Reply to Opting out of swimming unit in PE

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

You are emphasizing that swimming is "unnecessary" to you but you also need to consider the messages that you are sending to your daughter.  [b]That she, unlike all the other girls with long hair, gets to opt out and not participate in a school activity.  That PE isn't important.  That it's ok to lose class credit/points if you just don't feel like participating for some personal reason.[/b]  Is that really what you want your daughter to think when the flip side is that she has to deal with a swim cap or spend a portion of her day with wet hair?[/quote]

Also that girls get to get out of physical activities for beauty reasons.[/quote]

It is not a beauty reason. It is a comfort and health issue, and frankly it is a little sexist that the time allowed for children to dry off and change (10 minutes) is adequate for people with very short hair (typically boys) but not people with longer hair (which includes some girls). [/quote]

This answer actually perpetuates the stereotype that girls and women simply must take longer to get ready. It's the butt of many a dumb sitcom joke. If you can't see that you're sending DD a message that she deserves extra time or special accommodation because of an aspect of her appearance--you really don't get it.

I say that as parent of a teen girl who is actually required to keep her heavy hair fairly long because she does classical ballet and has to wear a bun. (A short cut is not an option in some dance companies.) But she and her dancer friends would never expect anyone to give them extra time to get ready because they have to wrestle with their hair. Even wet, cold hair. 
[/quote]

I completely get that, I am just not sure what to do about it. I am also concerned that allowing my daughter to skip swimming sends the wrong message. The options are 1) force her to do swimming during PE and be cold and uncomfortable for two afternoons a week (we did this last year; note that they go from the pool area into heavily airconditioned classrooms), 2) ask for some accommodations like an adult to help her dry her hair and/or put a swim cap on or 3) the option I have chosen so far, ask her to be excused from swimming. [/quote]

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