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I never did. I worked on a military base once, and there were plenty of civilians and soldiers who would days or weeks without showering even though if you set things up right you could change out of and into clothes in the stall with a closed curtain. You'd even occassionally hear of soldiers who only showered because they were ordered to.
I think not wanting to be nude in front of others is a very strong instinct for humans.
Nope, it's a learned paranoia. I'd bet moral/religious in it's beginnings.
I am curious what the women did after swimming, since their clothing was all wet.
I asked the same thing, and he told me that they simply hopped out of the pool, leaving an incredible wet mess on the floors of the facility in their wake as they departed the building in their sopping-wet clothing.
We had one of those coaches too that had to stand by and make sure each kid took his shower. One day I decided to take advantage of the situation, I was the first one to take my 15 second shower and then I dashed off and bypassed my locker and went straight into his unguarded office and swiped his stopwatch and whistle. It was a nice whistle,silver plated. I ended up trading the stopwatch for a St.Louis Blues jersey.
Same time frame as you, it was part of the grade. Someone posting here got pulled out of 2nd Period class one time his Senior year because he skipped the shower after 1st Period PE. And we'd been over at the pool swimming.
You guys who say it's "no big deal" never had to teach a class of 35 kids after 1/2 the boys had PE the period before. And no, they don't just stand around and not sweat, especially if a basketball is involved.
Even today in 2015 (well, 2014 for me) we have issues with kids, of both sexes and all socio-economic levels, coming to school without performing basic hygiene.
Viva La France! Where showers are replaced by more Perfume for all!
We had to shower after P.E. all through Middle School and High School. You always had the rumors that the coach was gay or creepy because as a teacher he had to stay in the room to make sure the usual idiots didn't act up and cause injuries.
Ever get snapped by a wet towel in the butt? Imagine that same snap in the "nads...
in 1970-1973 we had to take a shower before going swimming in gym class. the teacher would inspect us to make sure we soaped up properly. the boys in high school had to swim without swim trunks. that was wierd ,, not sure why they made them do that. i dont know how high schoolers do not have to take a mandatory shower before swimming.. its a state law in Illinois that people must do that prior to going swimming, to any pool. (check the sign next time at your gym)
OMG, that is crazy!
If we had been forced to shower at school there would have been mass rebellion by the girls (this was in the late 70's). For girls in high school, we have spent all morning doing our hair and putting on makeup by the time we get there. One year I had gym first period! I would never have continued the rest of the day with no makeup and flat hair, and I'd have missed half my 2nd period class if I tried to put it all on again.
I did middle school '86-89.
I don't remember anyone smelling bad.
Boys or girls (I am a girl).
I was on school teams in high school (89-93).
We practiced before first period and used first period to take a shower and do our hair for the rest of the day at school. Easy peasy.
This article was published June 26th and is merely referencing the said article from 96.
We had a perverted fat gym teacher who insisted on handing us the towels back when I was in middle school claiming they were getting stolen or something. It was kind of creepy... as is the whole notion of forced public showering in a public school.
Creepy?
My goodness, why not leave education up to students because we all know some will never skip school to do something else.
Clearly if you leave personal hygiene up to some students they will skip it. "Perverted" gym teacher or not, taking a shower after physical exertion has been normal since before Jesus Christ was born. Yet today, sparing the feelings of an individual seems to trump proper hygiene and etiquette.
So I suppose it is better to distract the whole class with stink from BO rather than mandate showers.
Again the individuals "personal feelings"(i.e. hangups) should trump everyone else's consideration. What is next, you call someone out on smelling in class, you get sent to the principals for "smell shaming"?
From the article;
Some people believe that children today simply grow up accustomed to more privacy. Years ago, when bigger families lived in smaller houses with fewer bathrooms and bedrooms, it was the rare child who could maintain a sense of modesty. … “In25 years of doing A.C.L.U. work — cases on prayer in the school, you name it — I had never had any response like this,” he said. “People remembered their own humiliation. I myself remember moving from my little country school to the city school, and being mortified about having to take showers. But in those days, you did what the schools said, you did what the teachers said.” Mandatory showers and teachers on shower patrol are virtually a thing of the past now, and rinsing off after gym is the student’s option. In fact, some schools are considering removing showers because they are not used. Modesty among young people today seems, in some ways, out of step in a culture that sells and celebrates the uncovered body in advertisements, on television and in movies.
All I know is that when you read about the need for privacy from liberals, they have it backwards. I did not have a perfect body, despite being an athlete. Yet I did not let stupid self consciousness from keeping me from showering after PE or a HS game.
The modern day kid gives out all sorts of personal info on their Facebook page, yet does not want to face normal social situations because of modesty
Clearly permissive helicopter parents are enabling these mentally fragile kids to avoid situations that might bruise their delicate self image.
A bigger crime could not even be contemplated!
I never once took a shower at school. I was embarrassed enough just changing into gym clothes in front of other girls. I don't think any of the girls took showers outside of extracurricular sports.
Same here. Changed my clothes and put on more deoderant. It was fine.
We are a weird country. We walk around half nude, get naked and have sex with anyone and everyone and people we don't know, don't like body odor, but won't get take a shower when we sweat.
Same here. Changed my clothes and put on more deoderant. It was fine.
Not really.
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I'd bet moral/religious in it's beginnings.
