As 500 or so teens gyrated at the Lake Oswego High School homecoming dance, administrators noticed what one described as a change in "the atmosphere." The football players had won the game, changed back into their street clothes and gone straight to the dance. No showers.
But they aren't the only ones to blame for the malodorous environment in schools. It's a rare student who showers after sports or gym classes these days. A quick dab of deodorant and a dousing of cologne or perfume, and it's on to the next class.
Communal showers -- the awkward rite of passage into puberty -- are a thing of the past. In fact, Oregon schools haven't required showers for at least a decade. The same is true nationally.
Students say they don't have time to shower. Psychologists and educators say kids also are more sensitive about body image partly because they live in a world saturated by the media's idea of perfection.
For some athletes, such as wrestlers, showers are mandatory because of the threat of skin infections. But for most students, toweling off at the sink after P.E. is the closest they come. "The only person I saw take a shower this year was a Canadian kid that moved here," said Jack Taylor, a Wilsonville High sophomore. |