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are mixed swim classes acceptable?
In my daughter's school there will eventually be a swimming unit in gym class some times in the following semesters and both boys and girls have the class together. Isn' t kind of wrong to force young people to be in bathing suits in front of each other? Even if its one piece? I assumed they would be seperate. Daughter is in 8th grade by the way
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I don't believe so, there would be no difference between that and going to a beach or a public swimming pool, except that they would have teachers present to monitor their behavior.
When I was in school there was never an issue, I'm sure when you were her age you wore a bathing suit at some point in front of a boy that age as well, it's just the cycle of life.
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There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. If your daughter has an issue with it she needs to get over her self consciousness. If you have a problem with it you need to get over your over-conscientiousness.
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Appropriate for this day and age? Yes, it's fairly normal to have a mixed swim class.
Appropriate for your children? That's up to you. You are the parent.
If you don't want your children exposing themselves to the opposite gender in tight swimsuits then make a decision to change the situation. Speak with the class instructor and principal about your concerns. If you are strongly against your children being in this situation (and there is nothing wrong with being against such situations) then pull her out of that class and let her learn to swim with you or in a different setting away from school. It's perfectly acceptable to not just "go along with the program" like other mindless parents. If you disagree then do it strongly. This is how people begin homeschooling their children. There isn't anything about swimming that you can't teach her or that you can't hire someone to teach her in a more appropriate setting.
You must take into consideration something though. If you have ever taken your daughter to the beach and she has been in a swimsuit then there is nothing there that hasn't been seen before then.
If you allow her to watch public television programs or popular movies then she may have already see everything there is to see about the other gender, by the way. Click on MTV sometime and just marvel at what they are feeding the youth. That isn't entertainment--that's selling sex.
If you want changes made then you have to stand up for them though. By changes, I mean the entire society. Sure, one person isn't going to change an entire school-system but if enough people join together and say, "Y'know...I was thinking...I really don't like this...let's change it," then it can be done long-term.
Over the past few decades we have really hurt our children. They're more sexually promiscuous than they were. They are more open to drugs, alcohol, violence, eating disorders, and homosexuality. They are likely to be obese, depressed, and suffer many marital divorces. Has our society improved? Yes and no. In some respects we are flushing ourselves down the toilet.
So, is one swimming class going to affect your daughter? Maybe. Maybe not. It depends what she has already been exposed to, and what she will be exposed to in the near future. It depends on who the children she will be swimming with are, personality wise. It depends on her personality strengths. It depends on your parenting skills. It depends on proper child-parent communication. There is no pinpoint answer.
I hate to break it to you, but if you look around this site a lot of 8th graders are already having sex, giving oral sex, having anal sex, and engaging in mutual masturbation. Many aren't virgins in any way at all. Many have had more than one or two sexual partners already. Many already have disease like HPV and herpes. Many have been pregnant, have had abortions, and are still having unprotected sex and engaging in random hook-ups at alcoholic parties. At 13. Unfortunately, if you're child is in public school, he or she is already exposed to that sort of thing, even if it's by word-of-mouth by their peers. I wouldn't have believed that years ago, but after 3+ years as an advice columnist on Advicenators, I can safely say that it IS worse than most parents think.
Decide for yourself if it's appropriate and do what you feel is best. Make the changes. Improve your child's life in many ways. Be a parent.
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That type of thinking is somewhat out dated. After all they are teaching sex education in grades as early as eight grade. I remember having a dance , coed, in gym glas in gym class.
You could remove your daughter from the class but then you open her up to teasing an ridicule. As parents we have the right to raise our children as we see fit. Probles come when we attempt to keep things from them they are the ones that end up getting hurt.
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Is it wrong to have mixed sex public swimming pools? What about beaches?
Don't you think it would be weird if young people grew up thinking it was wrong to be around each other in bathing suits? Children of that age are much less likely to be uncomfortable in that situation than older children and teenagers.
I had mixed swimming classes at school up until the age of 16 and there was nothing weird or perverse about it. In addition to that, my parents took me to a public swimming pool every week for most of my childhood.
If you really can't accept the idea then I suggest you contact your daughter's school and ask her to be excused from swimming sessions.
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