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Are mixed swim classes acceptable?
In my daughter's school there will eventually be a swimming unit coming up soon 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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You know your daughter more than we all know her. I can honestly say if I had to take a swim class in high school I just wouldnt. I dont feel it is right to do something like that. I am older now and have a young daughter and if she didnt want to do something like that i wouldnt make her and id do everything i could to get her out of it it should be optional.
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You know your child better than anyone including us. If you feel mixed swim classes will be awkward or embarrassing for her then speak to the school officials about it.
An 8Th grade student is somewhere between 12 and 13 years of age. This is a socially awkward age for all children of this age boys and girls. I believe part of what the co-ed swimming classes accomplishes is to relieve some of this awkwardness while being adequately supervised by the physical education staff.
When I was your daughters age we did not have a pool in our school so we were forced to take dance classes as part of our physical education class in our gym clothes. Our gym clothes were not much different than swim suits
By removing your daughter from this class you can be making things more awkward by her absence. Of course if your daughter has asked you to have her excused from this class then this has to weigh heavily on you decision.
My advice is to allow your daughter to attend these classed and monitor her reaction. As a parent you also have a right to monitor or visit any class at any time to gauge for yourself how well the class is taught. You most certainly have a right to visit the swim class and should before making a final decision.
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At 8th grade, I feel like that is an awkward stage for boys and girls to be in a swimming class together. Everyone is starting to develop and boys and girls can be very sensitive and immature about it; many of them may feel self-concious or embarrassed.
You could certainly approach the school about it and probably get your daugther out of the unit, but that may make her peers wonder why she didn't have to do it and that might cause some issues in itself.
In my swim unit, we can wear whatever we want in the pool, so maybe if your child wears a t shirt and shorts over her bathing suit she would feel more comfortable.
You could comprimise or try to see what you can do about it, but I'm sure your daughter will do fine.
Good luck,
-Abby
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If you feel this is wrong for YOUR daughter, then tell the school as much.
I don't think it's wrong at all.
I think basic swimming skills are vital. It's just a safety thing, as straightforward as knowing how to use a fire extinguisher – everyone should know how to do it! I think its awesome the school is taking on the basic instruction, and exposing young kids to great workout swimming can be as well.
Sure, if I were in grade eight it would make me a bit nervous - but going to school bathroom in grade eight made me nervous. Trying on bras made me nervous. Wearing high heels made me nervous. At that age most people are nervous about their bodies and everything even a little bit sorta related to sexuality - better to accept that nervousness happens and deal with it then pretend they can just avoid any situations where they might feel nervous until they grow up. That doesn't make for happy kids, or well adjusted adults.
Talk to your daughter and LISTEN. Let her have her own nervousness and feelings about it; don’t project yours feelings onto her. If after really listening to her, you feel she is at risk or cannot participate in the swim class, speak to the school.
The best thing you can do for her is not hovering around and protecting her from ever possible second of awkwardness in her life – it’s to really listen to her feelings, at the same time as helping her to be able to handle reasonable expectations – like the expectation she attend swim class with the rest of her peers. If she were my daughter, I’d only remove her from the class if I felt she were at some risk of abuse due to a pre-existing bully problem. If it was the only the normal body anxieties she was experiencing, I’d want to help her to work through those feelings at the same time as fulfilling the expectations of her school work.
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