---NonFiction
When I was growing up in my small hometown in New Mexico (in the 1970's), we attended a Junior High School for our 7th and 8th grades. 6th grade was part of Elementary (Primary & Secondary) School (K-6). Middle School (6th, 7th, & 8th grades combined) did not exist yet. Graduating from elementary school (the 6th grade) was a rite of passage. Beginning with junior high school, most students would no longer live within walking distance of their school. Riding the school bus, having 7 periods with different teachers for each subject, all students eating lunch together in the cafeteria, physical education (PE) class with locker rooms and uniforms, health/sex education class (eg: the don't-do-drugs-and-don't-have-babies class), interscholastic sports, and school dances were just a few of the amazing new adventures awaiting incoming 7th graders... not to mention our accelerating reproductive development (pubic hair, nipples/breasts, vaginas/periods, scrotums/testicles, penises/erections, etc), and the thrills of sexual arousal.
In junior high school, boys' and girls' curiosities about their bodies, and what was happening to those bodies, was climaxing (pun intended). Because of the size of our town (only 2 public high schools, 4 public junior high schools, and two K-12 Christian schools), with no other towns for many miles in all directions, things were done in a very sensible way. There were only a few pediatricians in town and it would have been very inefficient and costly (not to mention medical over-kill) for each student to have a scheduled pediatric office visit for his/her back-to-school physical exam. A private office visit was probably an acceptable option, but I can't imagine any of our parents choosing that option. My recollection is that all 7th grade boys and girls received their back-to-school physical exams on day 3 of classes, during their PE period, in either the boys' or girls' locker room, respectively.
I need to interject here that, growing up in rural 1970's New Mexico, we were accustomed to men and boys (all ages) swimming nude at the YMCA, and at Boys' Camp at the reservoir. Up through the 6th grade, mothers and older sisters (with drivers licenses) would frequently bring primary and elementary boys to the YMCA to attend their boys' swimming lessons... and members of both the boys' and the girls' high school varsity swimming teams served as swimming instructors and life guards for the primary/elementary boys.
Before somebody asks, all male and female instructors/guards wore swimsuits when conducting primary/elemetary boys' lessons -- and female instructors/guards obviously did not remove their swimsuits in the YMCA swimming pool locker room. However, both the male and female instructors/guards (primarily high school Juniors and Seniors, although occasionally Freshmen or Sophomores) would supervise the swimming pool locker room before-during-after primary/elementary boys' lessons. As such, there were situations when Freshmen members of varsity girls' swimming teams (wearing swimsuits, obviously) would be helping nude 5-to-8-year-old (K-3) primary boys with showering, while 4th-thru-6th grade elementary boys were showering nearby, in-the-buff. I personally recall, on one occasion, as an 11-year-old 6th grade boy, showering about 3 feet from a 14-year-old female varsity swimmer/life-guard who was supervising an uncooperative primary boy taking his shower (I was obviously naked, and she was wearing her swimsuit, obviously). I did not find this the slightest bit unusual or uncomfortable, even though I was in the early stages of puberty.
I realize that many younger people, and even some people my age (approximately 50 years old) who grew up in metropolitan areas, cannot comprehend that many boys and girls (especially boys) growing up prior-to and up-through the 1970's were raised with significantly less focus on their sexual modesty, but that is, "just how it was back then", especially in smaller rural towns. However, I have to admit that even these sensible attitudes towards sexual modesty in 1970's rural America, west of the Mississippi River, did not entirely prepare me for my 7th grade physical exam.
Of course, we boys heard stories of what the girls experienced in their locker room, but as a boy, my personal experience was as follows...
Boys who had expressed an interest in interscholastic football, or more than one non-football interscholastic sport, were assigned 1st period PE class. This was done so that 0-hour (early morning before-school) practices could continue through the end of 1st period. So, on that Wednesday, I reported to 1st period PE class with my fellow athletes. Initially, we were all seated on bleachers in the gymnasium for attendance, announcements, and instructions from our coach (Mr. Cassino). And, incidentally, a class of girls were seated on the bleachers on the other side of the basketball court, about to experience their first trip to their junior high locker room, and their physical exams. Coach Cassino eventually announced -- and instructed us regarding -- what would happen next. It was obvious, from day one, that Coach Cassino was your typical no-nonsense boys' athletic coach (we came to find out that he was a former United States Marine), and on day 3 his demeanor became even more coach-like... almost like a drill sergeant, barking out commands. It went something like this...
Coach Cassino: Okay boys, when I tell you to hit the locker room, you're all going to shout, "YES SIR", and then do as you've been instructed. Do you understand?
Boys: A few of us responded, "Yes sir."
Coach Cassino: I asked, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ??
Boys: All of us responded, "YES SIR !! "
Coach Cassino: That's better! Now, when you hit the locker room, you're going to strip down to your birthday suits for your physical exams. Dr. Murchick, Nurse Burton, and Nurse Olivares are already in the locker room waiting for you. Dr. Murchick and Nurse Burton are donating their valuable time, so don't waste it! They already have an alphabetical list of your names, so once you're all naked, you will line up in the open area, alphabetically by last name. Do you understand?
Boys: Yes sir!
Coach Cassino: Good. Once you're all lined up, I expect complete silence. The doctor and nurses will not be able to do their jobs with noise echoing around in the locker room. The only talking that I will hear will be Dr. Murchick, Nurse Burton, myself, and Nurse Olivares, and your RESPECTFUL responses to instructions and questions from the adults!
In fact, it will be best for you to learn NOW that I won't tolerate screwing around in the locker room before gym class, or before interscholastic practices and games. When classes, practices, and games go well, I'll be a bit more lenient after those classes, practices, and games... especially after games that we win! Do you understand?
Boys: Yes sir!
Coach Cassino: I hope so, but just in case, when you enter the locker room, note my paddle hanging outside my office door! Complete silence! No screwing around! Respectful responses to Dr. Murchick's, Nurse Burton's, and Nurse Olivares' instructions and questions! Have I made myself clear?
Boys: YES SIR !!
Coach Cassino: Okay boys... HIT THE LOCKER ROOM !! And note that paddle on your way past my office!
Boys: YES SIR !!
When Coach Cassino bellowed, "I asked, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?", many of us boys noticed that the girls' coach (Miss Polsipher) stopped instructing her class and, along with her girls, started watching what was going on over on our side of the gym. This was either because Coach Cassino's instructions were thundering through the gymnasium, along with our "YES SIR" responses, and the girls could not hear Coach Polsipher, or simply because Coach Polsipher wanted to take advantage of a teachable moment by allowing her naive 7th grade girls the opportunity to gain some insight regarding junior high school boys' athletics. In either case, there were audible giggles coming from the girls across the basketball court, which Coach Polsipher did not in any way discourage. In fact, some of the girls later shared that they had simultaneously felt an uncomfortable combination of both amusement and sympathy regarding our predicament, and that after we had entered our locker room, Coach Polsipher had said, "And that, young ladies, is how Coach Cassino is going to turn those 7th grade boys into a football team." Years later, one of these girls confessed to me that she became sexually aroused during the verbal dressing down that we received from Coach Cassino... and that she has fantasies of being a boys' football coach, paddling naughty boys in the locker room, and supervising boys' assembly-line sports physicals.
As we entered the locker room, we each took note of Coach Cassino's "junior paddle", hanging outside his office door. Of course, I have several [true] stories about that paddle, but those will be more appropriately shared on a different discussion thread.
Once in the locker room, we each found a locker, stripped naked, and started lining up in the open area. Coach Cassino entered the locker room just as we were finalizing our alphabetical line-up. I won't lie... this was a humbling (not humiliating -- there's a BIG difference) and intimidating experience for 12 year old boys. Any boy who wouldn't admit his trepidation (which was all of us, of course), especially when questioned by the girls who had witnessed our verbal dressing down, was just pretending to be a tough guy. But, if this is what was required to become junior high school football players, we were all-in.
Eventually, our complete silence indicated to Coach Cassino that we had achieved our alphabetical line-up and that it was time to proceed with physical exams, so he knocked on his office door...
It's almost 2amMT, so I will have to finish this [true] story over the weekend.7