Burnley Grammar School

Listening to the historic stories of child abuse perpetrated by schools and parents on this column is heart breaking. There are still schools that force kids into showers and make boys swim topless which is gender discrimination and plain wrong. Here is another institution that mandates compulsory ablutions

http://www.madras.fife.sch.uk/pupil_parents/documents/uniform.pdf

For All Indoor/Outdoor Activities
A plain white or navy T-shirt. Plain navy shorts or tracksuit bottoms and a plain navy
jumper/hoody should be worn for Physical Education.
No team strips or training wear (football, rugby or otherwise) may be worn to Physical
Education. Similarly girls are asked not to wear vest tops.
Madras College sell a range of high quality items of clothing with the school crest which are
very popular with pupils and staff. However, there is no requirement for these to be purchased.
Swimming
Trunks/costume, towel, goggles.
SCHOOL UNIFORM
Madras College Handbook 2016/2017 25
Time is allocated to allow pupils to shower at the end of every lesson, therefore a towel should
be brought to all PE lessons.
School Teams
• Pupils may be required to provide their own clothing, especially short and socks.
• Football teams wear navy top, white shorts and navy socks.
• Rugby teams wear navy shirts, white shorts and navy socks.
• Hockey teams wear white polo shirts, sky blue hooded tops, navy skirts and white socks.

Together we should campaign for better child protection and gender equality in all UK institutions!

@john. I sort of knew my father would expect me to sleep naked as he’d made my older brothers do so when they got to that age too. I suppose it was a mix of emotion - from wanting to be seen as a grown up vs being cosy in my old Jim jams!

@william. In the mornings after sleeping at school we also had the morning run routine wearing just skimpy black shorts (no pants) and plimsolls Sometimes that was followed by a few lengths of the school pool (naked, of course) then (thankfully warm) showers.

Alan, were your parents OK with the phenomenon of the gradually disappearin PJS?

Alan, we stripped to the waist for an early morning run except on a Sunday. PE lessons were held outdoors as much as possible again with all lads stripped to the waist. Happy days!

At my boarding school, everyone wore pj's at 9/10/11, then it gradually stopped as we got older.

First the pj top disappeared, then one or two boys slept in briefs. Slowly as we got older, it became the norm to sleep naked.

Everyday we had to do an early morning run, summer and winter.

At 0630 we were woken up by prefects, shorts/plimsolls on, always stripped to the waist. Showers on return.

William
06:00 We got first bell .. down to bathroom and stuff ... nudity not an issue that worried any of us as l remember
07:00-08: 00 breakfast
09:00 first lesson

Julian, I was a day boy but my experience was like yours: we quickly got used to nude showers because we had to and soon thought nothing of them. Some boys were more confident than others.
Looking back, I'm glad I don't suffer from the bodily shyness that afflicts some Brits, especially the young. The attitude of the northern Europeans and Russians to nudity is much healthier than ours. I think I was lucky to be at a boys' school in the '60s.

Hi Mads, if l have the name right! You can get running shorts without inline - my boys (grandsons to be precise) like Gore - they're expensive though but damned good

William - the morning routine was out of bed and straight into the (cold) showers. There was no time to think of putting anything on. There were showers off each dormitory along with wash basins and toilets shared with the dormitory next door so twenty four lads needing to get through the morning routine. There were no partitions, even on the toilets so no room to be shy or bothered about being naked.

Rising bell at 7:30 am, get up, wash/shower, dress.
Breakfast at 8.00 am.
Make beds, tidy dormitory rooms etc.
Classes start 09:00 am.

William
We went to the bathroom usually with undies on although some boys just took their towels with them. To be honest no one ever gave it much thought. What was your experience?

Archie, Graham, Julian et al
So you slept in the nude at school. When you got up first thing in the morning did you put something on or not bother? What was your routine?

While we cannot change the past injustices of the 1970's and 1980's we should ensure that kids today are not exposed to the same abuses we were. This school still highlights the barbaric practice of forcing minors to PE in their underwear: http://thamesviewinfants.org/families/general-information/school-uniform/

Please inform school if your child has a verucca. He/she will need to wear plimsolls for all PE lessons, until the verucca has gone.

Children who forget their PE kit will be expected to do PE in pants and vest.

PE is part of the school curriculum and is important for your child’s healthy development; he/she will be expected to participate in all lessons.

During Year 2 swimming lessons, boys should wear trunks or shorts (which don’t go below the knee) and girls should wear one-piece swim suits (not bikinis).

Please stop bare foot pe and doing gymnastics in vest and pants!

Interesting about Dr. Kellogs theory. I will see my cornflakes in a whole new light!

If you want shorts without a liner just buy rugby shorts! They are still made for real men ;-)

James E, to answer your question - I don't like built-in liners in shorts. Now it is hard to find athletic shorts without a liner. When l was at school shorts didn't have lining. You just simply wore a jock. Life was so simple then.

Archie,
How did you feel when you were twelve and your Dad insisted that you start sleeping naked?.

David H,I agree it was difficult forgetting about it once I had been circumcised and I didn't find it at all agreeable,but it it was something we had to get accustomed to.At school some boys found it intriguing as they had never seen a boy circumcised before.

Fiona, my input to your survey! I went to what was essentially an independent day school, but there was a boarding house for folk who lived further away (only about 10-15% of pupils were full time boarders). Like many boys I did board for short periods, when exams were coming up or there was some other more social reason to do so - even just to get away from nagging parents for a few days! - so feel I can legitimately complete your survey.

1 - What was your usual sleepwear at home before you went away to boarding school? Pyjamas until around 12, then naked at my father's insistence.
2 - Was sleepwear specified for boarders, and if so, what? "Appropriate nightwear"
3 - What sleepwear was actually worn in your dormitory room? In my experience, all boys slept in the buff.
4 - Was this less than, the same as, or more than you were accustomed to wear at home? Same
5 - If the general sleepwear level in your dormitory room was less than that specified, what was the reason? They never defined "appropriate nightwear" and there was a sort of expectation that we'd sleep in the buff - I think it was seen as being more manly and grown up.
6 - If the general sleepwear level in your dormitory room differed from what you were accustomed to at home, was that a problem for you? I was expected to sleep nude at home too, so no.
7 - If you modified your sleepwear to conform with your dormitory mates, did you revert to your previous practice when you went home for holidays? If not, did your parents make any comments? Not applicable.
8 - Any other comments? After evening prep we had free time in the dorm common room and were expected to strip down to our briefs and socks before evening showers and bed.

Well say forgotten - dont forget it just get used to it and accept it

Josh H
I was 11 by brother 6, upset at time but healed fast and soon forgotten.

David H

How old were you when you were circumcised, and do you remember it being a traumatic experience?

I buy unlined shorts but I always go commando - perhaps the memories of the slipper whacking my arse are still strong enough that I do trousers off, underpants off, shorts on on autopilot!

First I should apologise to the other David, as had not noted there was another one .. should have known, never worked at a place that did not have 4-5 David's !
My brother and I where circumcised at a doctors office in Aldershot, given injections to make us go to sleep.
Had to be about 40% roundheads at the grammar a lot more than I was aware of at my junior school, at least one fellow cavalier at junior school had joined the roundheads with me.
Once used to my new status I have to say never regretted it, and when it came time for my own son he was done soon after birth.
I remember my mother telling me the future king had had it done, little did she know some 70 years later he still would not be king !

Okay, does anyone actually like built-in liners in their shorts? Now it's almost impossible to find athletic shorts without a liner. I've never met a sewn-in mesh brief that was as comfortable or well-constructed. It's a pain to cut them out, and I dislike buying something brand-new and having to cut it out myself. But as said, l am circumcised and as Julian says the liner really hurts my penis. Circumcised lads are sensitive down there! So yeah the perfect solution for me is to cut out the liner and wear a jock.

Hi Dave
I totally agree. I too cut out the lining of shorts and wear a jockstrap. Still the best.

Dave

Haha ... l do exactly the same, that is cut out the inline netting from shorts. Good to know I am not alone. I wonder if James and Chris G do the same ;)

Hi, James,Chris and Julian, I am just the same as you as regards wearing a jockstrap for support over shorts with a liner. I would normally buy plain shorts but sometimes I have bought shorts with a lining because I liked the look of them and then carefully cut out the liner and worn my jock under them.

Fiona - input to your survey.

Q1: During primary school years I progressed from full PJs, through topless in the summer, to year-round topless by the time I went away to school.

Q2: Pyjamas, 3 pairs

Q3: I joined an established dormitory group with seven other boys, all of whom had been wearing nothing at all to bed for at least a year.

Q4: Less than I had been accustomed to wear at home during the preceding years.

Q5: PJs were specified but the only enforced regulation was that for hygiene, we shouldn't go to bed in anything worn during the day. There was tacit acknowledgement throughout the school that this was best achieved by not wearing anything at all.

Q6: Not at all.

Q7: Mum and Dad were amused, but not surprised, when I went home for my first half-term break with three pairs of unworn PJs, but made no attempt to persuade me to mend my new-found ways.

Chris G, Julian, nice to meet like-minded guys! I hate those built inline shorts. The good old jockstrap, on the other hand, gives us men comfort, support and breathability. Best support going for physical activity. Don't understand why youngsters today wear all that heavy underarmour, and it must roast their privates something rotten!