first of all beggers belief that a survey has been done . I was a skinny kid with no pubes at 14 who was forced to play rugby or football at school , then pushed into the showers with the mostly matured pupils to be humiliated
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30796304
No. It doesn't beggar belief. What appears to be a straightforward phenomenon can have a multiplicity of of contributing factors. Childhood and unquestioning subservience to authority by youngsters has all but disappeared in the past forty five years since I first attended high school. Sporting hero worship has been overwhelmed by off field image worship and girls sport makeup and hairstyles that take an eternity to apply and perfect each morning. Why would they want to wreck it in a shower without the benefit of hairdryers and mirrors to repair the damage of a shower? The boys are no better with their pimped up appearance - I wouldn't be surprised if they resorted to moisturiser and foundation. Personal hygiene standards have also plummeted - I see far more grubby kids in school now then ever before and not all of them come from deprived backgrounds. They attempt to mask their poor hygiene with copious amounts of Lynx and equate a quick spray of Lynx with 'freshening up'. Stripping off and exposing their pungent bodies to all and sundry would be the ultimate humiliation.
On top of that there is body image to consider. Showers literally expose kids, warts and all, to peer scrutiny and they are all conscious of the 'perfect body form' and do not want to to come up short in the eyes of their classmates. Kids are far more insecure about their body image than they have ever been and they don't want to expose themselves to judgements of inadequacy, self inflicted or externally sourced. I despair when i see the number of pupils in full school uniform standing on the sidelines watching their more sporting peers running about on the pitches. Indoors things are hardly better, there are quite a few PE activities where kids can participate without breaking into a sweat but the schools can claim that they have discharged their obligations to deliver the proscribed amount of physical activities per week.
PE teachers are on a hiding to nothing. They can not force pupils to participate. Many pupils arrive with notes from parents excusing them from physical activity. The measures taken by the PE monsters of the past - we were shepherded into the showers by the PE teacher using a wet towel as a bullwhip to persuade us to move towards hot water, soap and cleanliness, can't be deployed without ensuing prosecutions.
For the folk who hark back to the golden years of the past, try living in the present and being a PE teacher in charge of thirty reluctant participants while trying to improve their physical health without protest let or hindrance then have a go at go at being critical of the state of affairs in schools.