Burnley Grammar School

I don't know how it was at John's school but at mine it was certainly the case that some boys were skins more than others. For some reason I was one of them. We were actually divided into four teams rather than just two and only one team had to take their vests off. The first time we did PE I was on the skins team, but the teacher said he would pick different teams for the next lesson. So I was a bit taken aback to be a skin again. Next time we were told to keep the same teams, so yet again I had to go bare chested. Sometimes I did get to keep my vest on, but more often than not I took it off. In theory there was only a 25 per cent chance of that so it seemed a bit unfair. It wasn't just me though, there was another boy who usually played skins as well and we ended up becoming good friends as we were on the same team so often.

John Lavender. Hi John, did you find having skins vs vests that some boys were made to strip to the waist more frequently than others.

I think it is their usual PE kit, this was 1972.
Still I don't think this was really such a hot day there in Denmark because nearly all the people watching are wearing jackets.

If you watch this video from 5:45 you can see students doing gymnastics in a danish secondary school. Boys are shirtless. I wonder if they wear their usual PE kit because it is a sports day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2562gKeVZfE

Hello Chrid

Interesting to read that you had no hang ups about the exposure of your body. I an all boys Secondary school in the early 60's, and As I think I remember,it was common getting changed for pe meant all the boys stripping off together and changing into white shorts and no pants. No tops. Of course communal showers after. Like you this was the norm. I do not know what happens nowadays, but it was the same at Scout camp. Six to a tent and all undressing for bed in the one tent, bearing in mind it would be a patrol of different ages from about 11 to 15. ( the youngest soon learnt about puberty from the older boys) perhaps this was the idea.

At camp we were supposed to all take some form of nightwear, but being away from home it seemed daring to sleep au natural.

Are lads as adventerous nowadays all is it all cover up. I am sure pe is now longer shorts, underwear and tops. Does any one know?

Hi
I think there appears to be different aspects to PE depending on school type and size.
I went to a small private school from 73 - 78 in the UK. The school was a converted large house in which residents still resided between floors.
PE was very much part of this all boys school.
We had no changing rooms and had to get changed st our desks when ordered to do so, where you would strip down to your underwear and we had a dare of not wearing any to school on the day when we were 12/13 as we had a female elderly teacher whom would walk around and examine boys for marks and bruising (signs of abuse) I was examined once in side room or small book room because of marks on my buttocks from a belting my step dad gave me the night before - they rang home and were satisfied it was a valid and justified punishment so those and future markings were dismissed.
PE was performed only in white shorts or underwear if you had neither you were caned.
We had two shower heads on the corner of the toilets - which meant going back to your desk - stripping naked and wrapping a towel around yourself or just sitting on a towel until you were called up for the shower in pairs.
Any fooling in the shower which were overseen by prefects would result in lines (issued by the prefects) or a report for a caning by the headmaster.
Post shower and to speed things up, you returned to class to finish drying by the gas heater (warm) and get dressed.
I had no issues with the process and found that it removed my hang-ups on my body with regards to being a little chubby.

Hi Joe, It was just a very ordinary mixed school. The way the gym was with reinforced glass running all down the corridor side meant it was unavoidable that girls would look in, especially with one of the dinner halls just opposite and with staggered lunchtimes, barechested boys provided their distraction when queueing up . There was always friendly banter exchanged and it common for girls to point out an older/younger brother in the gym, and even sympathy if they sometimes thought it was just a bit too cold to be barechested on a particularly cold day. It always meant you went that bit harder to attract a girls attention. Happy days!

I did PE and also cross-country while stripped to the waist in the 1960's
It was the normal practice and we thought nothing of it.

Click on link for image

Can anyone confirm that some schools in Belgium impose a shirtless PE uniform on boys in 2015 as seems to suggest the photo posted earlier. Is there a comeback of the shirtless PE lesson in continental Europe??

[img]http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s463/hagi52156/13304105325_2b9e52d27a_o.jpg[/img]

Jono, thanks for the additional details about your PE classes - sounds fairly intense! From your comment at the end I just wondered; were girls often present when you did PE then? If so how did boys feel about being barechested in front of them? I'd imagine it was an extra incentive to work hard and look good.

It's Burnley Grammar School, Lancashire, England.
About 1977. Remember it well. Mr Parry taught PE and Geography too I think.

Joe and John, thanks for your comments. Having the whole group split into different coloured shorts worked well, with the only occasional grumble from some coming during the winter. Our timetable always gave 3 double PE sessions and 2 singles a week. We did do indoor games like basketball, 3 onto 1 where you had to pass a football between the 3 and stop the 1 from catching it, boxing and fitness sessions, which were done alternate weeks indoors then outside regardless of time of year(outdoors was the usual, football, cross country runs and in the summer, athletics) Being worked like that made most of us sweat regulary, regardless of age, and no girl would have wanted to see a vest sticking to you!

Jono has a valid Point, in my Opinion.
At Grammar School (1960s)we asked several times to be able to be allowed to wear just Shorts for PE instead of Tee Shirt and shorts , and to have different coloured Shorts to diferentiate Houses and therefore Teams.
It was to no avail, we had 'skins v.vests'until Form/Year V .
I don't think there would have been a big problem in Games like Killerball ( a sort of Indoor Rugby with fewer Rules) apart from the odd misplaced Pass in a ruck or the odd misplaced Punch!

Don't know, if this Belgium but the brickwork and apparatus look European, could also be Germany.

Sounds to me like Jono's school had the most sensible system for splitting boys into teams. When you think about it there's no reason why different coloured shorts can't be just as effective as different coloured tops. I also think it might be better if every boy was barechested than just half the class, if it's the same for everyone that might make it easier for those who feel embarrassed about standing out from the crowd.

How do you know this is Belgium, Christophe ? I live here and as far as I know shirtless PE is not common practice here unless it is a special school for gymnastics.

This photo looks very recent indeed. Thrilled to seen that in some countries and schools old PE traditions are still respected. The boys look fit and strong and seem not bothered at all about having their photo taken which seems to suggest that this is actually their normal PE kit. Even the slightly fat boy on the right doesn't seem unduly concerned. They are really at ease with being stripped to the waist for PE. Good for them, great school!

We were split the same way except half in white shorts and half in white. Which colour you wore was down to which class you were in. Odd no's wore black, evens wore white. This meant all boys had shirts off regardless. Simple but very effective!

[URL=http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/hagi52156/media/13304105325_2b9e52d27a_o.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s463/hagi52156/13304105325_2b9e52d27a_o.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Christophe:

I - and I assume others - have tried to copy and paste the Link you gave in your comment but it doesn't seem to work . The URL seems to be repeated in the text.
My email is shown on the heading at the top if you hover your Mouse above the email symbol, could you email a copy of the image , or show a working URL , please?
Thanks

John

A photo from a Belgian school where school uniform for boys is black or blue shorts for making up teams. No shirts allowed!

<a href="http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/hagi52156/media/13304105325_2b9e52d27a_o.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s463/hagi52156/13304105325_2b9e52d27a_o.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 13304105325_2b9e52d27a_o.jpg"/></a>

Ren,

Were you forced to perform in that video, or did you and the other boys volunteer? And were girls present at that? If they were, how comfortable were you with it?

To Richard,

My school is a co-ed school and P.E was done separately from the females. I dont think so because our P.E was done in different locations.

To David G,

We performed for 30 minutes. I was 15 during the video.

Ren Hello,
Thank you for sharing the video with us. I am amazed how you all remembered the routines you had to perform because the video was over eleven minutes long and came in after you had started and stopped while you were still performing, so I don't know how long in total.
I thought you all were excellent and I didn't think you were at all awkward looking. I wondered how old you were at the time - I guessed around 15-16 but you said you were in Junior High School so I'm not sure. In England at 15-16 I think that would be called our senior school.

Greetings Ren,

Was your school a boys only school, or co-ed? If you had female classmates, were PE classes mixed with them, or gender segregated? If they were mixed, how did you feel about being shirtless in front of them? And if they were segregated, were there any occasions where they would see you shirtless, aside from the video you shared?

Greetings from Japan, back then during my junior high school a few years back, P.E was indeed done barechested and barefeet with only a pair of shorts allowed (underwear was allowed). Here is a video somebody took during our sports day where we had to perform in our usual P.E. uniform.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZO-MZLfMfw

I was in the video, the shy and awkward looking kid 3rd from the front on he left row at 0:13 also the first kid on the left at 0:42

When I was about 14 or 15 the doctor at the school medical said that I was growing too fast and that my muscles couldn't follow and that I had to take physical therapy. The sessions were two or three times a week at the local hospital. There were two other boys there and the exercises were done in shorts only. For the back massage afterwards you lay on a bench and most therapists pulled your shorts down to halfway your buttocks so that your lower back could be treated properly. Strangely enough this was never discussed among the pupils. That was in Belgium in the 1970ies.

Hi Sam,
Being made to strip down outside in winter was definately manly. I know the male teachers were quite brutal expecting boys to strip regardless of the temperature outside in the winter. Were you, or your PE group, put in the same situation.

Hi Sam! Let me ask you my questions below:

Were you shirtless for outside lessond for example track and fields and cross country either?
How did you play team ball games everyone being barechested.
How did you get to know your PE kit for the first time.Was it in a PE uniform list that you have to do PE shirtless or the teacher was the one who told it to you?
Have you ever had some lessons or sport events with the girls together?
What was the reaction of boys about the PE kit. Was it ever a topic of conversation amongst you?
When (decade) where (country) were you a student? What kind of school did you go?