I Now Have Proof! High School Gym CAN Ruin Your Life!
By Tobi Schwartz-Cassell
(Spoiler Alert: In case the title doesn’t tip you off, this article was written in satiric style. But make no mistake about it. It is based on reality and personal experience.)
This is not the first time I have written about the suffering I endured in high school gym class back in the 70s. But I now have proof that there were gym teachers back then who actually did an injustice to their students.
I know, I know. “Tobi, you’re a big girl now, and gym class was a long time ago, so get over it!”
Well, now I can because I’ve come across a study that connects poor experience in high school gym class with exercise avoidance in later life. I am vindicated! (Though making us wear those ugly gym suits was unforgivable and there is nothing that would vindicate that.)
The study was done by award-winning author and speaker, Dr. Billy Strean of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, a former NCAA athlete and coach. His 2009 findings were published in the journal Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise. The title of his article says it all, “Remembering instructors: Play, pain, and pedagogy.”
These quotes from study participants validate why I have hesitated for so long to get into an exercise routine! These are my people! They get me!:
To this day I feel totally inadequate in team-related activities and have a natural reflex to AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS … largely because of humiliating experiences in childhood.
So, my major beef with the so-called physical education that I received as a kid is that it robbed me of the joy of physical activity for many years…It did not promote habits of physical and mental health that can be derived from participation in physical play. Instead,….it destroyed my physical confidence.
The exception to otherwise pleasant childhood play: those f*cking gym classes. Drill, verbal abuse, elitism, a sense of futility, and occasionally fear. Yuck.
I am a 51-year-old woman whose childhood experiences with sports, particularly as handled in school, were so negative that even as I write this, my hands are sweating and I feel on the verge of tears. I have never experienced the humiliation nor felt the antipathy toward any other aspect of life as I do toward sports.
+++++
Okay. enough of my being a cry baby. Not all gym teachers were awful (just because all of mine were). But I do feel a lot better now that my theory has been substantiated, and now that I understand why I have always avoided exercise. The good news is that I can now begin my healing process and start working out at a gym!
And the one I’ve chosen is the Cherry Hill Health & Racquet Club. Because I have some physical issues that would benefit from exercise, but if done incorrectly, could do more harm than good, they will be starting me on the Pilates Reformer.
I have no idea what that is, but this week I will find out! And I will share my experiences with you throughout my journey.
Do you have a “Mean Gym Teacher” story to share? Please comment below. I’d like to know that I am not alone.
♥
Tobi
Want to know more about Dr. Billy Streen? Click here…
January 8, 2016 @ 11:40 am
I too can absolutely relate to this. Attended Catholic HS in Philadelphia, the gym uniforms alone were awful!! We had to have our name and homeroom embroidered on them! The gymnastic segment was one of the worse. Thanks for sharing!!
January 7, 2016 @ 1:48 pm
Definitely resonates, and now I have an excuse for hating even the thought of “exercise” … though I do enjoy walking – that’s more about being in nature than “exercising.” I was always an honor student except one time when a “D” in gym kept me off the honor roll because I couldn’t do a handstand! Ridiculous! Here I am 50+ years later and life has never required I do a handstand. What a waste. All about health & wellness now & inspiring healthy living … find movement you love & enjoy it, be it dance, walking, swimming or whatever.
January 7, 2016 @ 11:24 am
You always write pieces that are so on point and resonate with my life experience. I will try not to be long winded in my reply. I attended Catholic School in NYC, you may know where this is going, and gym class was something the state of New York required and my catholic school could care less about. My gym teacher was a 500 pound (yes, he could barely walk) angry man who was also the boys basketball coach. His idea of gym class was jumping jacks and playing basketball. I weighed about 80 pounds and was forced to wear my older sisters’ uniform (we were poor) – poofy light blue clown bloomers under a cotton sheath, ie. women’s prison. I was always last to be picked for a team. Was it because I was too busy pulling up my bloomers, or was it the demeaning insults? You go Tobi with your new gym experience – we are all counting on you from the sidelines.
January 7, 2016 @ 9:48 am
Hi Tobi – Totally agree! I can clearly still see the face of my gym teacher and remember her name and it’s not with glowing admiration…..I’m in my 60’s!
I now teach Zumba Gold and fitness to older adults and have followed a path of fitness in spite of my gym teacher’s negative affect on me when I was in high school. I think the physical education teachers of today are drastically improved…thank goodness!
January 6, 2016 @ 11:11 pm
You’re singing my song, Sister! If it weren’t for folk dancing and self defense, I’d probably have failed. And like Jayne, who commented before me, I remember being hoisted onto the upper of the parallel bars against my will. But I have to say, the best antidote is finding something you love to do and a supportive place to do it! Don’t think the gym teachers who mocked me would have predicted I’d turn into a midlife saber fencer.
January 6, 2016 @ 11:25 pm
I LOVE it! A saber fencer! You GO, girl! And yes–satisfaction is certainly the best reward.
January 6, 2016 @ 10:37 pm
Tobi, I soooo relate! Thought I was the only one humiliated by the gym teachers. I absolutely hated the gymnastics segment as the thought of tumbling or twirling over a bar totally frightens me. I had one gym teacher who wouldn’t let me leave class until I got up on the bar and spun my body over it. I told her it scared me but she didn’t care. She hoisted me up and pushed me over. I was late to lunch and my knees were shaking so badly I could hardly walk and I thought I was going to throw up. A funny twist, my sister became a gymnast! Anyway, I hated gym and fabricated many music lessons during my gym period! I bet we could trade stories all night. And yes, changing into those gym suits was the initial humiliation. Gawd. Whoever thought those up?
January 6, 2016 @ 11:00 pm
Oh Jayne, I am so sorry you had to go through that. But that is exactly what I’m talking about! And I always wondered why, knowing exercise is good for me, that I could never bring myself to get started. Now I know that my instincts were right on target. That those gym teachers were nothing more than bullies. I’m sure there were some caring ones, but I never came across one.