Out and about I noticed fair few numbers of boys and girls, lunch times, walking to and from school premises, hand in hand, the odd kiss here and there. The most natural thing in the world, yet so taboo during my school days.

Primary school in South London the only one I’ve heard of, that separated boys and girls from the age of 8, (sods law, I got sent there) , where separate playgrounds were suddenly called for, the teacher seconded to playground duty, ready to smack the legs of any offenders, daring to speak or make contact with the opposite sex. What the hell did they think would happen, a sudden rush of hormones during the odd game of kiss chase or leap frog.

Two years in a co-ed senior school where constant reminders in assembly echoed the relationship rules no luvvy dovvy displays in this school, OR outside the gates whilst wearing uniform, the headmaster enforcing, any breach would be taken VERY seriously. Teachers spying and clocking those daring enough, from classroom windows , bus stops to passing cars. By the time I left sex education lessons still hadn’t found way onto my timetable.

And what of the all girls boarding school, chastity belts at the ready on entry here, the mere mention of sex, boys, saw most of the old biddies come out in a sweat of hot flushes.
Your mail in and out vetted just in case steamy correspondence was penned, there was no hunky pin ups attached in our lockers, sex education non existent, out of uniform, the rules stated no mini skirts to be worn, this wasn’t just frustrating, it was the 60’s it was flaming unnatural, we were advancing year teenagers, blimey if Anne Summer had been around Abergale, share prices would have rocketed overnight.

Anyone else attend schools with similar views.

Ketta

Those who have recently joined us (I am thinking in particular of the staff of a local radio station) may not have seen the two newspaper reports detailing the consequences of fraternising with pupils of the opposite sex at a Cornwall school in 1964.

It’s on the encyclopaedic site at

http://www.corpun.com/uksc6407.htm

KETTA

In my bit of Sarf London, there was no segregation at infants or primary school.

There was also NO official interest in what you did with girls at my boy's grammar school. I do believe playing Bobby Shaftoe in the High street in(or was that actually out of?)school uniform or bringing totty into school itself might have been viewed a little less favourably by the authorities, but I didn't actually test this out.

Colleagues who fathered kids, both at age 15, duly left to work, but were definitely not expelled. Both these were probably persuaded that continually being called "Golden Bollocks" might be truthful, but not particularly helpful to their or te school's future!

I DID get myself smuggled into the VIth form common rooms of both the Girl's Grammar AND Girl's Tech at various times. I can confirm that I wasn't there to gain ideas for home decorating in later years, but, beyond that, a gentlemen never tells, of course.

The only sexual activity at school that did get frowned on was not that connected with singles like Pictures of Lily, more like Up the Bum with Rod & Gun, but at a boy's-only school, what did they expect?

Steve

The uninhibited display of same sex hand holding inpublic is quite shocking which means that your average adult in the street would likley be slightly to very embarrassed at the sight of such and certainly a few would stare.Its unlikely however that anyone would do anything about it.One occassionally sees this sort of behaviour amongst Continental Italian or other teenagers on visits to London.You may see them sitting in overcrowded tube trains on each others knee/lap etc often wearing skin tight bulging bottom jeans.Your average stiff upper lip Bowler Hat wearing Brit is likely to be highly suspicious and hostile to such behaviour in a crowded carriage at close quarters but few will say anything.Most likely they will hide behind their paper.This is probably becasue the they are foreign,theyd be less tolerant if it was Brits doing it-take Jordan(?) for instance she relates being spat at,kicked and insulted by commuters in Punk Days for dressing in a micro skirt and torn tights on a daily basis on a commute into London from Orpington area in 1977.Its a sick form of jealousy really though they may not wish to do it.Many Brits are very repressed and lead lives of sexual frustration and repression.They dont like to see others daring to do what they darent,cant or have to pay for!

From time to time, whilst whiling away the odd hour in the morning, I am wont to watch something called the Jeremy Kyle Show.
There is a lot of yoof on this programme, most of whom appear to have met in their early teens (in most cases just before they were excluded I suspect). The girls are now in their late teens, and now have three or more kids. The father (alleged or otherwise), is a cannabis-smoking, heavy drinking thicko who has just come out of jail. Neither of them has put a penny into the system, and neither, it would seem, has heard of contraception, let alone what it means.
Of course they were sweethearts from school, and no doubt the school turned a blind eye to it, because they've got enough to deal with as it is. British teenage pregnancies are the highest in Europe (and far exceed some less developed nations too). This was not the case when we went to school Ketta.
Yes I know some girls did get pregnant, and some had abortions, but there were a lot less unwanted/abused children in the world then.
I went to an all-boys school too, and it was boring. You were kept behind high walls, and it was frustrating, and neither of us got any sex education worthy of the name, but at least you weren't pushing two kids in a pushchair, living off benefits, and the father in jail by the time you were seventeen!

You do have to wonder where they find these people though! It seems that it's a certain type who are just out to make a few bob, regardless of the poor impression it leaves in peoples minds of them and of today's 'yoof' in general as well.
I know by my own grandchildren that they are in no way typical of the kids of today. One reads of 16 year olds leaving without being able to read or write and yet the vocabulary expected of 7/8 year olds in the spelling tests they are given often amazes me.
These dregs of society have usually been suspended from school regularly and often, spending their 'free' days off getting into all sorts of illegal and dangerous escapades with others of a similar nature - ending, as you rightly say, pushing double pushchairs or in prison. One of my main reasons why I think suspension from school should always be preceded by a good caning! Thay would then think twice before getting to that position!

Ketta, I do believe you went to the wrong school dear. I remember quite clearly during my days in secondary school there was many a budding romance between 14 year olds and upwards. The school I attended had the policy that what happened before or after school was none of their business and holding hands during lunchtime did not constitute a visit from the Sex Police.

I suppose we were lucky people had attitudes like that back then. No sexual acts were performed at school and kissing was at a minimum. Holding hands was considered by many as being an innicent act and no one went overboard with school ground romances. The 60's sexual revolution was in full swing but there was still a certain amount of innocence about too.

As for Primary school romances, if there were any romances happening, they were happening from afar. For most 8 year olds when I went to school the opposite sex did not figure into the equasion. If a boy liked a girl or visa versa, descretion was the better part of valor. The last thing you would want your friends to know was that you were keen on someone of the opposite sex.

According to my ten year old neice, things haven't changed much at all since I was that age.

Ketta,
I can relate to the type of attitude you experienced at school.
The all boys secondary school I attended had a girls school directly
Opposite, with approximately the same number of pupils. It was built
In the mid-50s so it was pre-planned to keep girls and boys apart.
We encountered each other to and from school,But I was shy in those
Day's and blushed by comments from gangs of girls. In the boys school
Grounds we had a swimming pool that the girls used as well, ushered
In like sheep by the girls teachers. Our teachers went purple faced
Shouting at us if we dared to watch through the windows. Looking
Back what pathetic small-minded people we had ruling us.
Paul.

Mike

I also think I went to the wrong schools for lots of reasons. just to clarify

my co-ed school there was also many young budding romances, I myself had partnered off, it was just the policy that small affections like holding hands and kissing were frowned upon, should not be displayed in school or in uniform to and from school, although the 6th form did seem to get away with it. I left there at 13, later attitudes become much more relaxed towards the later years of the 60’s.

As for primary school it just seemed very strange for boys and girls that had become friends from starting school at 4 or 5 , were suddenly forced apart from the age of 8. this was not only in the playground and meal times, all classes became one gender from 8 years on, and why be punished for speaking to someone of the opposite sex, even your sibling. After school finished for the day were all back out in the streets playing together anyhow. This policy changed in 1969 when a new head took over.

Boarding school was isolated and single sexed, due to it’s religious influences discussions about boys and sex were something teachers thought young girls should not be thinking about, extremely narrow minded and misguided , teachers also had a duty of a pastoral care to their pupils, which was seriously lacking, those that were there from 8 upwards found it very difficult and embarrassing to discuss puberty and all things related. There was no explanatory talks with the matron, who just saw you all right, no sex education . It was just left to girl talk, passed on from older pupils,

One thing I will say, things may be more relaxed out in the open, there is no excuse today for so many youngsters getting pregnant , or contracting sexual diseases , unlike our day, contraception is readily available, pupils given sex education from quite an early age, family planning clinics, plenty of literature around.

Suppose it amounts to “it will never happen to me”. As they saying goes in some areas "Mummy why are your hands so soft", "cos I'm only twelve"

Ketta

Hello Ketta, I don't know whether to say that you had a hard school life or an interesting one. I made a bad choice with one school. I convinced my parents that I wanted to go there because I had friends attending the same school.

I often think to myself about what would have happened had I elected to go to the other school. then I realise I may never had done the things I did so in a way I am still happy with my choice.

I eventually changed schools and went to the one my parents wanted me to go to and found it a totally different world. I suppose it's like when you find a partner in life and you move away from the familiar into the unfamiliar.

I have lived in 4 states and I still come back to my state of origin for some reason. I was bought up in the surburbs and I lived in the same suburb after leaving the Airforce. I live 2 suburbs away from where I was brought up so I think this gives you an idea of what I am talking about.

At one school I attended, the girls were segregated from the boys at recess and there was an invisible border between their area and ours. So silly when we think about it now.


If you don't mind, I would like to lighten the mood in regards to chastity belts and pregnancies with a joke I heard when I was about 10 years old.
The origin of the joke comes from a well known personality here, Ernie Sigley. Ernie was performing one night in Preston-that's Melbourne, not the UK. It was a hot night and the side stage door was open. My parents had parked their car in the street where the open door was and I heard Ernie tell this joke.

A Country school teacher was taking a class of various ages, as most small schools did in the bush. Her students ranged from 5 years old to 16 years old. One day she was giving a lecture on sex education and the topic came around to giving birth.

A 16 year old girl lifted her arm into the air to ask a question. The girl stood and asked if it was possible for a 16 year old girl to have a baby. The teacher replied that it was. The a 14 year old boy asked if it was possible for a 13 year old girl to have a baby. The teacher said it was and sighted a couple of examples of cultures in African countries and also in the Aboriginal Community.

A ten year girl then asked if it was possible for a girl of her age to have a baby. The teacher said yes.

Then a little boy of 6 raised his hand and asked if a 5 year old girl could have a baby. The teacher and the class burst into laughter and the teacher said that was impossible.

The little boy turned around to a 5 year old girl behind him and said. "See Liz, I told you that you had nothing to worry about!"

I only know 3 people who attended Boarding schools, one male and 2 female. All three do not know each other and went to different schools. As far as I can gather, these were single sex schools. I can't remember how this conversation started as I didn't hear all of it but the part I did hear was from my friend saying that she was never involved or wittnessed a girl?girl relationship. She said that there were 2 female teachers living in the Boarders quarters and they were responsible for the Dorm.

She said that a few girls got into trouble for being out late on weekend. She said the teachers were pretty liberal about lights out, going out on the weekends etc.

I asked her if they had to wear uniforms after once seeing a girl in a school uniform on a weekend. It was explained to me that she was boarding at a private school and it was a condition of the school that borders wear uniforms on the weekend if they were going into town. Whether this is true or it only applied to certain age groups I don't know. I just thought how lucky I was not to be a border.