Recently, the rule regarding PE kit and where you can wear it during school has changed. To adapt with the complications regarding COVID-19, students have been permitted to wear their sports kit to school. However, that rule will change back to what it was like before the pandemic (e.g. Students must wear their regular school attire during the day and change into their sports uniform before a PE class or a sports club). 

When we heard about this rule during our Friday assembly, we were shocked and definitely less than pleased. During Friday lunch time, we walked around the school and tried to gather signatures from people who felt the same way we did about the issue. Over that one lunch time, the space of a little more than an hour, we managed to get 176 signatures. Almost everyone we asked was happy to sign our petition, and those that weren't just believed that it wouldn't actually do anything.

As we did that, we heard multiple reasons as to why these students didn't want to have to get changed into their PE kit. These reasons were:

-"I don't want to be late to the PE lesson or the lesson after." It isn't right that we have to miss out on education just so that we look a little bit smarter.

-"They don't want to change in front of others." Over a third of teenagers worry about their body image and being made to change in front of their peers won't help that at all. Is it really fair to make people do that if it makes them uncomfortable? Yes, it would be ideal to have a community that everyone felt comfortable in but the truth is as hard as you try to be that community, some students will feel uncomfortable regardless. Instead of forcing them to do something that's avoidable that makes them uncomfortable, why not just avoid the situation altogether?

-"My equipment used to get lost all the time." It's almost unavoidable if you have to take care of a whole load of other equipment without having a dedicated place to put it (which we don't) and it can be extremely expensive to have to replace expensive items every few months.

-"I can't carry an extra bag to and from school every day." A lot of students now cycle or walk to school and can't carry an extra bag as well as their regular school bag, not to mention those that have to take heavy textbooks, musical instruments and other sports equipment to school. Don't we want to encourage and allow students to take more environmentally friendly means to school? 

Our school has always been very big on telling us to stand up against things we don't feel are right. To ignore something that so many students feel so strongly about would just be hypocritical and I'm sure if enough of us speak up about this, it'll get noticed.  

We want to be able to wear PE kit to school on days we have PE provided it's the appropriate uniform and the very few drawbacks to this are, in our opinion, definitely outweighed by the benefits for us as students. As the people it'll be affecting most, surely our opinion is what matters most.