) and then NO ONE ever did it.

Of course as a young gay man, I wanted Mark Sands and Dave Billings to shower so that I could see them naked, but I never had any such luck! So, this "No Shower Rule" isn't exactly new!!! I would have had a much healthier masturbation life had we showers in Gym Class!

 

[dudepiston]

The bigger issue here in my opinion is bullying/taunting in our public schools. What kind of job have we done, as a society, to really effectively prevent bullying/taunting? To answer your questions - if a student is being taunted or made fun of - whether it be math class, English class OR P.E. due to the after work-out shower time, then YES, he should be able to opt out of that situation. We all *should* be able to avoid those situations which will harm us - fact is, we're not and no one seems to have ANY idea how to curb bullying.

Now, there is a difference between good-natured razzing and being bullied. And it's like porn - we all know it when we see it; or, are on the recieving end of it.

It's this aspect of our schools that makes me wonder why every parent doesn't homeschool their kid.

At the very least if you're going to subject kids to being naked in front of one another, then our society needs to start very YOUNG teaching children to bathe together, to be comfortable with their bodies, to not be ashamed, and to not make fun of other children for how they look. I don't know about your childhood, but none of that took place much during mine. And I had good parents.

Now by saying all this I'm not suggesting this is a great idea (not showering after P.E. goes against everything I know about personal hygiene!) BUT at the least, spend a few extra bucks and make some individual shower stalls.

 

[D_Elijah_MorganWood]

I refused to shower after PE and there was absolutely nothing they could do to make me. I failed PE more than once because of it.

 

[thad]

The world has sure changed since I went to high school - back in the 60's everyone showered after PE and what is more, in swim class (a mandatory part of also mandatory PE) the boys had to swim naked. I don't recall anyone giving anyone a hassle on their dick size small or big. Of course after swim class shrinkage was the norm :smile:

 

[Honey_Grrrl83]

No showers at school? OMG! That's bizarre! Oh,and ewwwwwwwwwww............

 

[oldman9x7]

I can't understand all this chatter about being nude in the shower or swimming pool at school. This is a HARMFUL thing? We should avoid such situations to make it EASIER for kids?? Guess what. Once they're out of school I wonder where they'll find anyone who will give a shit about shielding them from harm or making things easier for them. Ever consider that the kids now in school may be getting short-changed on their education? There's more to life than math, English and history.

Gramps

 

[nfgsd]

im a senior in high school and we don't have to shower after pe. at my other hs we didn't either, heck in middle school we didnt either. most schools don't make you anymore, thers just not enough time

 

[oldman9x7]

When I was in Junior High and High School they didn't make us take showers either; They LET US!! Maybe we were a bit more into personal hygene than people seem to be today. It must be wonderful having all those sweaty bodies in class. Do you EVER shower?

Oh yeah. As to there just not being enough time - if you have a scheduled PE class (as we did), the coach dismisses class early enough so that there IS time for showers and dressing. Don't tell me you just have to run to your next class in your gym shorts!!

Gramps

 

[D_Claude Hopper]

Wow. I'm actually amazed by the responses so far. It wasn't really an option for us. And not for the "requirement" part of it. It just seamed that after gym class at 8:15 in the morning that noone in there right mind would NOT take a shower after sweating there ass off and then sit in a classroom with their peers all day. We didn't do easy gym class. I grew up in a pretty small town (it was then anyway) and I have to be honest, it was a pretty conservative place. However, from 7th to 12 grade I don't really recall any of the guys in my class not showerring (unless of course gym was at the end of the day. I don't know how the sociology of having gym classes segregated by grade, or growing up in a place that was not yet urbanized affects these things, but all 50 or so of us guys probably did feel uncomfortable around each other at some point. But no one ever showed that they cared about it.

Part of the desensatizing is just from what kids did where I grew up. Good luck finding someone in my class who hadn't been skinny dipping, streaking somewhere, or something else. We were an unbridled group of youths. Maybe thats why it never boiled over for anyone.

I would argue that, from a hygenic standpoint, a shower after gym class would really be a good thing to make sure kids do. You don't mow your yard and sit on the leather couch afterward, do you (unless you have a really small yard)? At the same time, would you really like to endure sitting next to one of your classmates randomly, and have a lovely stale sweat odor lingerring all class period.

Sorry here, I'm sure there are absolute horror stories out there, but I think society has gotten too F*****G soft anyway, and just gives in to anything they see as a potential lawsuit. I'm a pretty damn liberal guy about most things, but damnit, I don't think bending over backwards to accomodate everyone and every idea is smart. It's absurd.

 

[Latinoboy9]

We always did it after P.E. classes and after sports like wrestling and football and soccer,swimming and such other sports, no hassels or worries some hazing for freshman was always there, but no one ever was hurt by it...it seemed to me we had alot of clean students and if you were late for class it was ok as long as your hair was wet...
I had a kewl high school and I am in my last year of college and gang showers are hotter than ever after my swim meets and swim workouts! Jose'Latinoboy9

 

[Honey_Grrrl83]

When I was in middle school and high school we always took a shower after gym class I thought it was that way all over the country

 

[BigSexiCircle99]

They actually always let us shower with Boxers/Underwear on. We were never not able to shower naked nor were we forced to.

 

[kurios]

I think teens generally are becoming really tight assed about nudity and privacy.
Over the years I have employed high school aged guys to do maintenance work around the place (mow lawns,clean pool etc. Say up till 7 or 8 years ago if I was the only person home the guys would think nothing of diving in the pool bare assed to cool off. Then as I think back and the generations changedt this spontanaity sort of shifted to just jumping in with boxers and then to shorts. The one now works in board shorts and just dives in with them on so he trails water all over till they dry. When he gets out of the water the first thing he does is pull the legs of the shorts down to cover his knees. His ass is hanging out the back but pls dont look at his knees.
The gym that I go to the teens do gymnastics under towels to change after showering in their underwear.
I just dont get it.
What has everyone so tightassed about hygene. You run into the group shower area, hose off dry and get dressed in no time. I mean it isnt like you're going to church nude. You throw in dividers, and spend time trying to hide when you could be on your way to class and clean. Why are some guys so very adverse to being seen nude?
Like what do they think is so wrong with getting cleaned up or what do they think they have that no other guy has or gives a damn about?

 

[Dr Rock]

while it's an ugly spectacle and can sometimes get out of hand and become genuinely dangerous, a lot of what's categorized as "bullying" nowadays is just an inevitable result of the social dynamic amongst groups of kids. you throw together a group of people, a good many of whom have little or nothing in common with the majority of those they're forced to share space and resources with, and there's gonna be friction. some will form cliques, some will constantly compete against their fellows, and a significant number will just plain dislike each other. i don't think it's a good idea in terms of personal development to try and shield kids from all that, because as one poster already pointed out, the sooner they get used to and learn how to deal with it, the better - they're in for another 50 years or so of the same annoying shit once they leave school, after all.

There's more to life than math, English and history.

... and since they don't teach any of those in schools anymore, they might as well let the kids learn SOMETHING useful.

 

[D_Lawsonne Lackingnuts]

At my high school, showers after PE are optional and usually no one uses them because of the time restraints between our next class. We're given about five to ten minutes between the time we're dismissed from gym and when we have to change and get to our next class, so there's really no time to include a shower in that.

For sports, it is required for everyone to take a shower after practice (and before practice if you're on the swim team). But, if dudes skip out on it, it's not like they're going to get kicked off the team, plus no one would know other than us, their teammates. Nonetheless, only one or two guys ever skip the shower and when changing, only a small group of guys cover up. Everyone else is uninhibited, which is the way it should be.

 

[findfirefox]

My High school never made any kid shower, it has been optional mainly becuse each class was 50 min. with 5 min. passing, so they just said fuck it.

 

[davidjh7]

Ass much as I hate to say this, I suspect a great deal of the new modesty has to do with the awareness that there are other gay males out there, and that "that gay kid is gonna perve on me if I get naked" mentality. And I suspect many adults, feeling the same discomfort, have allowed the change in attitudes about showering in public to change as well. Pls the paranoia on all sides about the possibility of an adult seeing a teenager nude, with all the attendant legal and social implications. Basically, people have become even more paranoid than they used to be.....

 

[B_blackmeatpounda]

I don't think forcing kids to shower is right. If a kid has an issue with it, they shouldn't be forced to do it. In my high school we were mad about basketball, which we played more often than not, and after a little less than an hour of playing all the guys had big sweat stains on their shirts. After class, everybody would shower, many looking ridiculous keeping one hand over their crotch while showering. If a guy didn't shower, he would stink up the next class and be bugged so much that he would always shower from then on. This having been said, if some kid with a weight problem who didn't really get involved and engaged in gym class and didn't get more sweaty than they normally do being in a warm room didn't want to shower because of embarrassment issues, I think it is a crime to make them shower.