Recent research by Women in Sport, has revealed that there’s still a gulf in attitudes towards physical activity between girls and boys across secondary schools in England and Northern Ireland. The charity, which aims to make sport more accessible for females across the UK, found that girls are still turning away from school sports in high numbers. We asked teachers, parents and pupils what should be done to stop this trend.
‘As a girl, being successful at sport is still not desirable in the UK’
Laura, teacher
The girls I teach generally love PE. You just have to try to make the lessons fun and be positive with them. Allowing them enough time to change at the end of the lesson is really important. When we are doing a more physically demanding sport, I reassure them that they can try hard and not worry about sweating, because I will allow them more time to change and cool down before they need to rush off to their next lesson. They respond well when things like this are taken into account.
It’s a societal norm that little boys like contact sports and little girls aren’t being encouraged to be physical. This modelling takes place before they even start school and is very subtle. Having previously worked in Australia, the attitudes of young people are different. More women are physically active and therefore their young girls have family role models who are encouraging them to be the same. Being successful at sport as a girl is still not desirable in the UK. Encouragement needs to start at home. We can only do so much at school during our two hours of PE lessons a week.
‘It’s not just about PE lessons, it’s the entire approach’
Lesley, teacher
I’m a year 6 primary school teacher. Last year my class was very sporty. A large group of girls loved playing football. They played at lunchtimes with the boys, were part of a mixed school team, went to matches and played at an after-school club. At secondary school there’s no football for girls, just the boys. At playtime the boys play football and the girls don’t. It’s not just about PE lessons, it’s the entire approach.
Both my children, a boy aged 13 and a girl aged 10, are very active. But all their activities are done outside of school. Girls need more choice and PE needs to be about being active, raising heart rate and staying healthy – not just about being competitive all the time. The classes also need to be mixed and offer more choice with a focus on being active for life rather than just team sports.
‘Most of the issues involve changing rooms, PE kits and performance anxieties’
Angie, teacher
I currently teach girls PE in a small rural secondary school. I’m responsible for providing them with a positive experience, encouraging them to take part and instilling a desire to get involved in physical activity. I acknowledge their fears and vulnerabilities and help them overcome them. Most of the issues involve changing rooms, PE kits and performance anxieties.
Girls at my school are outperforming the boys in terms of participation numbers and their level of competitive success. But we make a big effort in year 7 to help the girls feel safe and comfortable. It’s the first year that they will have single-gender PE, and it’s important to address their often low perceptions of themselves following their primary school experiences. Primary school PE has often been undertaken without specialists in PE, and without specific PE differentiation techniques that can help students feel empowered if done well or create feelings of woeful inadequacies and anxieties if done poorly. We encourage an inclusive philosophy rather than an elitist one.
‘There’s no assessment of physical needs or capabilities’
Alex, parent
In my daughter’s school, girls are made to wear pencil skirts. The trousers option was too uncomfortable so no one wore them. Despite protests, the school insisted on girls wearing skirts they could not stretch their legs in, constantly berating them for hitching them up, which I thought was necessary to walk across a large campus. The girls all stopped playing sport because they had to change to do anything at break, while boys kicked a football around in school trousers. Girls’ sport is dumbed down to the lowest common denominator to accommodate those trying to avoid it.
Most sports department heads are men. Girls are not encouraged to be physical. They’re only encouraged to look good and not encouraged to play football, cricket, rugby but “girls’” sports like netball. There’s no assessment of physical needs or capabilities. Kids who do sport outside of school are lumped in with kids doing the minimum. We need to have mixed classes for football, cricket and athletics. This will show some girls are a lot better than most boys and tests them more. Otherwise sporty girls don’t have enough to stretch them.
‘Some of the worst sexism my daughter suffered came from fellow pupils’
Emma, parent
My 17-year-old daughter was very sporty and had a competitive streak. This was not fostered at primary school and was entirely frustrated at secondary school. She played in a mixed football team with an appalling, sexist coach. My daughter tried hard to engage girls in sport at school, but there was no support from staff. Finally my daughter found gender equality in a rowing club outside of school. As a parent I was deeply shocked at how little positive encouragement there was for girls in schools, and how even a determined and competitive sporty girl’s spirit was squashed. My daughter’s friends were not sporty, so I had no parent to share my frustration with. It’s completely opposite with my younger son. He does not want to play football, but has found that he has to like and follow it just to fit in.
Boys are encouraged to see themselves as sporty. Girls are not. Mixed teams at primary schools add to this problem. Some of the worst sexism my daughter suffered came from fellow pupils; boys refusing to pass to girls, boys complaining about girls having use of the pitch at lunchtime. There was a horrible incident at a professional football team’s summer camp when my then 11-year-old daughter was subjected to sexual verbal abuse by some boys. I complained but received no acknowledgement. This kind of abuse by boys was routine, accepted, brushed off and in my view is a big contributor to girls falling away from school sports.
The hiring of top-quality female coaches, establishing girls’ teams at primary school and a total change in attitude by male PE teachers and coaches would make a difference. Schools have to want to make a change and it starts with male students and male PE teachers. There is no connection between sports clubs and schools any more, and no pathway for ambitious kids.
‘More should be done to find and encourage sports enthusiasts to teach PE in primary schools’
Sam, parent
Watching my daughter become increasingly involved in team sports has been an absolute joy and is mainly down to an inspirational teacher who runs a girls’ all-sports club after school every Friday. From humble beginnings in year 3 and 4 she and at least 10 of her classmates, now in year 6, all play netball, football, rugby and cricket together at school and for local clubs. Without this great teacher inspiring seven- and eight-year-old girls, I’m pretty sure my daughter and her friends wouldn’t have got involved in sports they now all love to play.
We’ve been lucky at my daughter’s school, because they have had an opportunity to take part and had teachers who want to inspire girls. More should be done to find and encourage sports enthusiasts to teach PE in primary schools. I think by secondary school it’s too late.
‘The media has a considerable effect on participation levels of girls in sport’
Anna, pupil
Having been educated in an all-girls Catholic private school, I experienced girls’ participation in sport through a frosted window. Moving forward I decided to continue my education at a local comprehensive sixth-form college, where my eyes were opened to the alarming rate at which young girls are dropping out of sport. Pursuing my passion for sport, I decided to apply to be an ambassador for the This Girl Can campaign. Fast forward two months and I am engaging in a conference for young ambassadors at the London Olympic park, proposing ideas to increase participation levels for young girls in sport in our local areas.
The media have a considerable effect on participation levels of girls in sport. Scrolling through any form of social media, one can notice pictures of airbrushed women with enhanced features pouting in a gym. These unrealistic and frankly sickening images are affecting the mentality of young women and turning them away from sport altogether.
The introduction of social sport would have a considerable impact on participation levels of young girls in sport. Why should sport always be competitive? When participating in sport I believe you should feel happy, comfortable and confident. With the growing number of women-only exercise classes, I believe that we can increase the number of girls participating in sport.
‘Girls’ sport is seen as far less important’
Maddy, pupil
I took PE at GCSE level and as a sixth former. I’m now running the year 10 netball group alongside a PE teacher. The problem is that girls’ sport is seen as far less important, and there is less encouragement for them to participate. There are also fewer opportunities for games in sports such as football, rugby and basketball, even if there is significant interest. At my school the boys have been given the school minibus, even though a female team had it booked, giving the impression that the boys are more important.
My school is fairly good, but for several years in PE we would do netball twice a year, while the boys never repeated a sport. This meant that we rarely played football, a sport in which a number of girls in our year had an interest, and may have joined clubs outside of school if they’d been given a taster in PE (which is one of the functions that it serves). Girls’ rugby has been in decline in recent years because there are no female coaches. The most important thing to do is combat this view that boys’ sport is more important than girls’. This can mean that they feel sidelined and ignored. Even something as simple as the girls training with the boys can do much to combat this.
‘I abhorred being stuck in pilates and dance while my male friends played full-contact rugby’
Erin, pupil
I remember enjoying sports at school right up until the age it became gender segregated. I was always a tomboy and played football during breaks with the lads. Once I reached secondary school we were almost permanently divided into boys’ and girls’ groups for PE. Girls had a more limited range of sports. I abhorred being stuck in pilates and dance while my male friends played full-contact rugby. The school tried to encourage me with after-school health and fitness sessions. I quit shortly after discussions of spray tanning and cellulite came up from the other students. I eventually found some relief in a kickboxing club out of town.
Boys and girls are segregated into gendered groups and given different expectations for their physical performance. This doesn’t happen with, say, mathematics or art. I don’t really see why it happens with sport. You can sit and argue about biological differences and puberty all day, but I really don’t see why this matters so much. If we are constantly telling boys and girls to have such different physical expectations for their bodies, it’s going to have a long-term impact. This same mentality can be seen across all kinds of professional sports.
We need to stop segregating PE based on gender, and have more team sports where everyone is encouraged to explore and play to their personal strengths. One person may be a good goalkeeper and another great at tactics and strategy. Give everyone the opportunity to find something they enjoy or are good at. Encourage sportsmanship and a positive attitude. Nothing turns me off a game more than toxic competitiveness, and I’m sure there are many that feel the same.
