Black History Month Reads & Junior High PhysEd
Book recs and a conversation about equity, safety and consent in Physical Education
Must Read Books by Black Authors: NonFiction/Memoir Edition
February is Black History Month, and though I absolutely read Black authors all year round, it is a time for people to seek out book recommendations.
Check out my full reviews at my blog post here!
My Ongoing Concerns with Inclusion, Safety, and Belonging in Junior High School
Gender Diversity and Equity, Safety and Consent in Physical Education
I wrote a letter to my child’s school administration about concerns I had about her Grade 8 Physical Education class.
Here’s my original letter:
Dear School Administration:
I have some concerns about Grade 8 Physical Education.
I understand the students have recently started the dance unit and my child reported having to do a partner dance with a boy in class. This caused her a great deal of anxiety and distress. She reported that the class was told they would have to do partner dances with kids of opposite genders. She also reported they were told social dance was necessary because they would be dancing at social events like graduations or weddings in the future.
I have concerns about the current practices for several reasons:
Gender diversity and equity. There may be children who are still exploring and coming to terms with their gender identities, so sticking to the gender binaries of “boys” and “girls” does not seem like an inclusive practice. This also brings up another concern about using the gender binary in Physical Education activities in general. At the open house, one of the teachers said they often split the class into “boys” and “girls” during the winter so one group is in the small gym and one group is in the big gym. Again I wonder about children who do not fit the gender binary, and who do not yet feel confident enough to say so. It would force those children to have to conform, and ultimately feel like they don’t belong, furthering feelings of alienation and oppression.
Sexual diversity and equity. Making children dance with someone of the “opposite gender” is also reinforcing the stereotype that heterosexuality is the norm. There are quite a few children I know of who are under the LGBTQ+ umbrella, so it does not make sense to assume they would want to dance with someone of the opposite gender (even at future social events like graduations or weddings). As children in junior high are still developing their sexual identities, it would be more inclusive to allow any combination of pairings.
Safety and consent. As I’m sure you’re aware, junior high is a time when children are developing boundaries about their bodies and still coming to terms with how they feel in their changing bodies. Forcing children to dance with someone of the opposite gender, or even with anyone they don’t feel comfortable with, seems to be sending a dangerous message. It seems like it’s not giving children autonomy over their own bodies to say no to something they don’t feel safe about, which could carry over into the future. My child is very much a rule follower and would not oppose authority like teachers. If a teacher tells her she has to dance with a boy she doesn’t know, she will follow the instruction, even though it causes her a great amount of anxiety. In the future, if someone tried to force themselves on her at a dance club, she might find herself going along with it rather than standing up for herself because of her past experiences. I know this may seem like a jump, but again, puberty is a time when children are extremely impressionable. For this reason, I also think it is important to allow children to choose their own partners so they can make a decision about who they feel safe enough to do a partner dance with.
I hope the school will want to provide an environment of safety and belonging for all students, regardless of their gender identity, sexual orientation, or neurodiversity.
Perhaps instead of the rule that girls must dance with boys, these alternatives could be considered:
Choose a partner with different hair colour than yours
Choose a partner wearing the same colour top/shoes as yours
Choose a partner whose name starts with the same/or different letter than yours
Choose a partner whose birthday falls in the same month as yours
Instead of stating that girls and boys must be in separate groups for certain activities, perhaps these alternative examples could be used:
Children with birthdays from January to June go in one group, and those with birthdays from July to December go in another
Children with first or last names beginning with A-L go in one group, and those from M-Z go in another
Children with blue shoes go in one group, and those with any other colour go in another
Thank you for your time and attention to this issue. I hope to hear about potential changes that can make our children’s experiences more positive and inclusive in Physical Education.
Best regards,
Judith Lam Tang
join the conversation on Instagram:
After this letter, I had a meeting with my child’s Physical Education teacher and Assistant Principal.
Check out the summary of what I took away from the conversations on the 2 main topics at my blog post here.
