Today I asked myself why in today’s world we are still forcing our children to swim at school in gym class. If they are not comfortable doing so they are getting zeros for gym class which is dropping their grade by 10 points every class. Swimming doesnt seem like an important enough topic to plummet these kids GPAs! There are many reasons girls or boys may not be comfortable swimming, and we all know that anxiety, bullying, sexual harassmen, and impaired body image are real. In addition to this, some kids have skin conditions that may flare if exposed to chlorine, there are people of color who do not swim because they have hairstyles that cannot get wet, Muslim girls who cannot show their bodies, etc. so how culturally competent is it to force them to swim or take zeros for class?
Additionally, adolescents seek medical care for excuses to get out of swimming- This adds unnecessary costs for healthcare. It is also discriminatory to girls as many adolescents do not have access to, or are uncomfortable, with inserting tampons if they are menstruating. Are we setting our kids up for failure or success? It seems to me that giving kids zeros for not doing something that makes them uncomfortable is counter productive to our ultimate goal of getting them to college so that they can be successful adults. An alternative activity should be offered to swimming. I called my child school today and emailed my state Governor to discuss this concern. Will you?!