Burnley Grammar School

Rob, there were many customs way back in our time where "schools wouldn't get away with it today". The one you mentioned would be the least of them. We had mandated nude swim classes at our prep school. Showers were compulsary after every PE lesson, sometimes wiith female teachers supervising. Not to mention that spankings and corporal punishment were part of daily school life. So PE in just short shorts was probably the least concern.

James, were you allowed to wear a shirt or vest in mixed sessions? What about when it was cold? What about outdoor sessions? How old were you at this time?

Giles,I attended a mixed school where boys and girls attended.
For some some obscure reason boys were never allowed to wear anything under their shorts and the fashion was for boys to wear extremely brief shorts.
I found it mortifying to be dressed in just shorts for my sporting activities in front of girls.

John, I'm astonished that you had no screen. Even if you were in separate groups at opposite ends of the gym and not actually boys and girls mixed, I don't know how the girls kept their eyes off you boys. To say that some boys were shy wearing those short shorts with nothing underneath must have been an understatement; it was grossly indecent! On the other hand, therefore, as with everything else, most boys must have got used to it and even boosted their self confidence. One things certain, your school wouldn't get away with it today.

Rob,it was totally mixed with no screen to divide boys from girls.
Shorts were very short and some boys were shy when wearing them without underwear.

Like you John, I went to an all boys school and I recall that during certain exercises it was impossible not to show parts of the anatomy and also see other lads as well. This was often the case if you were hanging on wall bars or dangling from ropes with the other lads standing underneath. Handstands were also another example when you were supporting a partner with his legs on your shoulders whilst he was upside down. You could not help but see down the legs of his shorts.
However, like you we got used to it especially as we were naked together in the showers.
Would lads cope with that situation these days?

John, I only remember one occasion when'something dropped out'but fortunately we were still in the school grounds; it was a wonder,however, it didn't happen more often. How mixed were those indoor PE lessons; was it really mixed girls and boys together or was there a screen between you? I went to an all boys school and it was impossible not to show everything when we did all sorts of exercises and used various pieces of equipment in the gym. We got used to it and no-one bothered and we were naked in the showers anyway. If you wore shorts and nothing else like us but in close mixed company with the girls I would say that it would have been a lot more embarrassing for everyone. No doubt you would have got some lads with other ideas.

Rob,the difference was,as you pointed out we had to wear short shorts as apposed to almost knee length.No allowance was made by being allowed to wear any type of support right through school and of course there was a risk of 'something dropping'out which was unavoidable when doing long cross country runs in public.
Also, we frequently had mixed gym lessons which was equally embarrassing.

A jockstrap was known as a jockstrap at my school in the 1970s. However on the games kit list they were refered to as a Litesome, the popular brand at the time, much as vacumn cleaners are often known as Hoovers even if they are another make. I think the term jockstrap was considered impolite and not to be used in print at that time. I had not come across the term athletic support until much more recent times.
I regularly played squash and went running until a few years ago and always wore a jockstrap. A jockstrap gives much better support than underpants and I would not want to play without one.

Willy, for those of us who wore no underpants or jockstraps under our short shorts there was the risk of something dropping out on a run when we might then be seen by a member of the public. The ancient Greek athletes may have exercised naked but it was an all male domain and women were prohibited.

Jockstrapa were never mentioned at my school either, but then we didn't have the no-underpants rule anyway, so jockstraps would have made no sense since we kept our underpants on.
Personally I don't see any risk in not wearing a jockstrap, the ancient Greeks did athletic competitions completely naked and never saw the need for any support.
In any case how many people who do daily jogging runs wear jockstraps? Most find wearing briefs is sufficient.

Btw, they were called athletic supporters until recently in the UK, jockstraps is an American word.

My Ex attended a state Grammar School in the North of England in the early 1970s and his PE teacher advised all the boys that they needed to start to wear a jockstrap for 'support' at the start of their 3rd year (so aged about 13).
So perhaps it was more to do with the attitudes of the members of PE staff at a particular school, rather than anything else?

Rob. It would seem your analysis is right judging by the comments on this page. Nevertheless, I know of grammar schools where certainly senior boys wore jockstraps. Maybe it was more common in the south of England?

From the comments it would appear that it was mainly the private public schools which supported the wearing of jockstraps while most of the rest of us in state schools had no support at all.

In my school it was the same. No mention by the pe teacher of jock straps. They were only referred to occasionally by some of the lads as we got older, but it seems it was thought they were only worn by adult rugby players. So from age 11 to 16 we wore no support

Same here, I went to school in the 60s and no one ever told us about jockstraps or that they even existed, though we didn't have the no-underpants rule either.

Incidentally, I also never heard of the nude swimming requirement for boys in some schools until I saw how common this was from the Internet just a few years ago.

Gavin/Gedvin, like Ian to whom you asked the same question,
we were not aware of jockstraps. I never knew or saw anyone
who wore one and my dad who knew I had to wear just shorts without pants for PE never mentioned it. On reflection it was surprising that our PE instructor, who was a young man,never told us about them.Perhaps, as has been previously mentioned, it was because at that time it was considered healthy for boys to let the fresh air get to all parts of their bodies.

Rob

Goodness me Rob why on earth didn't you wear a jockstrap to stop your penis slapping and balls bouncing?

Lewis, It's a sad old world. When we were young everything
seemed so relaxed, but now there are so many rules and regulations to be aware of that everyone has to be careful all the time.

Rob
Re swimming lessons. I notice that when I go to my public pool, if children are having private swimming lessons by either a male or female instructor, the instructor has to wear a bright coloured t shirt clearly marked in large letters "Swimming Instructor" I suppose for self preservation so that no one thinks the child is being abused. It is interesting to think that schools might shy away from swimming inc are the pupils are embarrassed.

That's right Lewis, in fact I was at grammar school in the late 50's,early 60s when it was very much that 'make things last' period, unlike today's throw away society.The trouble with my shorts was that they stayed quiet loose when they were much shorter on me and when we went on runs,(fortunately it was cross country and not through built up areas),I was still very much aware of everything bouncing about and my penis slapping against the top of my leg.I think it might have been safer if we had tight rugby shorts,but it was exhilarating feeling an all over breeze on my whole body.I actually enjoyed the whole PE experience, once I had quickly got used to it, and have many happy memories. I think it is a pity that times have changed.Unfortunately I'm also sure the lads today,let alone their parents, would be horrified if they had to do PE in just shorts,no pants and plimsolls with no socks like us when it was normal for men and boys to be seen barechested and not just confined to the beach.Boys should have to do PE like us and go naked together in the showers afterwards.I disagree however with making girls wear just knickers and nothing on top as some female correspondents have reported;I think that was shameful and very embarrassing for them.

I don't know whether schools still have swimming lessons but they are probably not allowed to make lads get changed into just trunks or shorts because it might embarrass them. If parents want their kids to learn to swim most have to teach them themselves or pay to have private lessons at sports centres.

Yes Rob the problem was as the shorts got shorter. It was the ethos in the 60's your parents would buy one pair of shorts and hope they would fit you for several years. starting off baggy (you'll grow into them) which for young boys anatomy could swing about, up the too tight and bulges would show. That was life.

I am sure that nowadays parents would complain if their teenagers had to do PE in shorts,no pants or socks.

Do schools still have swimming lessons. If so do lads wear trunks or shorts?

I think any lad who was a bit nervous of communal showers got over it quickly especially once working hard in PE, running or gym kicked in and you just knew that before you dressed again you had to get cleaned up and all hot and sticky the showers which were always cold were an absolute joy and after the first few seconds being naked was not important at all as every other lad was anyway and it felt so good.

I still do pretty hard gym sessions several times each week and I often refer to the shower as the best part, it's an old gym and the showers are still communal and cold but totally exhilarating.

Hi Ross,I was encouraged as a young child to get out in the summer sun and fresh air and take my shirt off. Although at my small primary school there was only a token gesture to PE which we did in our ordinary school clothes, when I went to grammar school and had to strip off completely for PE and wear just shorts and plimsolls I wasn't concerned about being barechested. It sounds as though your changing area was some way from the shower block if you found it necessary to wrap a towel around yourself. Our shower block had benches on two sides of the room with pegs on, so after PE we just took off our shorts and walked to and from the showers.- no need to wrap up in a towel.You said you showered naked in middle school, so what what happened when you reached the upper school? We showered naked from day 1 until we left at age 18 and after a run whatever the weather, stripped to the waist, or sweating after a hard workout in the gym, always looked forward to a warm shower.

Lewis,during the first lesson I didn't experience any feeling of insecurity about not wearing anything under my gym shorts,although as I grew and my shorts got shorter I know what you mean.This was not a problem in the gym although it was a different story when we were sent out on a run. I do however, remember, like you after the first lesson,feeling very apprehensive about having to take my shorts off to go in the showers.I had never been naked in front of others and I had this feeling of guilt that this was wrong and yet there were boys already in the showers and I knew that I had to do it. I soon got used to it and went on to look forward to the showers after we had been made to work hard and built up a sweat in the gym.It was interesting to read about how you felt about your first PE lesson and makes me think there were many others with similar experiences.

I started at Secondary School in 1971 and never had to do PE topless even at Primary School, let alone at Secondary. I was still flat-chested at the start of the year, but some of my classmates definitely weren't and were encouraged to wear bras by our PE teacher if they hadn't already started to do so!

I agree, I don't think It happens now.
In my case It was back in 1975 & I hadn't started wearing a bra at that stage but about half of the girls in the group had.
It was the same for all of us, so after a few weeks It seemed normal to be topless.

I doubt many if any schools have their y7 girls do PE in just their knickers these days. Maybe a few do for forgotten kit, in single sex lessons but even they would be very few in number.

When I had to go topless in my lessons it was embarrassing but I didn't wear a bra at that age so it wasn't physically uncomfortable. Some girls has developed a bit by that age and one or two had quite large breasts and I agree for them it must have been really hard. .

I have read the various contributions which describe topless pe classes for girls in their 1st year at secondary. I was not aware that this practice existed and perhaps still does. Given the wide age gap when girls start to show development I am really surprised that this took place as it must have been terribly difficult for some girls to cope with this. To have to remove your bra and go into the gym in just knickers doesn't bear thinking about. It is a disgrace. I am just so pleased that I didn't attend such a school but so sorry for those who did.

Hi Rob & Lewis. I didn't go shirtless but I was barefoot for PE. Mostly indoors and outdoors too all throughout the year.
Thinking about it I'd much more happily hand over my shoes and socks as I did than my shirt.
You mentioned showers I too showered naked in middle school. It wasn't a big deal to be honest we walked to the shower block hung up a towel so after we were done at least we had a towel to hand to wrap up in.
Looking back after a muddy barefoot run in the snow/slush covered fields a warm shower afterwards was kind of a treat.