Burnley Grammar School

We had a new PE/games teacher at the start of year 3 (so aged 14).

Until then I had enjoyed PE, it being a mix of 5 a side, basketball etc, plus some exercises. Kit was "normal" (shorts, vest, plimsolls). XC country was weekly, and we were allowed rugby kit in the winter

Our new teacher had a totally different approach, he was much stricter, indoors we had to all strip to only our shorts, xc was shirtless all year. Additionally, lessons were non stop workouts - I hated it all - thus I "needed" discipline. I got it, of course, both slipper and hard canings over a gym horse.

I wasn't the old boy stretched over the gym horse !

The perfect way to judge the male/female double standard Greg2 is to be like me, a sixty year old man with a twin sister. We both went to the same schools but were always kept separate from each other, wasn't that always the way with brothers and sisters in school. There are quite a few double standards I can think of over the years, not just at school actually, but when it comes to school PE days then the two most obvious to me were that in our big school the boys always had to go out in all weathers for PE and come back in like drowned rats at the end of it, or freeze our bo**ocks off whilst the girls didn't have the must get sent out in all weathers rule for them and were ALWAYS able to switch inside for inclement conditions outside. Boys such as me didn't get that luxury and I think our PE teachers revelled in this out in all weather rule.

If you ever saw the girls doing PE at our school they always looked well turned out, tidy and clean. It looked to me like their teachers wanted to make sure it stayed that way while ours went in the opposite direction so many times. I have memories of standing about cold and very wet on school pitches where my boots were sinking into the ground in places. I actually recall a time when I handed the schoolbag washing over for washing at home and being asked me why I couldn't keep mine as clean as my sister's washing. The other double standard was that we showered and the girls didn't have to. When I came in with my washing on school PE days I always had to put the towel in the wash after just one use in school. My sister never did this.

Another one from inside the school gym was the ropes. We used to have rope races between boys in gym to see who could climb to the top the fastest out of the half dozen or so dangling ropes we had. Now I was quite good at this. My sister told me they'd never used the ropes in gym. I couldn't believe it.

Jeffrey 24th, August 2023.

I’ve alway hated the gender double standards, which I’m sure most men will be able to remember from childhood, if they admit truth and try hard enough. I certainly remember many situations that bothered me at the time, things that happened, and what I had to put up with that girls would never experience. But, being made to swim and parade around naked publicly, that would have been on another level.

I read some time ago, on what turned out to be a rather strange site, many accounts similar to what you describe, Jeffrey. Lots about forced boyhood nudity, and all the ensuing humiliation, and often while being watched by same age girls you knew. There were also many accounts of boys having to take part in swimming galas, obviously while forced to be naked and not wanting to be. All this while being watched by your friends’ parents and sisters, same age girl classmates etc. Like yours Jeffrey, such vividly descriptive accounts of situations you hated frequently seemed to end up with the maximum humiliation imaginable for you during this discomfort: having to then stand outside the water right in front of these very people for several minutes, and right up there on the tri-level podium, because you also won your swimming contest. So, the ultimate, maximum embarrassment for you then. Always in the USA it seems, and with more description of how you by then appeared to everyone observing while you were cold. So detailed and vivid for a situation that you never wanted to be in in the first place, and so would rather forget…I might add that also on that site were frequent writings about adult females, or often maiden aunts who looked after children. They’d always end up taking them to some beach, or friend’s pool, completely undress the usually one boy in their charge, so that he would have to run and slash around all day with the several, always fully costumed, similar aged girls for them to observe.

I’m afraid I discovered on this site that are certain people that seem to get a kick out of forced humiliation, and I think that therefore most of such accounts might be fantasy. There were often comments to read about the writings on that site, which sometimes linked to more reliable fact checked news outlets, or just more accurate and reliable recollections. It seems no one could ever remember having to take part naked in a swimming gala that was open to family of general public to attend, saying this was the only time they would wear swimming attire. During their usual naked swimming lessons in the USA, they were strictly single sex and held at different times to the girl’s sessions. In fact none remembered female coaches either, which was another frequent memory, together with detailed body reactions of the many writers on that site.

Now, I do know that many UK public schools also had naked swimming lessons for boys, as I had a friend at such a school at the time who confirmed this. He never liked it, but it was the convention, and all boys together, so he just got on with it. He also had a sister who was a border at a girls’ school, but she said she never had to do this. I remember thinking then that I was glad I didn’t have my swimming lessons like this, and thinking back, perhaps it is this that started my dislike for the many double standards that I noticed during my own growing up, many I’ve always remembered, and which made me uncomfortable at the time.

Now, I also was a ‘handsome child’ and it amazes me thinking back how I always had childish ‘girlfriends’ from such an early junior school age because of this. Without going into unnecessary detail, I was always bodily self-conscious with girls at that age, unlike it seemed most boys seemed to be that I knew as friends at the time. Perhaps this is why girls were more curious about me, I’m not sure. I was certainly no girly boy, despite how I looked. I was a slim and sporty kid, and frequently for whatever reason, in fights with other boys. I really enjoyed gym and games lessons -which, seemingly strangely were never bare chested- and I was always picked for most school teams. But, I always hated swimming. If I’d been made to appear naked in front of all and sundry at a swimming gala at that age, this would have been just hell for me. I didn’t even like wearing those skimpy swimming trunks we wore during junior school swimming lessons in front of my girl classmates. I can even remember trying to rearrange myself ‘down there’ to try to make myself less conspicuous, which I find astonishing thinking back now. I might add that I was a very average boy in that department, so there was nothing really to rearrange, and I probably made things look even worse. But to have had to appear naked in front of everyone…I would have rather died.

Others might disagree, but to force boys to do that in mixed attendance, if indeed it ever did happen, I feel would certainly be a form of totally disrespecting and disregarding child abuse.

Mike: I can't reprint the Washington Post article as I don't have access to it, but here is a precise from another site:

https://witness2fashion.wordpress.com/tag/topless-mens-swimsuits-illegal-at-some-beaches-1920s-1930s/

Simon "back of the bus" - I know what you mean about trips on caches but I was using it in the context of the American Civil Rights Movement: "back of the bus" referred to those states where people of colour were segregated and had to occupy the rear of the vehicle, as they were considered "inferior" especially in the South. I think they coined the term after the Rosa Parks debacle in the 1950s

The way we are going it wouldn't surprise me if it became illegal here for men to go barechested in public by 2034.

Up until not long ago I used to go about quite frequently even walking the dog or jogging minus any top coverage. Without really thinking about it I don't feel as inclined to do so as much anymore and do feel less assured about the whole thing. I'm 44 and my body still looks much the same as when I was 24.

Although it's not really relevant to the UK school and physical education scene as most of us knew and went through it, after reading Jeffrey's 'essay' I have gone and seen some of the comments from the older men who were made to swim without anything on and it's fair to say that rather a lot of them disliked it quite a lot, and I don't blame them. It seems like many of them were just quietly cringing to themselves with embarrassment even back in the 60s and 70s in the latter years of that practice and many were just bewildered about why they were doing it. In my own world back here I was not fazed by the demands PE placed on me like it did with others, the shirtlessness or the showering involved, but I would have been one of those boys cringing if I'd ever been told I had no choice but to get in the pool at school without a stitch on at all. Instituting it just feels wrong doesn't it, compared to say some consensual skinny dipping with a few mates down by the pond or something. The two are psychologically very different.

Mike, If you want the facts about the widespread practice of nude swimming for boys in the US, search for Swimming in the Frank Answers blog. Frank is a retired Lutheran pastor who swam nude as a youngster and has written about the subject at length.

Alan quote - "Yet another example where boys and young men were given the back of the bus treatment."


This comment reminds me of school trips and the race for seats on the coach.

Boys loved the back of the bus, it was the seats we ran to grab first.

You obviously have an account with the Washington Post Alan. For the rest of us who don't unfortunately we can't read that story as it's hidden behind their paywall, and it is an article that I was very keen to read to find out the facts. That must have been one particular area at one particular time, not across the whole nation as an all encompassing rule for all men. Maybe you can actually paste the words directly here.

Paul R and Jeffrey. I always thought Britain was the home of double standards and hypocrisy, but it seems America can beat us, even at that. While bus were being treated in such an undignified manner (and it was immodest and indecent whenever it happened), I wonder how many American's know that until 1934 it was illegal for men to be bare-chested in public, even at the beach:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/01/05/men-were-once-arrested-baring-their-chests-beach/

Yet another example where boys and young men were given the back of the bus treatment.

Michael - your experience of p.e. sounds much like mine and, I'm sure, many, many others. Unfortunately, sites like this attract people who had unusual experiences or, in a few cases, vivid imaginations. Normal, boring experiences are not noteworthy and often not mentioned because of that.
Lisa - I agree with you but nothing will change in that direction, I'm afraid. It is a very sad fact of life these days that even partial nudity seems to be linked to sex when there is often no justification. Also, the inability of some people to distinguish between gays/lesbians and pedophiles is disturbing although I think some "pride" events have a lot to answer for in that respect.

Whenever somebody cites discomfort about a shirtless PE class maybe they should remember Jeffrey and offer thanks they didn't grow up where he did. Now that was pushing the boundaries to the limit and rather unkind and seems to stray into outright nudism/naturism as a school practice, and such things should be considered a personal lifestyle choice not an institutional requirement, don't you think.

In placed this short essay elsewhere about 5 years ago. I now live in the UK.

During the middle years of the last century in the American Midwest pornography was all but unknown (to us boys anyway) and even innocent nudity was taboo. Taboo that is unless it happen to appear in the pages of National Geographic. Without fail even infants were dressed in public. However, under certain very limited conditions, boys fourteen and under were exempt from the nudity prohibition. At that young age we were thought to be sexually innocent and chaste. Grownups felt that young male children didn’t require privacy. Girls were another matter entirely. More on that later.

April 25th 1952 was a Friday and I was twelve years old. Along with my friends I stripped down naked placing all my clothing as well as my cherished St. Christopher’s medal into a locker at the Y. We had no swimsuits, no sports jerseys and no shorts to cover ourselves with. We didn’t even have athletic supporters. It wasn’t as if we were forgetful and had left those things at home, it was that any sort of clothing was strictly forbidden. My fellow swimmers and I marched from the locker room to the indoor pool completely stark boy naked, our little white bare bottoms swaying from side to side with each step. No towels, no flip-flops, no swim googles, nothing at all. It was embarrassing, I’ll admit that, but I told myself that people wouldn’t see me as an individual naked boy, but rather as just one naked boy in a group of many naked boys. There’s strength in numbers. My nudity would blend in with all the others, or so I hoped. For a devout Catholic boy, such as myself, it was actually sort of thrilling in a weird and twisted way. It was like getting to stay up well past bedtime or going out on Halloween night to toilet paper the house of a mean neighbor. The normal rules of decorum had been temporarily set aside and that was a novelty for a scrupulously well behaved boy like me. It was like an extreme case of “opposite day.” We were engaging in an activity that would otherwise have been considered wicked, even shocking, but it was all done with complete parental and church approval.

I was a handsome child, slender and athletic, but small for my age and late to develop. I was afraid that my genitals where better suited for a nine year old than for a boy who would soon be turning thirteen. No one had ever given me a hard time on this issue. I’d never been teased. But in my current state I felt that my diminutive boyhood was the first thing anyone would notice about me. I stayed close to my friend Sammy Jones because he wasn’t all that big either.

The ancient gymnasium was beyond big. It was cavernous, or so it seemed, and I felt almost lost in it. Rather than feeling like a gladiator about to do battle I felt more like an early Christian entering the colosseum to be fed to the lions. On the pool deck stood the coaches, timekeepers and race officials. About 120 other boys ages seven to fourteen were seated naked on wooded benches along either side of the pool. No kidding, you never saw so much pink flesh all at once. As a person of deep and abiding faith I believe that there’s nothing inherently obscene or wicked about the human body. I believe that God created us all and that, man or woman, boy or girl, we are all beautiful each in his or her own special way. But even so it was a pretty strange sight.

It was a family night so grandparents, mothers and father, brothers and sisters had come to cheer their progeny on to victory. However the spectators had been relegated to the balcony, the lowest level of which was a good 15 feet above the pool deck. I kept my eyes focused away from the on lookers and on the other boys. We didn’t look up at all and our family members seemed to understand why. They didn’t call out any names or try to distract us. You could almost forget that they were there and that’s what I wanted. I wanted to feel that this was just another swim practice. I felt exhilarated as I smelled the chlorine and heard the P.A. system echoing off the walls in the vast space. I was ready to go.

The younger boys raced first. Raced? Actually most of them just sort of thrashed about and avoided drowning as they laboriously made their way from one side of the pool to the other but that was good enough. They all emerged at the other end glistening and triumphant. Then I heard my group called and took my position on the assigned starting block alongside the other twelve year olds. Standing there with our dicks hanging out I felt completely exposed, but the feeling didn’t last long. With the “BANG!” from a snub-nosed blue steel Smith and Wesson 38 police special loaded with blanks we were off the blocks in a flash. The moment I entered the water everything changed. I was transformed from a little naked boy into a demon possessed. I was fast, oh so very fast, and swimming flat out felt fantastic! I forgot all about being naked. I forgot all about the females who were watching. I forgot about everything but the cool water and the race and it was simply grand. I gave it everything I had, every atom of strength, and I finish well ahead of my nearest competitor. The crowd went wild as they say and as the other swimmers came in they all congratulated me. I was spent but exhilarated. The large clock on the wall recorded my time for all to see and it was impressive,

Then it was time for me to climb out of the pool and step up to my rightful position on the winner’s dais to receive my trophy. The second and third placed boys were to my right and left and although they might have been larger I was made taller by my place on the center and highest step of the three stepped podium. Standing there as my name was read over the loudspeakers I happened to glance down momentarily at my nakedness. It’s true what mountain climbers say. Don’t look down!

I realized in horror that the cold water combined with the physical exertion of the race had caused my already diminutive boyhood to shrink even smaller. Like the barrel on the starting gun my circumcised penis was a snub-nosed affair but now it seemed to have no shaft at all. It was just a little rounded pink button with a frilly collar. As for my balls they had pulled up so close to my body that you could hardly see them. I looked like a castrati. There were seven year olds present in that old gymnasium who were better endowed than I. I comforted myself with the thought that from the balcony the audience probably couldn’t make out too much detail. From that distance we all must have looked like eunuchs. I wondered who was watching. My mom and two sisters for sure and the sisters of some of my friends and schoolmates. Probably even some of the girls from my class were there as well. That possibility gave me a strange feeling like giant butterflies fluttering about in my tummy. The next thing I knew I was being reverently crowned with a green plastic laurel wreath and handed a trophy. I’d have been more appreciative of a towel.

We then returned to our bench to watch the thirteen and fourteen year-olds compete. That’s how it was, the younger boys swam first and then the older boys, but we were all required to sit and watch every race. No sneaking off to the locker room early

I saw someone try to refuse to shower after PE at my school and I can still see and hear what the teacher said to him - he told him to stop being childish and grow up! We were no older than thirteen.

I agree with Nathan. It should be a part of regular PE everywhere.

Liza: It is a shame these days people get so easily "offended" when nothing has been said about them. It is a good way of shutting down conversation. Straight out of the left wing playbook, but I think most people would agree with the sentiments I expressed.I have already made it clear that any other branch of teaching it doesn't matter. As somebody who had to tolerate the sort of man we had, who happened to have those proclivities, for several years, I think it a perfectly fair comment. Sorry if you really were offended. Was offended every day for 7 years.

One of my PE teachers used to share one end of the school showers with us when we took them after games. That was in the 1976-8 period when I had PE at the end of the school day quite a lot. That teacher didn't get too close to us and he kept his shorts on when he stood with us but the boys and me were completely naked. Neither of my parents batted an eyelid when I described this to them at the time. Nothing inappropriate to report. I used to trust my teachers and the thought that they would do anything wrong simply wouldn't have crossed my mind. It all seemed quite normal then. Everyone is getting a bit too fond of rewriting the past in the image of the present.

I still remember sometimes a PE teacher would briefly massage someone at the end of gym in the gym or back in the changing room who said they had a muscle ache on the back, shoulders or leg. This happened to me one day when I pulled a neck muscle and it hurt like hell and I found it difficult to turn my head in either direction. I had no top on, none got worn inside most weeks, and the PE teacher that day placed his hands on my shoulders and the back of my neck and rubbed and massaged it to try and help my movement. It helped a little bit but that was the day I found out I was actually quite ticklish and couldn't keep still as he did so without wriggling and giggling, some in my PE group looking on finding it highly amusing and even bringing my teacher to laugh at me. It's a fond memory.

What a shame a PE teacher probably can't or wouldn't feel able to help out like that nowadays because of crazy over sensitivities about the motivating factor.

Lisa, I should think that many contributors feel uncomfortable about Alan's views but hesitate to say so out of politeness, since he clearly had an unhappy time at school, and because he is frequently dismissive of any view that is different from his own. I'm sure he will not mind my saying that because sometimes he has been good enough to apologise for causing offence. Stand by!

Ivan

You said that you saw a whole class being slippered by the p e teacher. Did you know what crime they had committed? Was there a "no pants under shorts" rule and, if so, could non-compliance have been the reason?

Are any other contributors on here just a little uncomfortable with the strong way that Alan presents his arguments using sexuality issues which seem a general underlying theme.

Some just cannot separate disrobed bodies from anything other than being sexualised. The overt homophobia is deeply disrespectful to gay men and lesbian women, of which I am one.

In many years of PE/Games sessions at my school, in the company of dozens or often scores of other boys, I never once encountered any issue, from any person, about skins/shirts, showering or body image or anything remotely the like.

Frankly, we had far more immediate concerns to occupy our minds, like trying to avoid breaking our necks whilst executing mindless somersaults, or fracturing limbs by falling from ropes or climbing frames, etc.

If any such accident happened, the teacher would simply say that we hadn't been following instructions properly, or we had been messing about. No blame would attach to him.

After the session ended, showering, drying and dressing was always done at top speed. This gave us no time to ponder each other's physical irregularities or the whims of fashion, or indeed if anyone was watching us inappropriately; (I'm convinced no-one ever did.)

Despite our best efforts with our towels, we often arrived still dripping wet at our next lesson, looking, as one teacher put it, "like drowned rats!"

Nathan - I have said it before, but here goes again - you show me the boy who will admit to his parents, or teachers, that he feels uncomfortable - that is the reason you don't get notes. Rather than be singled out, the lad will just go along with it, and feel uncomfortable, and it probably stays with him all his life. I trust, however that these days, especially older pupils, are granted privacy and not gawped at and inspected as we were. You just had to hope enough steam escaped from the water so that the teacher's view was a bit clouded, and a towel was at hand as soon as you got out. Incidentally, if the parent did write a note, as I understand it, the boy himself would be "spoken to"about it, I assume in an effort to get him to change his mind?.

I wouldn't like to comment on the religious aspect - all I can say is that our school was not a religious one, but I suspect, that like that foul nurse who killed several babies and attempts to kill several more (her refusual to appear in the dock for sentencing, in my view, confirmed her guilt, just as the old man's desire t cling to South. Africa confirms his), the rotten apples hide behind the "angels" and Mr. Chips image of the two professions. Who can fathom the mind of such a woman that she could kill or maim tiny premature babies. In the same way a paedophile teacher might find the added cover of a faith school adds smoke and mirrors to his grim interests. Again, I emphasise that I do not think every teacher or nurse is a wrong un, but there still appears to be too many. One is one too many. That is the reason I would discourage homosexual or lesbian teachers from taking up a role as a PE teacher - no problem with any other branch if they are that way inclined.

On the case of Nicky Campbell's revolting old teacher - I think that his fight to stay in South Africa, plus the added prop of a walking stick to make him look infirm and pitiable is just confirmation of his guilt. I think I can say that because I am sure he has a lawyer astute enough to let him die in South Africa, without ever coming back to this country to appear in court. The recent local case I mentioned, resulted in one PE teacher, found guilty of multiple offences , given a 22 month SUSPENDED prison sentence. That "man" is a decade younger than the timid old man in South Africa. I doubt he ever spent even a night in a police cell. I don't think we need feel too sorry for schoolteachers, frankly.

Phil, you have just coincidentally pulled up my own school's website on here.

Last year Mr Dando who posted another extreme opinion again here this week stuck a similar rant about my school and another teacher showed it to me and I decided to answer him directly then. It's on the Fulwood section from 3rd April last year. I had to search through to find it again.

Nowadays teachers sometimes feel they are the vulnerable ones.

I fully support the use of showers as a part of PE at school and that they should be taken in most cases unless there are good reasons to the contrary. Hygiene is important. Everyone takes them. You can throw yourself 100% into whatever PE with all your energy in the knowledge you will be freshened up or cleaned afterwards. Isn't that sensible? But just go back and read some of the things I have said. Any parent could write a note making it clear they didn't wish their son to shower in school and it would have to be abided by, no question on that. I suppose any child could persuade their parent to write that note on their own behalf too if it was so concerning. Eight years so far and I'm still waiting for the first note to say such a thing. I've only ever had two mild concerns about school showers in a parent meet evening and both ended up reassured and nothing further went forward. If I was to receive that first note my first reaction would be to speak with the pupil to find out more and then the parents and ultimately their view would prevail.

So maybe somebody with strong views like you Mr Dando, or Alan or someone else would like to tell me why they think I don't get those notes.

I've actually authored a couple of small books that might be available somewhere still, possibly the usual places online if anyone wants to check them out. One relating to body confidence. One thing I have noticed when pupils are occasionally shirtless in class is that they all want the defined stomach and a lot like doing stomach crunches.

I know Alan has previously placed a link to this story. Here is an update from today on the BBC site regarding broadcaster Nicky Campbell's experience and his fellow class pupils in his school.

Nobody should be in any doubt about why people who experienced such people and such schools become so overwhelmed with anger. I got angry simply reading about these kind of people and how they treated pupils.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66580604

The catholic school point is familiar Phil. Going back decades isn't it the catholic schools that were also the ones generally in the United States that were the ones that predominantly went with the forcing of boys swimming being done completely bare butt naked. It was only through reading one of the years old comments on here once that I even became aware of that being a thing years ago and when I read more about it discovered that even boys at school in the 1960s and their families were finding that strange as a blanket rule to be adhered to in a school. I've never thought of bringing a religious aspect into this whole thing but if the suggestion is that catholic schools are nowadays disproportionately requiring showers then it seems noteworthy at the very least.

Thinking about what Mr Dando says, I do not know of many C of E state school which require showers now. It seems to be a particularity of Voluntary aided Roman Catholic schools.

All Hallows Roman Catholic school seems to be another outlier with its website showing https://www.allhallowssalford.com/parents/uniform/

A note must be brought in to excuse any pupil from P.E. or shower.

Maybe it is time to ban faith based schools in the United Kingdom given that we are a predominantly protestant country and The Catholic Church has historic links to child abuse including compulsory showers.

Thinking about what Mr Dando has written, I sincerely hope there are not too many eleven or twelve year olds out there getting ready to join a new school very soon now in the autumn term for the new school year who are spending the last few days of August worrying themselves silly about what to expect.

I remember seeing a school list like the one Mr Dando placed that my parents had been given which I read and saw it made reference to bringing towels to school and showering for physical education. I remember how I kept going back to this piece of typed out sheet of paper and re-reading it hoping against hope that what I'd seen would somehow no longer be there, but of course it was. I agonised over it more and more as August progressed and I fixated on my first day back in Sept 78 and being obsessed about just when the first games lesson might be. In that school holiday I hung about with a couple of boys from my old class and told one of them what I'd discovered on the parents note and did he know about it and he just laughed at me. Both my parents filled me in on their time at school and what they did which did nothing to reassure me in any way.

That worry was actually the worst part of the entire thing. Facing things and then actually doing them was surprisingly easy in the end. We are all guilty of building things up in our minds into bigger problems than they really are and I suggest that facing school showers was one of those that felt a scary prospect until we actually did it and realised it wasn't so bad after all.

Rachel & Paula,
I recall one PE teacher taking few a few girls aside at the start of one school year and telling them to ask their mothers to buy them a bra, which they found a little embarrassing.
Thankfully, I had just started to wear one anyway.

You're right Jim. I'm unsure if I did write one of those comments myself but either way it's how I felt too. I never made any fuss about going swimming at school, mixed as it was, but later really didn't enjoy being told to remove the top in general PE. Perhaps age played a part in this as I only swam at school between the age of 9 and 11 but the actual shirtless PE started after those ages sometime about 12, but I don't think I would have become touchy about swimming if it had continued past 12 years old into those difficult older years. I definitely would not have wanted to put on some kind of body outfit and I'm confident in saying if I had been offered even a wet t-shirt to swim in I would have declined it as just looking stupid. I know a lot of others have come on and bemoaned their lot in school PE on the issue but not many people, however self conscious they might be, or with low self esteem, would think that what Mr Dando says is the way to go.

If you are parents who hold a strong view against such shower requirements then you have that information at your fingertips and can quite freely decide not to send your child to that school or any other that makes it clear what they require. Therefore nobody is making anyone do anything, and it's the parents view that matters most in the first instance.

As for making boys cover up for swimming, down that route lies madness. I've seen more than one comment on this discussion where men who were set against having to do PE in their school shirtless also said that they didn't feel the same about doing so swimming because that felt different. Good luck trying to find any men come on here and admit they would actually have preferred to have gone swimming at school or anywhere else wearing some kind of full coverage body suit.

The past stories provided by the contributors on this platform is harrowing to say the least. The fact is that PE Teachers under the so called Loco Parentis rule had too much power and parents were too deferential in their view of authority. The communal shower and shirtless PE was a bygone age product of a declining colonial empire and the still often held view that National service would make a "man" of you.

Even today there are still some schools which compel pupils to take naked showers whereas in most right thinking educational institutions this is either optional, recommended or no longer available.

Swimming lessons should no longer require boys to be topless and boys should either wear rash vests or have gender nuetral one piece swim suits when entering the school pool. All Mandatory school shower programmes should be banned and PE Teachers who require males to go topless in Gym class should be struck off.

Here is one offending Voluntary Catholic academy that still requires pupils to shower.

https://www.stphiliphowardglossop.srscmat.co.uk/information/dress-code-and-equipment/

P.E. KIT – The Essentials
Black or white approved Polo shirt with school crest.
Plain black PE shorts.
Trainers or plimsolls.
Black socks.
Optional approved sweatshirt with school crest.
P.E. Kit – Additional
A plain black track-suit where P.E. staff say it is appropriate for winter – no logos or designer outfits.
Ties, jumper with school crest and all items of P.E. kit can be purchased from school.

A current price list is included.

Physical Education is a National Curriculum subject and all students are required to participate in the course

All students are required to shower unless there is a confirmed medical reason for not doing so.

It is time we campaign in the next general election to outlaw school showers, phase out school uniforms in the UK or have a gender nuetral unform for males, females and non-binary people to wear. Together we can make a difference and strike a blow for diversity and inclusivity in education.