MY sons both played sports with girls.
Happily. No if, buts or maybe’s about it. Indeed, the policy at Trinity College was that they had to play school sport before any other club sport and Trinity school sport was mixed sex sport.
Until puberty, and let’s not be embarrassed by this, this was a wonderful equal.
Boys playing with girls, as well as the academic and the not so academic playing together, realising the talents of each other in the varied fields of life.
The boys and the girls had a great time playing with each other. Then, at some indeterminate time, depending on each of them, and let’s not forget all of us as we age change from boys to men and girls to women, the matrix changes.
All of a sudden boys are stronger. The girls who wanted to stayed in the mixed school teams.
They, and their parents liked this because it helped them to play better ‘girls only’ District Basketball.
Every now and then some ‘boys only’ schools decided they would target our individual, very skilled girls in our mixed teams for some physical contact.
Boy did our boys teach them that was not OK.
My point is, it is great that boys and girls play together.
But at some point it is time to say no.
I think that time is puberty.
And in South Australia we should be developing that policy now.
Before it becomes about an individual person.
