Hesketh Fletcher Gym Team

Don't some boys get embarrassed if made to be shirtless in front of girls.

When I started at secondary school I soon discovered that our PE uniform was shorts and plimsolls only.
Boys from another primary school to mine were apparently used to this as they were stripped to the waist for PE at that school.
When we changed for our first lesson these boys stripped to the waist at once whereas we were a bit slow to bare our chestsbut we had to do it.
We soon got used to it in the gym but when we had to do cross-country runs in the surrounding streets while stripped to the waist it was a different matter.
Even then we got used to it and after the initial shock I for one eventually rather enjoyed the freedom of being stripped to the waist.

It was a similar story at my school if you forgot your PE kit - underpants only or shorts if there was a spare pair available. Sometimes boys would accidentally bring their swimming kit for a PE lesson and end up doing the class in trunks instead. Obviously getting it mixed up the other way round wasn't a problem, then you just wore your PE shorts for swimming.
However, if you forgot your kit for an outdoor lesson, you weren't made to do it shirtless and barefoot - instead you had to join whichever class was doing PE in the gym at that time. That happened to me once when I was nearly 16 and had to do PE shirtless and barefoot with a class of much younger boys. I was at least able to borrow a pair of shorts but it was still a humiliating experience.
As at Stuart's school, we had PE detentions - usually a fairly intense workout in the gym and for that you had to wear shorts only.

No one seems to have mentioned what happened if you forgot PE or games kit.

At my grammar school (early 70’s) for indoor PE if you didn’t have kit you had to strip to just underpants, which for nearly everyone was white y-fronts, although one or two boys had progressed to coloured versions.

With cross country you were given a spare pair of shorts, and made to run the normal course, shirtless and bare foot. With other games like rugby, again you wore just borrowed shorts, and ran laps of the field. Both of these punishments took place irrespective of the weather.

Anyone who repeatedly forgot kit would have been back in the gym for a detention session, which involved a workout/run, again in just shorts.

How does this compare to other schools?

Like Toby I used to wear a chain around my neck in my case with a cross.I never took it off and can remember doing cross-country runs stripped to the waist with the cross dangling over my bare chest.

I got on the wrong side of one PE teacher immediately for failing to take off the medallion I used to wear on a chain around my neck. He was really strict about kit regulations and warned me I'd be in serious trouble if he saw it again in his class. We had two PE teachers, the other one was more easy going and I continued to wear the medallion for his lessons but unfortunately the strict teacher was covering for him one day and all hell broke loose.
I had to take off the medallion, which he confiscated, and then announced that if I couldn't follow the kit rules he'd make them easier for me. Which meant I had to take off my vest, socks and shoes there and then and do the class in just shorts, barefoot and barechested. From then on that was my kit for the gym and for cross country I was allowed running shoes but still no top. It was humiliating as every other boy got to wear full kit while I was made to do each PE lesson stripped to the waist for the rest of the year.
Not surprisingly I had to put up with some pretty sarcastic comments from the other boys and those, along with cross country on a chilly morning, made PE a miserable experience. Even the other teacher's lessons brought no relief as the stricter one was head of PE and ensured that my punishment was always enforced. Even in the summer term when we did athletics on the track, I was the only boy who had to run barechested.
Eventually I got the medallion back but I never dared to wear it for PE again.

I got on the wrong side of one PE teacher immediately for failing to take off the medallion I used to wear on a chain around my neck. He was really strict about kit regulations and warned me I'd be in serious trouble if he saw it again in his class. We had two PE teachers, the other one was more easy going and I continued to wear the medallion for his lessons but unfortunately the strict teacher was covering for him one day and all hell broke loose.
I had to take off the medallion, which he confiscated, and then announced that if I couldn't follow the kit rules he'd make them easier for me. Which meant I had to take off my vest, socks and shoes there and then and do the class in just shorts, barefoot and barechested. From then on that was my kit for the gym and for cross country I was allowed running shoes but still no top. It was humiliating as every other boy got to wear full kit while I was made to do each PE lesson stripped to the waist for the rest of the year.
Not surprisingly I had to put up with some pretty sarcastic comments from the other boys and those, along with cross country on a chilly morning, made PE a miserable experience. Even the other teacher's lessons brought no relief as the stricter one was head of PE and ensured that my punishment was always enforced. Even in the summer term when we did athletics on the track, I was the only boy who had to run barechested.
Eventually I got the medallion back but I never dared to wear it for PE again.

Different teachers often had varying rules about what they let you wear for PE. I had one teacher who didn't mind what colour shirt or shorts you brought, and others who would give you detention just for wearing the wrong socks!

Our official PE uniform was vest and shorts but one year we had a new teacher who made us all be stripped to the waist both in the gym and for cross-country.

I agree that barechested PE makes boys more inclined to look after their bodies. I left school as recently as the 90s and our PE kit was white vest, shorts and trainers until I was 14. Then a new head of PE came in and felt that standards of health and fitness were poor, so he increased the number of PE sessions per week and also changed the kit - girls stayed the same, but we boys now had to go barechested. That included the one session each week that boys and girls did together! At first there were some complaints from boys and parents but in the end we had to get on with it. Knowing that my body was on display to everyone, including girls, gave me an incentive to work harder in PE and I even started doing extra stuff like weights too. By the next year I was much fitter and receiving some complimentary remarks about my physique from girls as well!

I agree with those who point out that "health and safety" dictates a lot of what happens in PE lessons today.Prior to the 1970's lads stripped to the waist for games whatever the conditions as a matter of course whether they liked it or not.

Brian, We were stripped off both outdoors and inside. We had to change into vests but our teacher split us either into all skins or teams of skins and vests. I should have added each house was split into 3 classes for each year

Hi Dave, Our's was a co-ed school in NE England in the 80's but we were separated for PE and Games lessons. The inter house competitions were a big thing throughout the school. Fitness competitions were a school thing and each house would select 6 boys from each year group to compete. The fitness competition comprised of repetitions of press ups, pull ups, squats, sit ups and shuttle runs. The girls loved it because they got to cheer everyone in their year group on, with the added bonus of seeing us all barechested and visibly sweating. Each fitness competition lasted for an hour, and it was pretty close to non stop activity. The winners took each other on in the final and the other 2 houses went against each other to avoid the wooden spoon.

Unlike James our PE was always done stripped to the waist both inside and outdoors whatever the weather.I'm sure that the girls used to enjoy seeing the sixth form youths stripped to the waist many showing off their hairy chests.

James, were your lessons co-ed sometimes having the girls with you? What does a fitness competition mean? Is it a public competition among schools?
Which decade was it? Was it in England?

Our PE lessons were either done with all the boys stripped to the waist or with half left in vests. The girls all looked forward to seeing your vest coming off outside especially in autumn/winter when it was nice and cold.

When it came to picking the teams for inter house competitions obviously there was a lot of good natured banter about who to pick and who would they'd like to see from other houses. For inter house competitions like basketball, it was skins and vests and if you wore a vest for the first half, you'd be barechested for the second half. Fitness competitions were done with all the boys barechested and distinguished by different coloured shorts, while cross country competitions were skins and vests which made a change from everyone being made to run barechested....if your team was lucky enough to be picked to wear a vest!!

I agree with Stephen that being stripped to the waist made us all concerned with keeping our bodies in shape especially when we did cross-country in the local area and the locals(especially girls) would be watchning our bodies carefully!!!

Of course being stripped to the waist made you look after your bodies and indeed become quite proud of them!!!

Nigel is right.Lads in junior school aged from seven to eleven had to do PE while stripped to the waist even outdoors in the cold.

In the fifties and sixties lads had no choice about what to wear for PE.If the rules said you did it stripped to the waist(and they usually did)then you stripped to the waist and got on with it.

Like Geoff and the others we did PE stripped to the waist and accepted it as normal.It certainly toughened us up.It would do the hoodies we see around good to do tough physical exercise while stripped to the waist.

As has been said youths have it easy these days.When I was at school we did PE stripped to the waist both indoors and outside whatever the weather.This also included cross-country along the adjacent streets.The locals could be heard commenting about our bodies.However this meant that going about bare-chested made us used to seeing our torsos and made some of us proud of them!!

The youths of today need toughening up.Doing PE etc outdoors while stripped to the waist would be the right way to do this.

Mike A is right.In the fifties and sixties we all did PE etc stripped to the waist and lads should be stripped to the waist today for games etc

Like Paul I remember one boy who never wore a vest for PE and eventually more and more lads followed suit so that the entire class went stripped to the waist.

I've read many accounts with the same theme i.e. Vests or T-shirts being on the official uniform but being prohibited by the sadist ex-military PE teacher. Our official regular PT (as it was called back then) kit was white shorts and black plimsolls, no shirt, underwear or socks listed. No matter how bitterly cold it was, we still had only brief shorts to wear. We had weekly cross-country and just like The Yorkist on 16th April 2012, we also ran bare chest through the town to comments from the locals about our physiques. Unlike today their were no obese teenagers. We trained hard and cared for our bodies. I think the fact that our torsos were on display made us care.
I agree with Nigel, on 18th April 2012, that boys should be stripped to the waist. As with many fads and fashions we are following the example set in the USA where Physical Education is being set aside as school budgets are squeezed, and where it is still mandatory many schools no longer require a shower afterwards. Communal shower blocks have been completely decommissioned and used for storage. Many boys in the US are so ashamed and prudish that they will not shower together, hence sweating is avoided and instead of getting young hearts pumping they are tasked with expressive dance lessons!
In the U.K. we are following suit, as will an obesity and diabetes epidemic!

Chris is right and we all did PE stripped to the waist(and barefoot)thinking nothing of it.

21st Century youths have it easy these days!!!When I was at school we did games etc strip;ped to the waist anf just on with it.Anyone who complained would most likely be made to do press-up outside and stripped to the waist for up to an hour.

I think the reason why schools want boys to wear T shirts is the influence of the PC/Health and safety zealots. I am sure that most boys would have no difficuly in being stripped to the waist and even those who initially didn't like it would come round to doing bare-chest PE in the end.

I think that Paul and Dave are correct.When I was at school I had no problem about being stripped to the waist for games etc.I don't think other lads worried either and many of us went barefoot as well.