high school P.E. classes- co-ed or not

[luvflorida]

Just wondering how your teen's high school handles physical education classes. Are they grouped by all girls and all boys, or are they mixed girls and boys?

My DD14 just started high school last week and was very dismayed to learn that the classes are mixed. She is in a class with a large number of boys and she is very concerned about not being able to keep up with them. She is very small and is afraid she's going to be embarrassed.

I feel bad for her because I know she doesn't really care for P.E. anyway, and this only makes it worse. How does your school handle P.E.?

Her concerns take me back to my own days of P.E. classes. I was 4'10" and 85lbs. all through high school, and I absolutely HATED dodgeball and that HUGE ball, (medicine ball?)! I'm 49 years old now, and I STILL vividly remember the humiliation and embarrassment of P.E. class.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

When I was in hs, classes were mixed.

I was glad too. The boys were actually alot less judgemental of me than the girls. The guys encouraged me to try and were more helpful. The girls were just catty and mean.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

i just graduated in 2003, and they were mixed...i HATE PE with a passion and dreaded it allll the time..but like esmeralda said, the girls were catty and mean...the guys were the ones i made good friends with..i stuck near them and if the ball came my way, one of the guys would get it

 

[Lewski709]

When I was in public hs and PE, they seperated the boys and girls. Mid eighties, btw.

 

[disneychrista]

PE has been mixed at our schools since Elemetry School. Both my kids are in Middle School and the Classes are mixed.

 

[mtemm]

the way my public jr. high did it was you chose A, B, or C for PE class. A meant very athletic, B was moderately so, C was not really. They geared the classes accordingly...the A's were tougher, better experienced, etc. If I remember correctly A's were mixed classes, mostly boys though. Bs were mixed, and C's were all girls...no self respecting boy would have signed up for C, no matter how unathletic he was.

In my private high school we were divided by sex. at the public high I know you chose what you wanted to take each quarter...tennis, football, track, etc. I believe the classes there were mixed. I always thought it was cool that you got to choose what to take there...think I would have liked pe better.

 

[helenabear]

In both private and public schools I have been in (every single one I can remember) it has always been mixed. Trust me, just because they are guys, doesn't really mean they'll be any *better* than any of the girls

 

[luvflorida]

mtemm- WOW! I wish my daughter's HS would do that!

And I wish MY HS, (over 30 years ago), had done something similar. Maybe I could have avoided dodgeball with overly aggressive kids!

 

[NCDisNut]

Not to hijack your thread, but I really don't understand having PE as a required course anyway. That really bothers me.

 

[monarchsfan16]

My PE classes were co-ed. Same with my sister's. There is very rarely a single sex class in a school now. After all that would be discrimination . I wish we didn't have co-ed gym classes, but we did. I too am very unathletic, and having gym class my very first semester of high school was a tough way to start at a new school. I was about 5 feet tall as a freshman, so I had (and still do) some serious fears about games. Nothing more difficult than playing any sport with a 6'3 350 lb football player/wrestler. Yeah, I was privileged enough to have gym class with the state's best defensive football player. Luckily most of the bigger guys really took pity on us little unathletic squirts and did whatever they could to liven up gym and make it a little less miserable. Lots of pep talks and bear hugs, LOL. Even though I was without a doubt the worst in the class. I got hit in the head with a volleyball and broke a finger releasing a basketball (not catching it).
I truly understand the position your daughter is in. Gym class stinks.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Originally posted by mtemm
at the public high I know you chose what you wanted to take each quarter...tennis, football, track, etc. I believe the classes there were mixed. I always thought it was cool that you got to choose what to take there...think I would have liked pe better.

My high school was set up this way. We could pick anything from gymnastics to dance to weight lifting. In the winter they had a class called Polar Bear. No matter how cold it was or how much snow was on the ground, they went outside for gym. I never picked that class.

My son's school has co-ed gym classes.

Gym is required here, but you don't get credit for it. If you don't have the required number of gym classes, you will not graduate on time.

I'm always amazed by the number of people that have to go to summer school or night school for gym.

 

[eeyore kelly]

Our high schools went to segrated by sex PE about ten years ago. When I went, ours were co-ed.

The boys were actually alot less judgemental of me than the girls. The guys encouraged me to try and were more helpful. The girls were just catty and mean

ITA!!! In our primary schools they are co-ed, but once they get to middle school it either boys or girls.

 

[deirdrefitch]

Public School - Separate

 

[Cindy B]

All four years co ed. Middle school co ed. Elementary co ed.

However, at my jr, sr years of high school, you got to pick what you wanted to do. (volleyball, aerobics, jazzercise.. yes, this was the 80's!)

The aerobics/jazzercise and volleyball were all girls. The other sports you could pick were basketball, football (tag if boy girl/semi tackle if all boys), soccer, track, etc..

 

[LisaTx]

DS says his classes were coed.

He also said the guys won't make fun of her. The girls on the other hand...

 

[Jenn Lynn]

Co-ed.

I just hung out with the kids in the class who didn't really care about PE either.

 

[aprilgail2]

I hated gym in school! Only thing good was that the classes were seperate, I would not have liked having guys in my gym class...bad enough you had to wear those stupid gym uniforms for gym!! In grade school they are mixed but once you go to 6th grade the classes are seperate, you are not even in the same gyms, there are 3 gyms in the school plus outside space so guys are in 2 places and girls are in 2 places...