Change the PE Curriculum
Educate Teenage Girls on the affects of Puberty in Sport.
Statistics show 64% of teenage girls quit sports by the end of puberty; are we losing a generation of great sportswoman?
Through my experience as a teenage girl participating in sports, I have seen the dramatic drop off in numbers of girls participating in sports in the upper age groups and it is an area that I wanted to understand more about and see if I could make a difference.
Over the past two years I have met girls involved in sports, those that have left, current elite level sports women, ex-sports woman, coaches, journalists and medical professionals to discuss the impact of puberty and other factors that could be contributing to this devastating statistic.
What I have learnt is that the main culprits for girls dropping out in sports are: body image, weight gain, menstrual cycle, body hair, education, social pressure, media pressure, nutrition and mental health…the effects of PUBERTY!
We are taught about the barriers that teenage girls face through puberty in subjects such as RSHE/wellbeing and how they affect our day to day life, however, we are not taught on how these issues will affect our participation and enjoyment of sports.
Puberty is a transitional phase in our journey to becoming a woman and knowing that these somewhat debilitating changes that negatively affect our performances and attitudes towards sport are only temporary. Knowing this, would empower so many teenage girls to persevere through this transitional phase and continue their sporting journey into adulthood.
Through a minor change in the PE curriculum to include an element of educating girls on the effects of puberty in sports and letting them know that each girl is on their own biological timeline, I am hopeful that we can prevent teenage girls from dropping out of sports and ultimately producing more women in sports.
Please sign this petition and help to ensure that this temporary transitional phase of a young girls life does not cause long-term permanent damage!
Update!
I am please to say that having had an extensive conversations with my local MP and then Education Secretary, I was invited to attend a meeting in Westminster with the Department for Education. They have now put me in touch with the people that shape the curriculum for schools so that I can share my proposals!