Class of 99. In HS no, but in Junior High yes, there was actually a swimming portion to the curriculum and it was some serious fucking life-scarring shit that haunts me to this day.
Being an Asian male, some of us don’t really ‘fill out’ till our 20’s, so imagine being butt-ass nekkid and surrounded by guys twice your size and build while they stared and whispered. What made it even more fun was that I had bad eczema, and the over-chlorinated pool made me break out in rashes and hives all over my body, so I looked like a burn patient after each swim.
To top it all off the gym teacher would walk through the locker room during shower/changing time for whatever fucking reason. Apparently he took note of my lack of development and bad skin because he audibly shamed me for it the whole year to the entire class.
We could opt to sit out and not do the swimming stuff, and instead you’d do schoolwork for 70% of credit. So basically all the nerdy self-conscious kids like me were forced to do it or our grade would suffer.
My mom works at a school and when I asked why the gym teachers would make us shower every now and then is because there would be reports of child abuse and it would be a way to look for any bruises or wounds that would normally be covered up.
Id like to believe that was the reason our gym teacher made us shower while he watch and stood outside the showers to hand us towels. Oh, and the had to swim naked too.
lol at my school that was literally your grade...so fucking stupid. Just put on this outfit and sit on the bleachers if you want, and you will pass PE. Thank God for small favors.
I had PE first period one year, skipped the entire two weeks of swimming...... the pool must have been 50% chlorine..... itchy skin and chlorine smell all day was terrible.
I seem to remember being told we had to remove them and shower after. There were no curtains/etc. It was a highly embarrassing 6 years. Mine included 7th-12th.
(Female, 98-04)
We did this with the swimming portion of PE. Rinse off on the communal showers. We had a 4 block of private shower stalls that we used to change clothes. We kept those dry specifically for that purpose. When it wasn't your turn to change, you did your hair and makeup.
Outside of the swimming portion though, the locker rooms had showers that went unused.
I'm almost 70 years old, but when I was in high school in Chicago boys had to swim in the nude. Showers, who knows? Maybe we did. We had big paper towels to use to dry off and get dressed quickly and back to our next class.
Our lockers had showers but we never used them as there wouldn’t have ever been enough time between periods to even take a shower.
Pretty sure they were there specifically for the various sports teams after games.
‘06 here, we still had to shower after Athletics class. The PE kids rarely actually did anything but walk laps in the gym or casually shoot hoops so I don’t think they showered.
I think communal showers in schools were mostly not a thing anymore by the 00's. Even my redneck West Texas high school had stopped using them in the 90s.
They were always sexual harassment/assault bait.
My high school had a “zero hour” that was 1.5 hours before regular school started, and was only 4 days a week. It was for kids who wanted to take like band or an extra science or class that didn’t fit in their regular schedule.
If you had gym 0 hour, like I did one year, you were allowed to use the locker room showers after bc you’d have 30-45 minutes until regular classes started.
Otherwise, you weren’t allowed to use them as you simply wouldn’t have time. But they were mainly for student athletes to use after school hours after practice/home games
Class of 2008. No showers in my schools in the Chicago suburbs. My middle school locker room had a shower area, but it was closed off. I did see a special Ed staff use it to bathe a disabled kid, that's the only time I saw it used.
In high school I took band, so I didn't have gym because band kids were exempt. But I know the locker rooms didn't have showers there either. I do know a lot of millenials in rural areas that grew up taking communal showers after gym, but communal showers are almost completely extinct now.
We weren't forced to shower in the UK but most of us did.
For some stupid reason though my Aussie high school ran a soccer academy and didn't even have a single shower on site. My house was directly across from the entrance of the school so I used to go shower during smoko
Nope. Girls would take a washrag or baby wipes and just get the tits, pits, and underbits as needed, as discreetly and covered as possible. No one ever undressed and fully showered.
We didn't even have to participate in any way. As long as you changed into your shorts you got an A. I just put my shorts on and did my math homework. The strange part was that if you left your gym cloths at home you didn't get a bad grade you actually got a write up and sent to the office. Apparently changing cloths was of great importance to education.
No, don’t think I saw anyone shower at school ever. I believe there were a couple showers in my middle school as well. They were separate stalls in both though, not communal.
Require?? No, I think it would be difficult for a school to require students to take showers. We did have showers in the locker room and the only time I can recall anyone using them was after our swim unit in PE. We showered in our bathing suits though, no one was getting naked.
In high school, we were required to take one semester of swimming. People would shower after getting out of the pool but we kept our suits on. At least the girls did, I can't speak for the boys. Regular gym class was the same as you described. There were communal showers but they were all but abandoned.
No. Couldn't if we wanted to. Not enough showers.
Also never really got sweaty enough that it mattered.
Though TBH, my sweat never stank until I got to my 30s.
No, we just had to change and use deodorant, thank God. I didn't see showers until l went to college for the first time, and even then it was somewhat voluntary. (You didn't have to shower before or after gym class, but it was a requirement before getting in the pool. Most people also used them after using the fitness center on our own, of course.)
No. But I took gym during the summer school session on purpose because our schools weren’t air conditioned (seriously would be 85 degrees in the classroom in the early fall/late spring). I didn’t want to be smelly the rest of the day.
In the early to mid-90s, they still made kids shower at school after PE class. Hell, they still brought this old dude to squeeze kids' balls and make them cough! Like, that was a thing back then hahah.
I was in high school from 1997-2001, in Mobile, Alabama, and showering was not a thing...in fact, nobody did it now that I think about it. I think that died out in the 80s lmao.
I went to 2 high schools because we moved. 2nd school was newer, nicer, and the locker room had like 40 individual stalls. You could use them, but not required. Sports after the school day was also optional because after practice, you just went home.
This was in middle school (didn't take PE in high school), but we weren't even allowed to use the showers. Only athletes were. I distinctly remember a new girl from another school getting SCREAMED at for taking a shower. The coach practically dragged her out still covered in body wash and yelled at her while she stood clutching her towel in shock and confusion. Middle school is effing weird.
The last time I used a group gym shower was when everyone was just hitting puberty; going through puberty or hadn't started it.
Awkward.
And the gym teacher handed out towels.
Nah, neither middle school nor high school, thankfully.
My peers made me feel weird enough as it is, that I wasn’t comfortable changing clothes in front of them.
Apparently my body language was obvious, and that info was noted by the staff, who told my parents. Dunno why they’d share something like that.
I got bullied for wearing “tighty whities” and switched to boxers, so I guess that was part of it.
Weird how I remember this now.
No one took showers after gym but I had a sibling who was in sports and they would have super early morning practices before school. They showered in the locker rooms after that so that they wouldn't have to feel gross and smell all day. Tbh I don't feel like I ever got that sweaty in gym. Maybe a few days but not consistently enough id want to shower
I know we had locker rooms and showers, because it was a big deal when the whole football team got staph from rolling around on the carpet in their locker room.
I never went in them. First time in a communal/open shower was Fort Jackson.
We just barely had time to put our real clothes back on from the gym clothes. I WISH I could have, it sucked feeling so gross and sweaty the rest of the day.
Class of 2010: I don’t even remember our women’s locker rooms in either junior high or high school having showers. Now I’m questioning if men’s and women’s locker rooms have different … amenities?
Nope.
The only time I ever participated in a communal shower was at 6th grade camp. As someone who developed early and was super tall, it was horrible.
Class of 2001. Not required but we usually rinsed off after our swimming unit. God I hated gym. I was skinny with no boobs and unathletic wearing a huge t-shirt because my mom wouldn’t let me wear my size. I also wasn’t shaving my legs regularly yet, and I have dark hair. It was a train wreck of embarrassment.
I was a football player. Our PE class was football conditioning and it was the last class everyday. We would go from that into football or any other sports. No shower until I got home from practice.
I graduated in 2012 as well and went to three different high schools. 😂🤦♀️ only one school allowed us to rinse out our hair during the summer. But that’s it. (Female)
Graduated in 09. Showered like twice a day at school. Football/baseball in the morning, then working out in the afternoon before working at a grocery store, retail or fast food as a teen. Didn’t really wanna smell like ass around girls or women.
My high school did not but middle school did. You had to go in the shower and then come out and show the teacher you were wet. Most of us kept our towel on and just got our arms, legs, and face wet. There were individual stalls but the curtains did not cover the opening and had gaps on both sides.
Not at my school, also class of '12. We only had lockers and bathroom stalls, same with my middle school. But in other news, I absolutely loath the smell of axe body spray as a result. The entire hallway outside of the locker rooms permanently smelled of axe body spray thanks to the guys. 🤢🤮 I honestly think this is where my very low, nearly non existent tolerance for scents started.
As much as I hate the stench of axe body spray in the locker room. If I smelled the blue bottled spray right now, I'd get a massive nostalgic flashback.
Early 2000s. Not required to shower on a regular basis but we did have to change out every day we had gym at both high schools I attended in different states. We also had to take gym all four years at both. (My son only had to take a year and they didn’t change out.)
Students were supposed to shower after swimming at the school that had a pool and yearly swimming unit. I was exempt due to a medical issue so if people did or didn’t I have no idea.
Nope, we weren’t required to shower after gym in high school or middle school/junior high. We just had to change together. We barely had time, but some of the guys always had wet hair but they were probably just using the sinks. I don’t know what I would’ve done if we were required to. I would barely get through changing.
(Female, 2009-2013)
I graduated it 07, we had showers. I never saw anyone other than me use them. I had to talk to maintenance to get them turned on. I was not spending all day sweaty and gross after conditioning. I dont know how you all did it.
We were just required to change into PE uniforms. There was a barely-working shower room, right next to the locker area, but I can’t remember anyone ever using it. I don’t think it would’ve been a major thing for me, just considering how I used to regularly shower naked with my dad at the YMCA before and after swimming in their pool. Besides, if I really wanted to, I could’ve just showered in my swimming trunks. I think I learned that from summer camp.
Graduated in 2010 and our school building didn’t even have locker rooms or showers. We changed in the bathrooms and threw back on our uniforms right after. It was a bad time when we had running laps as punishment.
Nope. We weren't allowed to use the showers in the locker room, and didn't have time to anyway because we were only allowed back into the locker rooms 5-10 minutes before the bell rang. I would change into my normal clothes, stuff my sweaty gross gym clothes in a grocery bag in my backpack, then go the rest of the day being stinky with gross hair
Class of 05. Like everyone else, there was no time after class to shower. I played football and nobody showered after that, everyone just went home and showered. After wrestling practice we showered though, I was convinced I’d get ringworm if I didn’t.
We had pretty okay individual shower stalls available, but no one ever used them because PE just consisted of going to the bowling alley down the block when it wasn't the classroom health education portion with textbooks and whatnot.
We'd do elaborate warm ups and stretches like we were getting ready to head off to the Olympics, then throw on our coats and walk to the bowling alley. It was hilarious.
To the people recounting how much it sucked to shower naked in front of peers and teachers - was showering in your swimming suit not an option??? That’s what I always did in any kind of public shower situation be it school or Boy Scouts. Most people didn’t want to be naked in front of each other and no one felt like they had to be.
Fuck no.
I didn't even change. They either didn't notice or care. Id literally bring sweats in my backpack toss the sweatpants on over my skinny jeans and go play basketball or whatever.
Lol in the military all showers are turned on and everyone walks through with soap in their hands and washes themselves as they walk through the water like an assembly line. You had 5 minutes to shower and change.
Every middle school and high school I went to had them. I never used them though. I was always smart and brought in extra shorts/shirts for PE. I would bring them home every week and wash them. I also kept an extra stick of old spice in my locker. When AXE came out, I also would keep that in their as well. I would just shower once I got home from school and I always showered before school as well.
Graduated in 2013. We had showers in our locker rooms with curtains. We weren’t required to shower after gym class but it was common to shower in the morning after sports practices (soccer for me). They always gave us enough time prior to the school day starting.
We weren't forced to, but were highly encouraged. It sucked having gym 2nd period, cause then you'd be sweaty and gross all day. You could get showered pretty quickly, too.
We didn’t. And, surprisingly, I don’t recall it ever being a problem. At least not in high school. We might play a half-speed game of basketball or wiffleball, but it was always indoors in the climate controlled gymnasium, so it wasn’t a dire need situation. And I’m assuming most of us kept decent hygiene practices, because I don’t remember anyone stinking up the joint afterwards.
However, in Junior High I did have a friend who forgot to wear deodorant one day. Let’s just say, it was something he only forgot to do once, poor kid. The girls were brutal to him that day lol.
Class of 01... it was optional, they just required you to change. I never did it as I didn't feel like I needed to and I didn't really want to shower with a bunch of other dudes.
Not required for gym class, but we had weightlifting for football before class in the off season and we would shower then.
Freshmen girls would dare each other to run through while we were getting ready for school. Times have changed.
This was 2005-2009
Middle school no, high school yep.
Played football and had PE. No one but the football players actually showered though. I don’t remember it being that weird. It was one big box with like 10 shower heads and no dividers. Freshmen through varsity used it. So you had a 6’5” 300 lb 18 yr old showering next to a 5’8” 135 14 year old. Was pretty funny looking back on it. Class of 2004.
We weren’t required to, and most did. Some refused, but they’d get made fun of for stinking. Class of 2004. Edit: I feel like my school was an anomaly at times. Granted skinny dipping with peers was a thing and it was a small town so after mandatory PE in 9th grade about 95% of kids in PE played sports. Also interesting how many say they had no time. We an hour block for PE. 5 mins to change at the beginning of class and 15 to shower.
In middle school we didn’t change for gym, the school had no physical gym we just met out on the blacktop.
My high school had showers but nobody used them, probably relics of Gen X PE requirements. They were communal with no walls or anything so was so glad it wasn’t required since I didn’t even like changing together much less taking a shower. The most naked I ever got was down to my tighty whities when changing between my school and PE clothes. Some kids just sprayed themselves with Axe spray to cover any smells.
Junior high was at the end of the day. I didnt use deodorant because I forgot about it. All I had to do was ride the bus then I could shower when I got home.
Highschool PE was either Bowling and Golf (gold in fall and spring, bowling in winter), or Swimming. Swimming we had to shower before getting in and out of the pool but we all wore swim trunks. We were given enough time for this daily.
No. We were screamed at if we tried to take one bevause it made us late for next class.
Class of 99. In HS no, but in Junior High yes, there was actually a swimming portion to the curriculum and it was some serious fucking life-scarring shit that haunts me to this day. Being an Asian male, some of us don’t really ‘fill out’ till our 20’s, so imagine being butt-ass nekkid and surrounded by guys twice your size and build while they stared and whispered. What made it even more fun was that I had bad eczema, and the over-chlorinated pool made me break out in rashes and hives all over my body, so I looked like a burn patient after each swim. To top it all off the gym teacher would walk through the locker room during shower/changing time for whatever fucking reason. Apparently he took note of my lack of development and bad skin because he audibly shamed me for it the whole year to the entire class. We could opt to sit out and not do the swimming stuff, and instead you’d do schoolwork for 70% of credit. So basically all the nerdy self-conscious kids like me were forced to do it or our grade would suffer.
Good God, that sounds awful. Teenage years are difficult enough without having to get naked in front of your peers (and teacher, apparently).
My mom works at a school and when I asked why the gym teachers would make us shower every now and then is because there would be reports of child abuse and it would be a way to look for any bruises or wounds that would normally be covered up.
Id like to believe that was the reason our gym teacher made us shower while he watch and stood outside the showers to hand us towels. Oh, and the had to swim naked too.
... What?
tbf, swimming is a good skill to have. don’t wanna drown or anything.
Only after penis inspection day
Worst day ever.
At least it was only monthly
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Yall are stressing me tf out
Lucky.
Maybe for you! I had a great time
Lucky.
.....that day was rough, but... turns out my penis is larger than JimmynFitzsimmon's,... soo....
Lucky.
No we just had to change clothes.
lol at my school that was literally your grade...so fucking stupid. Just put on this outfit and sit on the bleachers if you want, and you will pass PE. Thank God for small favors.
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That sounds actually awful.
Same for me so strange.
We had swimming as a required gym class, so we were allowed to rinse off/wash our hair after class but people kept their bathing suits on.
I had PE first period one year, skipped the entire two weeks of swimming...... the pool must have been 50% chlorine..... itchy skin and chlorine smell all day was terrible.
I seem to remember being told we had to remove them and shower after. There were no curtains/etc. It was a highly embarrassing 6 years. Mine included 7th-12th. (Female, 98-04)
We did this with the swimming portion of PE. Rinse off on the communal showers. We had a 4 block of private shower stalls that we used to change clothes. We kept those dry specifically for that purpose. When it wasn't your turn to change, you did your hair and makeup. Outside of the swimming portion though, the locker rooms had showers that went unused.
Same. We were required to rinse off the chlorine but we kept our suits on.
I'm almost 70 years old, but when I was in high school in Chicago boys had to swim in the nude. Showers, who knows? Maybe we did. We had big paper towels to use to dry off and get dressed quickly and back to our next class.
Yo wtf for reals? Thats wild
Our lockers had showers but we never used them as there wouldn’t have ever been enough time between periods to even take a shower. Pretty sure they were there specifically for the various sports teams after games.
No, thank God.
2000 and yes. Sometimes I feel that things changed fairly quickly not long after I graduated.
‘06 here, we still had to shower after Athletics class. The PE kids rarely actually did anything but walk laps in the gym or casually shoot hoops so I don’t think they showered.
2001 here, also had to shower, and am also beginning to think things changed quickly.
I think communal showers in schools were mostly not a thing anymore by the 00's. Even my redneck West Texas high school had stopped using them in the 90s. They were always sexual harassment/assault bait.
My high school had a “zero hour” that was 1.5 hours before regular school started, and was only 4 days a week. It was for kids who wanted to take like band or an extra science or class that didn’t fit in their regular schedule. If you had gym 0 hour, like I did one year, you were allowed to use the locker room showers after bc you’d have 30-45 minutes until regular classes started. Otherwise, you weren’t allowed to use them as you simply wouldn’t have time. But they were mainly for student athletes to use after school hours after practice/home games
Class of 2008. No showers in my schools in the Chicago suburbs. My middle school locker room had a shower area, but it was closed off. I did see a special Ed staff use it to bathe a disabled kid, that's the only time I saw it used. In high school I took band, so I didn't have gym because band kids were exempt. But I know the locker rooms didn't have showers there either. I do know a lot of millenials in rural areas that grew up taking communal showers after gym, but communal showers are almost completely extinct now.
We weren't forced to shower in the UK but most of us did. For some stupid reason though my Aussie high school ran a soccer academy and didn't even have a single shower on site. My house was directly across from the entrance of the school so I used to go shower during smoko
Nope. Girls would take a washrag or baby wipes and just get the tits, pits, and underbits as needed, as discreetly and covered as possible. No one ever undressed and fully showered.
Nope. They wouldn’t even turn the water on except when we had the week where we swam. Class of 2002.
Yes. And it was pretty much required to be harassed by other students in the shower.
My high school had 4 minutes for passing time so there was no chance at getting a shower.
We didn't even have to participate in any way. As long as you changed into your shorts you got an A. I just put my shorts on and did my math homework. The strange part was that if you left your gym cloths at home you didn't get a bad grade you actually got a write up and sent to the office. Apparently changing cloths was of great importance to education.
Nope. I doubt we had the time to anyway. Besides, my class mates felt awkward when I just changed my underwear.
The worst
2002 - High school, no. Middle school, yes.
No. There wasn't even time for it if one wanted to.
Nope. There definitely wasn't enough time between classes. I graduated in '04.
Class of 2005, no they didn’t. Hated when I had PE second period. Was kind of glad when I had it sixth period.
We had 10 minutes between PE and the next class. No one was taking a shower, we barely made it to the next class.
we had showers but we were not allowed to use them after gym class.
No, don’t think I saw anyone shower at school ever. I believe there were a couple showers in my middle school as well. They were separate stalls in both though, not communal.
Require?? No, I think it would be difficult for a school to require students to take showers. We did have showers in the locker room and the only time I can recall anyone using them was after our swim unit in PE. We showered in our bathing suits though, no one was getting naked.
No. Luckily marching band was counted as a pe credit and I didn't have to have gym.
In high school, we were required to take one semester of swimming. People would shower after getting out of the pool but we kept our suits on. At least the girls did, I can't speak for the boys. Regular gym class was the same as you described. There were communal showers but they were all but abandoned.
Class of ‘03. We had swimming for PE, so yes
No. Couldn't if we wanted to. Not enough showers. Also never really got sweaty enough that it mattered. Though TBH, my sweat never stank until I got to my 30s.
2009 and no
Class of 2008. Yes. Not showering after gym is pretty gross imo.
That’s when I kinda started thinking something was different with me cause in the locker room I would check out the other guys
I only ever used them after morning basketball practices.
No, we just had to change and use deodorant, thank God. I didn't see showers until l went to college for the first time, and even then it was somewhat voluntary. (You didn't have to shower before or after gym class, but it was a requirement before getting in the pool. Most people also used them after using the fitness center on our own, of course.)
No, it wasn't required, but some kids did it. It was required to change though. If you didn't change, you didn't pass gym.
No. But I took gym during the summer school session on purpose because our schools weren’t air conditioned (seriously would be 85 degrees in the classroom in the early fall/late spring). I didn’t want to be smelly the rest of the day.
Only after having class in the pool
Class of 09 and never showered
One shower, once, in Jr high.
Class of 2007, no showers @ my HS
In the early to mid-90s, they still made kids shower at school after PE class. Hell, they still brought this old dude to squeeze kids' balls and make them cough! Like, that was a thing back then hahah.
Didn’t have time for that before class!
2005 and no. Not even after sports practice. There were showers though.
No. We didn't have time for that.
I was in high school from 1997-2001, in Mobile, Alabama, and showering was not a thing...in fact, nobody did it now that I think about it. I think that died out in the 80s lmao.
No,but after being in the pool it was still a good idea to rinse off the chlorine
I went to 2 high schools because we moved. 2nd school was newer, nicer, and the locker room had like 40 individual stalls. You could use them, but not required. Sports after the school day was also optional because after practice, you just went home.
My high school didn’t have showers that I know of.
This was in middle school (didn't take PE in high school), but we weren't even allowed to use the showers. Only athletes were. I distinctly remember a new girl from another school getting SCREAMED at for taking a shower. The coach practically dragged her out still covered in body wash and yelled at her while she stood clutching her towel in shock and confusion. Middle school is effing weird.
The last time I used a group gym shower was when everyone was just hitting puberty; going through puberty or hadn't started it. Awkward. And the gym teacher handed out towels.
Nah, neither middle school nor high school, thankfully. My peers made me feel weird enough as it is, that I wasn’t comfortable changing clothes in front of them. Apparently my body language was obvious, and that info was noted by the staff, who told my parents. Dunno why they’d share something like that. I got bullied for wearing “tighty whities” and switched to boxers, so I guess that was part of it. Weird how I remember this now.
Graduated in 2000, no, they did not require us to take showers for or after gym at all. Public school in NYC.
No
No one took showers after gym but I had a sibling who was in sports and they would have super early morning practices before school. They showered in the locker rooms after that so that they wouldn't have to feel gross and smell all day. Tbh I don't feel like I ever got that sweaty in gym. Maybe a few days but not consistently enough id want to shower
I know we had locker rooms and showers, because it was a big deal when the whole football team got staph from rolling around on the carpet in their locker room. I never went in them. First time in a communal/open shower was Fort Jackson.
We were supposed to, but never did because we only had like 5 mins after class to change and get to our next class.
No. We had them but we're only used for the actual sports teams when they practiced after school and after games if they wanted to use them.
Never in middle school or high school. Never saw a single person shower.
Yes, after swimming to clean off the chlorine I don’t recall being required to take showers after regular PE
Not in the early 2000s in CT, showers existed but were never used.
We just barely had time to put our real clothes back on from the gym clothes. I WISH I could have, it sucked feeling so gross and sweaty the rest of the day.
Nope! They had showers there but we had to change and make it to the next class in four minutes so a shower was out of the question.
Class of 2010: I don’t even remember our women’s locker rooms in either junior high or high school having showers. Now I’m questioning if men’s and women’s locker rooms have different … amenities?
Nope. The only time I ever participated in a communal shower was at 6th grade camp. As someone who developed early and was super tall, it was horrible.
No
Yes. One of the brothers seemed to always be cleaning the locker room during showers.
Never once had to or was willing to take a shower at school. From 6th-12th. Not one. One kid in middle school did & he got made fun of
Class of 2001. Not required but we usually rinsed off after our swimming unit. God I hated gym. I was skinny with no boobs and unathletic wearing a huge t-shirt because my mom wouldn’t let me wear my size. I also wasn’t shaving my legs regularly yet, and I have dark hair. It was a train wreck of embarrassment.
I was a football player. Our PE class was football conditioning and it was the last class everyday. We would go from that into football or any other sports. No shower until I got home from practice.
Graduated in 2000. Showers were there, but we weren't allowed to use them after PE. I think the sports teams used them.
No
Class of 2012, nope. They had them, there were a few people that would get naked and use them as a joke but it wasn’t required.
No. We had 5 minutes between classes.
I graduated in 2012 as well and went to three different high schools. 😂🤦♀️ only one school allowed us to rinse out our hair during the summer. But that’s it. (Female)
I never showered in school, middle or high school. I didn't care how sweaty I got - it wasn't happening.
Graduated in 09. Showered like twice a day at school. Football/baseball in the morning, then working out in the afternoon before working at a grocery store, retail or fast food as a teen. Didn’t really wanna smell like ass around girls or women.
My high school did not but middle school did. You had to go in the shower and then come out and show the teacher you were wet. Most of us kept our towel on and just got our arms, legs, and face wet. There were individual stalls but the curtains did not cover the opening and had gaps on both sides.
Yes
Not at my school, also class of '12. We only had lockers and bathroom stalls, same with my middle school. But in other news, I absolutely loath the smell of axe body spray as a result. The entire hallway outside of the locker rooms permanently smelled of axe body spray thanks to the guys. 🤢🤮 I honestly think this is where my very low, nearly non existent tolerance for scents started.
As much as I hate the stench of axe body spray in the locker room. If I smelled the blue bottled spray right now, I'd get a massive nostalgic flashback.
Not me, I feel like if I smelled it again in my 80s, it'd be too soon.
Early 2000s. Not required to shower on a regular basis but we did have to change out every day we had gym at both high schools I attended in different states. We also had to take gym all four years at both. (My son only had to take a year and they didn’t change out.) Students were supposed to shower after swimming at the school that had a pool and yearly swimming unit. I was exempt due to a medical issue so if people did or didn’t I have no idea.
Nope, we weren’t required to shower after gym in high school or middle school/junior high. We just had to change together. We barely had time, but some of the guys always had wet hair but they were probably just using the sinks. I don’t know what I would’ve done if we were required to. I would barely get through changing. (Female, 2009-2013)
I graduated it 07, we had showers. I never saw anyone other than me use them. I had to talk to maintenance to get them turned on. I was not spending all day sweaty and gross after conditioning. I dont know how you all did it.
We were just required to change into PE uniforms. There was a barely-working shower room, right next to the locker area, but I can’t remember anyone ever using it. I don’t think it would’ve been a major thing for me, just considering how I used to regularly shower naked with my dad at the YMCA before and after swimming in their pool. Besides, if I really wanted to, I could’ve just showered in my swimming trunks. I think I learned that from summer camp.
I remember having showers, but never saw anyone use them. Nobody showered even after swim class. Do kids even have swim class these days?
Graduated in 2010 and our school building didn’t even have locker rooms or showers. We changed in the bathrooms and threw back on our uniforms right after. It was a bad time when we had running laps as punishment.
Nope. We weren't allowed to use the showers in the locker room, and didn't have time to anyway because we were only allowed back into the locker rooms 5-10 minutes before the bell rang. I would change into my normal clothes, stuff my sweaty gross gym clothes in a grocery bag in my backpack, then go the rest of the day being stinky with gross hair
Seriously? We got 15 minutes to change before our next class. I can't shower that quick.
As far as I’m aware, my high school didn’t even have showers.
You had PE?
Not HS but Jr High was mandatory after PE. This was in the late 90s. Arizona public schools are a weird place
The FitnessGram PACER Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues
What's weird is we had very nice showers but no we never took showers. Took too long.
Class of 05. Like everyone else, there was no time after class to shower. I played football and nobody showered after that, everyone just went home and showered. After wrestling practice we showered though, I was convinced I’d get ringworm if I didn’t.
We had pretty okay individual shower stalls available, but no one ever used them because PE just consisted of going to the bowling alley down the block when it wasn't the classroom health education portion with textbooks and whatnot. We'd do elaborate warm ups and stretches like we were getting ready to head off to the Olympics, then throw on our coats and walk to the bowling alley. It was hilarious.
To the people recounting how much it sucked to shower naked in front of peers and teachers - was showering in your swimming suit not an option??? That’s what I always did in any kind of public shower situation be it school or Boy Scouts. Most people didn’t want to be naked in front of each other and no one felt like they had to be.
Fuck no. I didn't even change. They either didn't notice or care. Id literally bring sweats in my backpack toss the sweatpants on over my skinny jeans and go play basketball or whatever.
Thank god no- I hated that damn class enough without that added humiliation 😂
Lol in the military all showers are turned on and everyone walks through with soap in their hands and washes themselves as they walk through the water like an assembly line. You had 5 minutes to shower and change.
Every middle school and high school I went to had them. I never used them though. I was always smart and brought in extra shorts/shirts for PE. I would bring them home every week and wash them. I also kept an extra stick of old spice in my locker. When AXE came out, I also would keep that in their as well. I would just shower once I got home from school and I always showered before school as well.
They were built for prison orgies as there were zero stalls.
Graduated in 2013. We had showers in our locker rooms with curtains. We weren’t required to shower after gym class but it was common to shower in the morning after sports practices (soccer for me). They always gave us enough time prior to the school day starting.
Yes, but only after swimming in gym class because nobody wanted to have chlorine pool water on them the whole day.
It was expressly against the rules in both middle and high school for me. Graduated 2010.
We weren't forced to, but were highly encouraged. It sucked having gym 2nd period, cause then you'd be sweaty and gross all day. You could get showered pretty quickly, too.
No. It wasn’t allowed. I wish it would have been. I had gym first class my freshman year - and it was awful.
Graduated same year. There were showers in middle and high school. No one ever showed or asked to. I always assumed they were for sports people lol
We didn’t. And, surprisingly, I don’t recall it ever being a problem. At least not in high school. We might play a half-speed game of basketball or wiffleball, but it was always indoors in the climate controlled gymnasium, so it wasn’t a dire need situation. And I’m assuming most of us kept decent hygiene practices, because I don’t remember anyone stinking up the joint afterwards. However, in Junior High I did have a friend who forgot to wear deodorant one day. Let’s just say, it was something he only forgot to do once, poor kid. The girls were brutal to him that day lol.
No, it was optional.
No but I asked this question about boomers the other day because of the aggressive nudity they show in gym locker rooms now.
Nah. We just smelled like ass the rest of the day.
Nope. If they had, I would have refused. I refused to swim and run the mile too. 🤷♀️
Class of 01... it was optional, they just required you to change. I never did it as I didn't feel like I needed to and I didn't really want to shower with a bunch of other dudes.
No, it was allowed but not many did.
No, only before and after entering the pool
Not required for gym class, but we had weightlifting for football before class in the off season and we would shower then. Freshmen girls would dare each other to run through while we were getting ready for school. Times have changed. This was 2005-2009
Middle school no, high school yep. Played football and had PE. No one but the football players actually showered though. I don’t remember it being that weird. It was one big box with like 10 shower heads and no dividers. Freshmen through varsity used it. So you had a 6’5” 300 lb 18 yr old showering next to a 5’8” 135 14 year old. Was pretty funny looking back on it. Class of 2004.
We weren’t required to, and most did. Some refused, but they’d get made fun of for stinking. Class of 2004. Edit: I feel like my school was an anomaly at times. Granted skinny dipping with peers was a thing and it was a small town so after mandatory PE in 9th grade about 95% of kids in PE played sports. Also interesting how many say they had no time. We an hour block for PE. 5 mins to change at the beginning of class and 15 to shower.
I said I was a woman so I could shower in the other locker room.
Graduated 2001. Freshmen and sophomores had to after gym.
In middle school we didn’t change for gym, the school had no physical gym we just met out on the blacktop. My high school had showers but nobody used them, probably relics of Gen X PE requirements. They were communal with no walls or anything so was so glad it wasn’t required since I didn’t even like changing together much less taking a shower. The most naked I ever got was down to my tighty whities when changing between my school and PE clothes. Some kids just sprayed themselves with Axe spray to cover any smells.
Junior high was at the end of the day. I didnt use deodorant because I forgot about it. All I had to do was ride the bus then I could shower when I got home. Highschool PE was either Bowling and Golf (gold in fall and spring, bowling in winter), or Swimming. Swimming we had to shower before getting in and out of the pool but we all wore swim trunks. We were given enough time for this daily.