Kevin's Watch

i need some opinions about this. our 7 y.o. is in the first grade and sweats a lot. during PE last week, his gym teacher apparently wouldn't let him have water so i asked her about it. she said that she closed down the water fountains for the 30 minutes during PE so that they would move around instead of stand in line for water.

what do you make of this? do you think this is pretty standard?

thank you!

Well, 30 minutes of gym isn't going to dehydrate him, but it still seems kinda silly.

Seems silly on the face of it, but who knows what is going on...maybe a portion of the kids DO take advantage...perhaps (save for your boy) those who MOST need the PE.

I would ask the teacher if your son could bring in a water bottle to PE given HIS needs!

Or you could ask the teacher to make sure that the children have an opportunity to get a drink before and after PE. Should be okay, if it's only 1/2 hour.

I think the fact that he sweats a lot means he's in good shape. So on the one hand, he should be fine as long as he hydrates before and after, like Cail said.

On the other hand, water's a basic right. If he needs it, he should be allowed to get it. I'd check to make sure he can at least bring a sealed water bottle. If they say yes, cool. But if they don't... there's always the risk that they're enforcing what they think are good policies (which work fine 99% of the time, but that other 1%....) at the risk of the kids' safety.

thank you everyone for your opinions and suggestions!