Boys talk about PE with girls

Submitted by admin on Tue, 12/09/2008 - 3:01pm.

This panel discussion was an impromptu talk given by six 6th grade boys in response to the prompt: Talk about what PE is like with girls. This video talk was the final piece to a project assignment that ended a six-week unit on gender. We have been studying gender issues in class during this time, working primarily in same-sex class groupings. Girls have talked and written openly and freely about what it's like to be a girl in school with other girls and with boys. Boys have discussed and written about being boys. Students have also read two books over the past six weeks, looking closely at the representations of masculinities and femininities in the books. The students have also looked at portrayals of heterosexual and homosexual characters—specifically looking for moments of courage and heroism. It is our hope that other classes of 6th, 7th, or 8th grade students will watch this and the three other companion videos, then respond to them during a class activity in school. We would like to hear the opinions of other middle school students and open up a dialogue with them around issues of gender, courage, and heroism.
Thank you.
—Mr. Carter Latendresse, 6th Grade Language Arts, Catlin Gabel School, Portland, Oregon

Add new comment

It's interesting how you say

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 01/13/2009 - 9:16am.

It's interesting how you say that all guys are competitive and you don't make any exceptions. You were right up front with the fact that guys just want to win and will do what it takes to. Maybe it's not so much that guys won't pass to girls, but they just won't pass to people they think won't help to win the game. - Devon, 8th Grade

I agree but I disagree I

Submitted by max, 6th grade (not verified) on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 2:10pm.

I agree but I disagree I agree with the point of that not all boys are competitive in sports but I disagree with the point that you made of all boys always want to win

I think that Devon. I also

Submitted by collin h (not verified) on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 10:06am.

I think that Devon. I also think that it wont do anything to you if you pass the ball to girls and that everybody needs a chance to get the ball ,or else the game isn't fun. Collin harris

I don't get that you guys

Submitted by mady (not verified) on Tue, 01/13/2009 - 9:13am.

I don't get that you guys think that only the girls will mess up if you pass to them , some guys could mess up two that doesn't mean you don't pass to them. I think you guys think too hard about passing , all you have to do is pass to the pen person. You don't have time to be like, that girl has a 7:30 mile, but should I pass to that guy instead. Good job with being honest, now it's clear to me that not only girls are aware of the stereotype on girls that occurs often.

I think the boys were right

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 11:25pm.

I think the boys were right in admitting there is a certain amount of a stereotype factor associated with girls in P.E. If one girl doesn't try, sometimes some guys will assume that ALL girls don't try, which is simply not true. In either gender, you will find people who do not try in P.E., so I don't think the stereotype should be associated with just girls. ~Hannah R., 8th grade

Its not the guy's

Submitted by Hermione Granger (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 10:48pm.

Its not the guy's responsibility to make sure that the girls have a good time, if the girls want to play, they can work hard and take it seriously.

The notion that boys don't

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 10:48pm.

The notion that boys don't pass to girls because they are afraid that the girls will screw up somehow is completely true. However, I don't think they mentioned at any part of the video that they should try to incorporate girls into whatever sport is taking place in P.E. It almost seemed like they were trying to defend their position during the video. It is true that during the P.E., boys tend to get into a "the ends justify the means" mindset. Meaning if they win, the sacrifices they made to get there will be irrelevant. We have to remember, though, that the purpose of P.E. class is to help cultivate the need for teamwork throughout the class, not just winning. -Jeremy Howard, 8th grade

While it could be true that

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 10:39pm.

While it could be true that many girls don't try very hard in PE, the boys seem very reluctant to pass to girls, as they are saying things like "the girls need to prove themselves" and "boys are better at sports." It seems that while they recognize the stereotypes, they are passing them on rather than ignoring them and passing to whoever is open. As a boy, I try to pass to whoever is in the best position regardless of gender, but it appears that not everyone feels the same way. Casey- 8th grade

Many boys pass to me in PE

Submitted by tharinda (not verified) on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 12:48pm.

Many boys pass to me in PE but when I look around they won't pass to a lot of the other girls it might have to do with me playing sports with a lot of the boys since 2nd grade. In the lower school I was the only girl there. It made me feel different and I was kind of sad there was not any girls playing too. They pop up once in a while but not all the timem but I got used to it and sort of enjoyed it. Now I am ready to help any girl that's not getting passed to. Tharinda 6th grade

I agree with Joseph in terms

Submitted by Ellie (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 10:28pm.

I agree with Joseph in terms of the fact that boys take P.E. WAY to seriously, and are WAY too competitive. But the first thing that I have to say, is that in no way at all, does passing a ball to a girl mean that you like that girl! Not in any way! They were talking that you could only pass to a girl if they were "privileged enough", or had "proven themselves", my question is, how do you prove yourself? and what happens if you don't "prove yourself"? You guys take P.E. WAY too seriously, and if you just loosened up a little, and just passed to anyone it would be a lot more fun.

What I don't get is that if

Submitted by Lily B (not verified) on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 10:05am.

What I don't get is that if girls have to "prove" themselves, why don't boys have to do that? I have noticed that after this whole topic, boys started passing to girls more, but still boys take sports way too seriously. Sometimes if I don't get the ball, boys will be like "Why didin't you catch that!" and start whining about it. I get pretty mad because later when a guy missed it people were like "It's okay, it was a mistake"

I agree. Give girls a

Submitted by Ashley (not verified) on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 10:02am.

I agree. Give girls a chance. They don't need to do anything special to get the ball. Girls will always be in P.E., so boys should pass to them. You never know, but you could get good out of it! -Ashley 6th Grade

I think you guys should have

Submitted by Emma R-D (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 10:17pm.

I think you guys should have thought out what you were saying before talking out loud. For example, the kid that said that girls have to "prove themselves" before they can get passed the ball, that would be pretty hard to do if they never got the ball because if they never got the ball they wouldn't have the chance to "prove themselves". And if girls have to "prove themselves" why don't boys have to "prove themselves", because not all boys like sports either.

Hey guys, I understand what

Submitted by Cody Hoyt (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 10:09pm.

Hey guys, I understand what you are saying. However, I think you need to step back and look at a couple things. First of all I understand and sympathize with your frustrations of girls sometimes underachieving (a.k.a. not trying) during P.E. But I think that Joseph was more on the right track when he said that there are some girls who are extremely athletic and do try extremely hard. I think that you guys might be stereotyping a little bit, but overall good points. -Cody Hoyt 8th

I understand what the boys

Submitted by Layla Entrikin (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 10:05pm.

I understand what the boys are saying, but I also think that their image of girls is seriously off. Girls want to win too. Also, I don't really think that girls feel respected if they have to earn the "privilege" to have the ball passed to them. If the boys always assume that the girls are worse than them, they might never know that some girls are BETTER than them. It's not just girls that mess up, guys mess up too. But with all that said, the guys point about how some girls don't want to try, because they don't like sports is a very valid point. But in retrospect, they shouldn't judge all girls based on a few girls. We aren't all the same. --Layla, 8th Grade

I think that so girls are

Submitted by Nikki N (not verified) on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 10:51am.

I think that so girls are better than boys. Some girls don't try. But some boys don't either. Everyone can be good at sports if they want to. People shouldn't judge people at all on how good they are. -Nikki N, 6th grade

I think some of what you are

Submitted by zach lewis-8th grade (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 10:03pm.

I think some of what you are saying is true, but i don't think the girls should have to prove themselves. The boys should just expect that if they pass to them they will try and if they don't try, the boy doesn't have to pass to them next time.

I almost completly agree

Submitted by Elliot L, 6th Grade (not verified) on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 10:11am.

I almost completly agree with you. I don't think that girls should have to prove themselves anymore than boys. I think that to a certain point everyone has to prove themselves so even if they try but they are bad they don't get passed to.I think that is wrong because it should not matter if you are naturally gifted at sports it should just be about if you try. -Elliot L 6th grade

I agree. I believe that boys

Submitted by Tucker Gordon (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 9:28pm.

I agree. I believe that boys are really competitive and don't want to lose. I also agree that the whole "if you pass it to them, it means you like them" plays a part in it (but you'll get over that later). -Dr. Tucker Gordon, 8th grade

You guys did a good job

Submitted by David (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 9:08pm.

You guys did a good job talking about both sides of the argument, i agree that even some boys don't even pass to the other boys just the best players.

I think that most boys

Submitted by Will S. (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 9:01pm.

I think that most boys stereotype girls as not trying as hard as they could in P.E but thats not always the case. I know a lot of boys who don't try either so its not just the girls, its boys too.

The boys discussion was very

Submitted by Peter Beatty (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 8:54pm.

The boys discussion was very good. I think that it was really over exaggerated. Especially when someone said that if you pass to a girl people might think that you like her. That not true its just a pass. I think that people over exaggerate that a lot and they shouldn't. I think that this was a really good idea to discus this topic because it is important.

I think that there is really

Submitted by Rahul (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 8:26pm.

I think that there is really no factor of making girls prove themselves, its really a matter of thinking that if they are open making the right choice instead. I still think that if they show that they want to participate they should have their chance. About the fear of not scoring, who cares! It is P.E class and its supposed to be fun and keep you active.

Passing has less to do with

Submitted by Kenny Woods, Grade 8 (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 8:09pm.

Passing has less to do with sexism as it does with speed and skill. If your goal is to score, you are going to pass to the most likely person that will succeed. Guys have to prove them self worthy to get the ball as well as girls. Guys really have no idea what girls want. Some girls seem genuinely frightened when you pass them the ball, when causes guys to think that do not want to be passed to. More girls than guys decide to not take an interest in sports. Not so much in my class, but in my old school if you passed to a girl who is good at sports the other guys will make fun of you for it. They say things like "You play like a girl." Kenny Woods---8th grade

I think you guys had a great

Submitted by Ben kiyasu (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 7:52pm.

I think you guys had a great explanation of why girls think all guys stereotype them as lesser athletes. While I do think that guys are more competitive than girls I think that girls can be just as athletic as guys. Ben Kiyasu 8th grade

One of the boys said that

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 6:42pm.

One of the boys said that boys don't know what girls are thinking. In a way, I feel that boys never will understand us girls because they aren't girls themselves and vice versa. We can try to see where both sides are coming from so we can understand more about the other, but we'll never fully understand what it's like to be a girl if you're a boy (and vice versa.) Susie N-8th grade, 2013

I agree, I don't really

Submitted by Sophie 6th (not verified) on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 10:05am.

I agree, I don't really think that boys will fully understand what girls feel like when they don't pass to them. I think we should try to find more about ourselves and the boys really shouldn't think about the mile time. Just pass to the person who's open. Sophie 6th

I was very surprised at ho

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 6:40pm.

I was very surprised at ho honest the boys were and I think they did a really good job with that. Especially because I don't often hear boys saying they think they are really competitive. -Flora8th Grade

I think this is really

Submitted by Mira (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 6:27pm.

I think this is really interesting to hear, as a girl. I think the most interesting thing is how someone said "The girls have to earn the privilege to have us pass to them." I also thought it was interesting how you talked about how you didn't know why you couldn't pass to girls. It seemed like it was some kind of weird instinct thing. I think a lot of girls are a lot more competitive or involved than you think, so it might be a good idea to start you both off at the same level. But I dunno it's up to you. Mira,8th

I think the boys are pretty

Submitted by Zahara Muhammed (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 5:09pm.

I think the boys are pretty much right on, especially Sanders who said that not only is the issue between boys and girls but also between weak and strong. I agree that the main reason they do it is because their super competitive and afraid of mistakes but if you think about all the girls who are super aggressive and dont get to show their skill because they never get passed to. As far as the proving themselves thing goes all I have to say is who are the boys to say that they have the authority to put girls in their place and rank them. I think its ridiculous and who are they to declare themselves superior. Overall I think that they had a better argument than the girls but the whole "proving yourselves" thing shouldn't have been said and was unnecessary.

I think that it shouldn't

Submitted by Maggie Boyd (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 5:07pm.

I think that it shouldn't really matter if a person is good or not at sports to be included in games that we are playing. Winning shouldn't be the only reason you are playing, P.E is supposed to include everyone. I think that most boys don't pass to some girls because they feel like they don't care and wont try as hard as one of the more athletic people in the class. But if you don't ever give someone a chance to prove themselves, you never know if someone will be good or bad at sports.

I think you guys are right

Submitted by Tyler Quatraro (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 4:42pm.

I think you guys are right about the fact that their are some girls that don't try and it can be really annoying. I think that the boy at the end was telling the truth that some people may not pass to him because he is bad. People don't just decide not to pass to the girls because they are girls they don't pass to them because they don't try and are bad and they also do this with boys if they are not very good no matter how mean it is. It is also very true that we are very competitive so if their are people who do not try we wont want want to pass to them. Lastly I think you guys dissed on yourselves to much, it is not all the boys fault that some of us do not pass to the girls but also the few girls that fail to try. Tyler Quatraro 8th grade

I completely agree. Boys

Submitted by Lilly (not verified) on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 10:51am.

I completely agree. Boys that are competitive wont pass to girls who either don't try or aren't good, and they won't pass to boys that are like that either. I think that some girls say that they try, but I think that they could try a lot harder. Even if they do try and they aren't good, they still won't get passed to because they won't be open for a pass. I also notice that the girls who do try really hard do get passed to. So I completely agree. -Lilly B 6th grade

Boys: I think that most of

Submitted by latendressec on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 6:49pm.

Boys: I think that most of the girls in this class are just as competitive, if not more, than boys. We try very hard to earn your respect, and that is shameful. I wish that you would realize how hard we try and be better than all the stereotypes, because otherwise it's not fair to us girls. You need to realize that we think of you almost the same way think of us, but in some sense trust you more than you trust us. And even if we manage to make a mistake, we've learned more than we would have by making a goal. So by taking the chance and giving us the ball, you are improving our minds, just like every time we tolerate your mistakes. Do something about it! --Jillian , 6th Grade, Catlin Gabel

Some boys don't pass to

Submitted by latendressec on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 6:43pm.

Some boys don't pass to girls because, like they said in the video, some boys are really competitive, and they want to win. I totally understand that because I know how it feels. I play golf a lot with my older brother, and it just makes me really happy when I do better than him. But I think the boys in PE should try to change their minds because it's just a class. It's not like the Olympics or something. --Sophie , 6th Grade, Catlin Gabel

Some girls do mess up all

Submitted by latendressec on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 6:38pm.

Some girls do mess up all the time--and they might or might not try. Some girls are good. Some girls don't even pass to other girls. Some boys don't get passed to either. --Nikki , 6th Grade, Catlin Gabel

I've heard girls come back

Submitted by latendressec on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 6:37pm.

I've heard girls come back to the locker room after PE saying things like, "I was wide open" or "I never even touched the ball!" I am passed to often, though, probably because I play soccer and I'm more aggressive than many other girls. Maybe boys just want girls to prove themselves. --Emma , 6th Grade, Catlin Gabel

In P.E. if we are playing

Submitted by latendressec on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 6:33pm.

In P.E. if we are playing with the boys we don't really make much of an effort because we don't think that it will make a difference. --Kallisti , 6th Grade, Catlin Gabel

Boys don't understand that

Submitted by latendressec on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 6:27pm.

Boys don't understand that trying and being good at a sport are sometimes different. Boys should pass to girls who are trying regardless of their skill. But I do understand not passing to a girl if she isn't trying. --Ally , 6th Grade, Catlin Gabel

I think that boys are

Submitted by latendressec on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 6:25pm.

I think that boys are pressured into not passing the balls to people who aren't good. I'm not that good at sports, and nobody passes to me. I think that boys should help people get better at sports. --Claire , 6th Grade, Catlin Gabel

It is nice that the boys

Submitted by latendressec on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 6:23pm.

It is nice that the boys admitted that boys don't always pass to girls, but they didn't say they were going to do anything about it, and when they stated stereotypes that girls weren't good at sports, they didn't deny them. But again, it's nice to know that they are aware of that problem of not passing. --Larissa , 6th Grade, Catlin Gabel

I think the boys were also

Submitted by Chris Reimann 8th Grader (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 9:33pm.

I think the boys were also being sexist. They use stereotypes about girls a lot and also stereotypes about boys. It is true that at least the boys were aware of the problem at hand but they weren't trying to do anything at hand. I think that Reid made an especially good comment. It really was fair to both sides. I think that both sides are at fault but also both sides have very valid points

Hey guys its not a

Submitted by Koby Yudkin (not verified) on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 8:31pm.

Hey guys its not a "privilege" for the girls to get the ball. You should pass them the ball anyway. And even if the drop it or mess up what's the damage to you? Like you lose by a point in a game of basketball, so? Just be a good person and pass the ball around, and no it doesn't mean you like a girl if you pass to them. Koby Yudkin 8th grade

Navigation

Boys talk about PE with girls