The state of California requires high schools to teach a swimming unit to ensure that students know how to swim, and McClatchy complies with this standard by having a mandatory swimming unit once a year. I have no problem with swimming, but many students, including myself, take issue with the dressing part of the unit.
I understand that they give us an option to dress in “full coverage” swimwear like board shorts, or something more modern like a 2-piece, but still, “full coverage” swimsuits aren’t very covering unless you’re wearing scuba gear. Swimsuits always end up revealing things. As teens, we are constantly being judged based on our appearance by our peers, so why should we be subjected to this swimsuit dress requirement when we are uncomfortable with it? Why are teachers allowed to control whether or not we are required to wear a swimsuit?
When asked if he is aware of body insecurities in teens, Coach Feickert, the athletic director at CKM, stated that he was aware of such insecurities. Even the PE teachers know that most students aren’t confident with how they look. It seems like they only acknowledge the issue, yet don’t do anything to help it when they require students to dress in swimsuits.
When Ms. Caulk was asked about students getting excused from the swimming unit due to body insecurities, she said that students can only be excused from the unit if they have a medical excuse signed by a doctor. So, either you have a doctor’s note to excuse you from swimming, or you don’t swim and instead take the F–there is no in between. As a teenager myself, being forced to strip down into a swimsuit and told to jump into a pool would only worsen my body insecurities, except this isn’t something I can get a doctor’s note for.
It should be a personal decision if I want to wear a swimsuit in front of my peers or not. This isn’t about the swimming curriculum, rather, it’s about my own privacy that is violated when I am required to wear a swimsuit at school.
Perhaps instead of requiring all students to swim, there are things that can be learned about CPR and swimming from a classroom for the students who are not comfortable with dressing, and the students who want to swim can swim.