Burnley Grammar School

Kevin,
I think that making a polo shirt optional kit for boys PE doesn’t make any sense. My dad was happy that I would be stripped to the waist for PE like he was and like your dad he would not have wasted money buying me a polo top if it was ‘optional’ as opposed to being compulsory.

Like you I got used to being shirtless and it was more comfortable. Colored bibs can be worn for one team in a shirts vs skins game so there is no need for lads to wear shirts for indoor PE.

This a video of a gym display in my old school in 1983. The boys display begins at 7:51. This shows exactly how our PE lessons were conducted with us barefeet and barechested. The almost military style of teaching and us being forbidden to talk during gymnastics is miles away from todays more 'inclusive' teaching approaches.

Good queation stuart! I think I have answered this kind of in a previous post:
I went to a comprehensive school in the 80ies which must have with hindsight just changed its PE uniform policy for boys when I arrived. We got a letter with a uniform items that needed to be bought and I went with my parents to get them just before school started. We got the main uniform and then it came to the PE kit. White shorts and a green polo shirt. So far so good, but my dad spotted on the list that the shirt was optional for boys. He made it quite clear that he would not pay for the shirt, that I would have to go barechested; he wasn't into wasting money. My mom made matters worse by pointing out that I might get cold doing PE stripped to waist which really annoyed my dad who insisted I needed to grow up to become a man.
Too cut a long story short, I wasn't given a PE shirt and had to go to my first PE lesson knowing I would not be waering a shirt which really worried my. As it turned out luckily I wasn't the only boy without a top, two other boys had to strip too. In the end I never ever wore a top for PE and actually enoyed it in the end. My PE teacher made no secret out of the fact that he tought all the boys should be stripped to the waist and he did favour the small the group of us who were.

I am from the era at an all boys school when topless pe and no underpants was the norm. As far as I know parents did not complain about or question such things. Rules were rules as I say it was the norm.

Interesting question Stuart, I suspect as well as the usual generation gaps there's going to be a difference in whether others parents also ran in such a spartan fashion in shorts and bare feet.

My dad was quite encouraging about me running the cross country shirtless and barefoot just as he had done and my mother wasnt overly concerned at all until it came to my sister and when she reported back that she had to run the cross country outside barefoot my mum was horrified but unlike parents of today she told my sister to stop whining and carry on.

Stuart, my parents never had any objection to me doing PE or cross-country minus a shirt. In fact, they were all for it and were quite happy for me to go shirt-less around the house and garden whenever I wanted to. They did, however draw the line at running over roads or fields bare-footed on safety grounds,

I wondered if anyone knew of parents who questioned (or formally objected) to their sons being made to do cross country/pe stripped to the waist and bare foot.

Or, the opposite - any parents who insisted on their sons being made to do pe/crosscountry in only shorts.

Roy,
I bet you were perfectly happy with the PE kit rules at your school. The stripped to the waist rule for boys PE continued during the 1970s when I was at school and never did me any harm.

During the summer most lads chose to strip to the waist for outdoor athletics and shirts were often removed as soon as they got off the school bus on the way home.

When I was at a mixed-sex school in the 1960s PE was organised separately for boys and girls.
For boys indoor PE kit was white shorts only i.e. you were stripped to the waist and barefoot.
For outside it was white rugby shirt and black or navy blue shorts and coloured socks and rugby boots.
However if they wanted to many boys actually took off their shirts and went stripped to the waist.
For cross-country runs again we went stripped to the waist and barefoot!

PE Kit
Children must be provided with a change of clothing for PE and games. Parents will be informed when their child is swimming and they will be informed of any special requirements for games.

A towel is needed for showering after PE.

PE Uniform
Required:

Plain white T-shirt

Black PE Shorts

Trainers

Towel

Optional for outside lessons:

Plain black/navy tracksuit

Spare socks

Swimming:

Girls: One piece costume

Boys KS2: Swimming trunks

Boys KS3/4: Swimming shorts.

http://www.frednicholson.norfolk.sch.uk/

Mr Dando. Good to see that some schools still require kids to shower after sports. Hygiene appears to have been sacrificed on the altar of " being scared to undress in font of your own peers".
We showered after muddy games of rugby because we needed to get clean, if you were shy then you just had to get on ith it. You soon realised that everyone ha is different size, shape etc but in the end we were all boys.

https://www.corpuschristihs.co.uk/school-info/physical-education-guide

PE in the School

Since the school came into being in 1987, Corpus Christi has enjoyed a highly successful record with regard to representation in city, county and national finals of various sports. Our pupils have also achieved individual success domestically and internationally in a multitude of activities ranging from rugby, athletics, netball, soccer, gymnastics and swimming, to triathlon, boxing, basketball and martial arts.

Some Practical Points

In order for children to benefit from the PE expertise and facilities in the school, we ask for parents' cooperation in the following practical points.

1. Permission for a pupil not to take part temporarily in PE/Games will be given only on medical grounds, when a letter to that effect is received from parents. For a prolonged withdrawal from these lessons a doctor's certificate is required.

2. The wearing of jewellery is not permitted. This is to avoid possible injury to pupils. No responsibility can be accepted by the school for any items lost during these lessons, whether or not the items have been deposited with the teacher in charge.

3. PE/Games clothing has been kept as simple as possible for the benefit of all concerned. However, separate clothing is required to avoid wear and tear on school uniform, to soak up perspiration and to avoid any adverse effects of inclement weather. It is clearly essential that pupils can change back into clean, dry clothes including underwear, after their games or PE lessons. It is also necessary for reasons of health and personal hygiene, that all pupils bring a towel with their kit for a shower after games.

4. When pupils are involved in extra-curricular activities the department will try to ensure that all necessary information such as the date of the activities, the venue, arrangements for transport, the start and finish times are made available for the pupil well in advance of the event. We ask parents to ensure that suitable arrangements are made for pupils to return home afterwards.



5. PE Kit : requisition forms, on which parents may specify the relevant measurements of their child, are sent out to the partner Primary Schools and to individual families in advance of the Welcome Evening which is held in June each year. These should be returned to the suppliers properly completed, and with the necessary payment for the kit. All items of PE clothing will then be available in September.

Further to my earlier reply to Danny, I should have added that a few early developers had started to wear training bras before they left primary school, whereas some didn't need them until well into the second year at secondary.

The jockstrap and box my son wore for cricket was as described by Chris G.

Danny, back in my school cricketing days, cricketers' jockstraps were of the same fabric construction as the usual athletes' type, but with a pocket in the inside of the pouch into which was inserted a plastic "box" (a simple cup-shaped plastic protective moulding. I've still got one, bought over ten years ago when my son needed some protection for a paint-balling session. The cup has long since been discarded, but I still wear the basic jockstrap itself for my weekly Pilates class. I've never come across a jockstrap with an integrated built-in protective element.

Danny,
My Ex told me their school had a no underpants rule when they started at secondary school and that some of the boys could have done with wearing a jockstrap sooner than the start of the third year.

Our PE uniform list didn't specify that training bras must be worn, but our PE teacher did speak to a few girls about getting one if she thought there was too much movement under their PE shirts

I don't think any of us boys really liked the forced nudity, even at younger ages. But it was the way things were done. You just temporarily abandoned modesty if you wanted good marks in phys ed. I used to feel very embarrassed if a girl in my school classes had seen me swimming naked the period before.

They always say, "Concentrate on swimming and forget who is watching." Like I really could forget having perhaps 50 females in my other classes seeing my pеnis without permission. And I did have erеctions a few times. Just awful if I couldn't get in the water quickly.

Some of the other guys in the class talked about it one day and the consensus was that "this sucks, those girls shouldn't be allowed to watch us if we have to swim naked."

I remember feeling very violated. It was all I could do to hold back tears of shame that the girls knew all my secrets of puberty. Also resentful of the school for setting us up like that, having no respect for our modesty. The adults just didn't "get it" that 14 year old girls would experience a sexual thrill seeing boys their age naked and erect.

I wished I could see the girls naked or at the very least in bikinis, but that was strictly forbidden. The girls also swam but at different times, and all girls wore modest one-piece suits. Oh, the unfairness of it all.

Andrea, it was the same at our school, jockstraps were never mentioned by our PE teachers and I don't know anyone who wore them.
But then we only did light PE exercises in the school gym or yard, and besides we kept our underpants on under out PE shorts so there was no need for a jockstrap since we mostly all wore briefs at that time.
I suppose it was more suggested or required in schools where boys had to do PE in just PE shorts with no underpants underneath.

The cricket box type straps worn by boys for cricket is a totally different thing than a normal jockstrap since it is worn as protection against hits by cricket balls against the genitals and is thus made of a hard cup.
Were training bras required for girls at your school for PE?

Andrea
Was a boarding school but the day kids wore jockstraps too. I just remember boys senior to us saying on our getting into the senior school, " you're in seniors now go and you'll need a jockstrap from now on." I certainly wasn't going without ia jockstrap if my mates had them. Yes, of course some boys were advised by their dads or older brothers but most of all it was peer pressure.

That sounds like a sensible arrangement, was it a boarding school?

My son's school (non-boarding) had a uniform shop selling girls PE kit, but not jockstraps or sports bras. In fact I don't think jockstraps weren't mentioned by the boys PE teachers.

The local cricket club stipulated that boys had to wear a box when batting (in addition to helmets and pads etc.).

Did your PE teachers advise you to by a jockstrap? My Ex told me they were advised to buy one at the start of their third year at secondary school, so that would have been aged about 13 too.

Andrea

I was 13 and we got them from the school's sports shop. The Guy just took your name, house and housemaster's signature and parents paid for all items at the end of term! :-)

Clothing for PE

The following are required for PE:

T-shirt, shorts & trainers (any colour)
PE classes take place both indoors and outdoors and therefore students should bring clothing as appropriate for weather conditions.
Students are required to shower after PE and should bring a towel.

On Wednesdays, at certain times of the year, Year 7 students will need to bring a swimming kit for swimming lessons.

castlehill.stockport.sch.uk

George,
My son wore his ordinary briefs for PE, but had to have a jockstrap with a pouch and box when he started playing junior cricket at the age of 11 or 12.

We bought this from our local sports shop. How old were you when you got your first jockstraps and where did you buy them from?

Danny,it was understandable that you were self-conscious wearing uniform shorts when walking to and from school through town.
Of course we looked childish wearing shorts at 14 that were more suitable for boys considerably younger than ourselves.
Some of us actually enjoyed running in just our shorts,but I found it humiliating and embarrassing.

James T

Yeah we all felt grown up slipping on our jockstraps. Don't remember any other brand than Litesome. You could buy jockstraps with a pouch (to slip in a cup or box) or without the pouch part. Most boys had both depending on the sporting activity.

Many here describe doing country runs, often going through town streets, wearing just small white shorts and nothing else. Weren't they not embarrassed by people seeing them?

We wore uniform shorts till age 14 at school and the only time I felt self-conscious about it was when walking through town to and back from school which made us look childish at that age.
Running outside where people can see you in just a pair of white shorts, often very thin and semi transparent by what some describe it here, must have been a lot worse and even humiliating.
I am curious how others felt about this since we never had any outside runs at my school. We did wear white PE shorts in gym or in the schoolyard exercises, but never outside in public.

Turner - I have no idea whether members of staff were comfortable or not - how could I have. I've just reported what happened.

Paul

Were members of staff not embarrassed to swim and shower naked with boys? After all, the 1960s were not all that long ago and privacy requirements between boys and teachers were just as relevant as now. Did the boys discuss the physical attributes of the staff afterwards?

Hi George.
Another of the James's here.
Yes, sorry, confusing. I have posted a few comments in the past. Cant actually locate any at the moment but I seem to remember mentioning shorts which went transparent when wet and also some of us getting jockstraps and feeling very grown-up. They clearly showed through the shorts especially when they were wet doing cross country runs and if we went into the school pool still with jocks and shorts on after pe etc. I don't remember any particular rules in our school to say that we had to change into swim wear, or perhaps we just ignored them!
Incidentally, yes, Litesome.

Danny,

My school was a boarding school and the only two females on the staff were Matron and her deputy. Both saw plenty of boys of all ages naked on a day by day basis. Matron's cure for most things was an enema so she was pretty well acquainted with every boy's bottom.

We did not have things like sports days that were open events because most parents lived some distance away and in those days - 1960s journeys were long and certainly not all parents had a car. My parents lived about 70 miles away and the journey by car always took at least two hours.

We did have plenty of competitions during school time when we wore our usual kit so swimming was naked.

In these competitions there was always a sixth form v.s. staff competition whether it be a swimmming relay, a track relay or a rugby match. There was only one big changing room and staff changed with boys and showered in the same communal showers and when they swam, they were just as naked as we were.

No one thought anything of it.