Should skirt length matter in secondary schools?

you are just on a wind-up, it's boring

It is cheap and slovenly looking. do you think it’s an appropriate way to dress for school? Says a lot about you.

If I was a headteacher I'd say trousers for all, no leggings. It's easier.

you'd think! Imagine trying to manage what is trousers and what is leggings. Same girls would wear ridiculously skinny trousers, it would be just as bad 😂

Schools have strict rules like "skirts on the knee" because then it is clear cut and no grey areas about what is a "reasonable" length. Our school introduced a no jewellery policy. Over night the constant arguments about what constitutes a "stud" earring disappeared.

No one has 'arse cheeks hanging out'. Stop scrutinising young girls arses. They probably think you look a frump but are you bothered, is it their business? No. And how they look isn't yours.

You chose a school with uniform, just stick to uniform. How hard can it be.
The amount of time and energy wasted because parents believe their little darling is special is ridiculous.

Even in the work place, there are dress code, which have to become stricter when someone confuse the office with a night club.

No one is "shaming" a girl FFS, teach them about respect of places and environment. In church, in some nice restaurants, you wear appropriate clothing. Same with school. Keep your micro-skirt for your parties. Just because most boys don't tend to wear hot pants, doesn't mean they would be allowed to show their arse if they tried. It's not a conspiracy against "girls"

I get you’re trying to imply that we’re all arse watching perverts, but in the real world, we don’t walk around with our eyes closed or staring at the sky. If someone in front has their arse cheeks out I’m going to see it on account of the fact I have eyes.

Also, the main problem we have isn't the length of the skirt, it's the lack of 'modesty panels' on desks. The uniform would have to be Victorian to avoid this issue - or the teacher would have to have the good sense to arrange their classroom so it's not a problem.

Whilst they’re still wearing uniform, they’re still representing the school. It would work this way even if you worked for Asda, or the nhs. Preparing them for the real world of obeying the rules. Don’t like it? Leave.

It's sexual signalling. Like it or not, and whether it's conscious or not, that's what it's about.

It's disingenuous to pretend that it isn't and scorn any attempt by the school to attempt to factor that into their rules. But teenaged girls know perfectly well that having their skirt as short as possible gets them male attention.

It's basic human nature on both sides, and schools have to manage it somehow. But it's difficult to insist on a happy medium skirt length without constantly having to nag. And then you get the parents who kick off when their daughters flout the rule and get pulled up for it.

If I was a headteacher I'd say trousers for all, no leggings. It's easier.

Teacher. Don't care how long a girl's skirt is, I'm not the one wearing it, don't want to go near the 'short skirt' argument, literally it's my job to be blind to whatever 'signals' kids might be sending out because they're sure as hell not sending them to me.

@Boeufsurletoit because then the parents would be up in arms about us not letting the girls wear skirts.

Like some of the other teachers on here, I don't really agree with uniform as a whole, but I would very much like to be able to walk up the stairs at work looking in front of me instead of carefully looking at my shoes. For me it's very much not about distracting boys (we don't have any), but more that I would prefer not to see anyone's pants at work. True in every workplace I've ever been in, tbh!

Also, from experience, if we don't enforce uniform rules then the kids feel like the rest of the rules are optional too. It really undermines the school.

Sorry but what era where you a teenager, not all teenagers are brain washed by social media and not all teenagers have skirts that short that you can see their underwear, many girls at DD's school wear shirt cycling shorts underneath.

I really don't think teenagers wearing skimpy stuff is a new thing, did anyone read Just 17 in the 90s when their were more like 12 and see the fashion on display to buy at Top shop or Miss Selfridge! Equally, when I was at college late 90s to early 00s fashion definitely included skimpy clothes, I have some clothes from that era, vea tops with bands on the front that are pretty tight. Also, since when did teenagers want to look like their parents? I was into the grunge scene as a very young teenager and I'm unsure why needed to wear DMs with flowery skirts, I don't know why I wanted to wear unsuitable boots with a skirt, why not ballet pumps🙄

'You don’t look ahead when you’re walking?'

Not at arses no, I look up and ahead. Try it.

Wear the correct lengthy skirt. Don't show off your underwear.

we have allowed sports kit in the hot weather. I am literally seeing bum cheeks all day…

Why don't they just replace the uniform skirt with cullotes/ shorts / trousers rather than expecting them not to roll skirts up?

You don’t look ahead when you’re walking?

I’m not actively seeking them out, they are literally in my line of sight.

It looks horrible but teenagers just like to be contrary its part of development. Using skirt lengths are nothing new.

When my mum got confirmed in the 70s (Lutheran so confirmed around 14/15) all the girls had dresses so short they couldn't bend over, in fact I wouldn't even call them dresses more like long shirts. And that was in church. Mind when I got confirmed in 2007 that would not have been allowed 😅

In any case its actually part of why I disagree with uniforms as I think it makes kids do stuff like that to express themselves rather than just wear an ugly tshirt or ridiculous shoes (as we did at my non uniform school where no one altered the clothes but just wore it as it was made)

And it’s not social media or a modern phenomenon, we were doing it 50years ago.

We were doing it back in the 1960s. But tiny lycra skirts weren't available then, and most of us wore underslips, so we weren't continually flashing our knickers.

Why should other people have to see someone's underwear or private parts if they don't want to? This would not be acceptable in a workplace.

'I don’t recall anyone having it so short their arse cheeks were on show'

I've never seen arse cheeks, but then I don't look at young girl's arses.

DD1's become a bugger for skirt rolling - she wears shorts under it so the MN gusset pearl clutchers won't quite pass out in horror - but we go through the motions every morning of me asking for it to be a sensible above knee length as she leaves the house (she's so tall and skinny skirts are always going to come up slightly short on her, or fall down from an oversized waistband) and it getting rolled straight back up the second she is out of sight... and she's been told if she gets into bother for it - don't come crying to me.

How can school enforce a rule not in school grounds or in school hours?

'But... I have no sympathy or patience with the skirt rollers who bleat about skirt length not being important. If it's not important, then why is it so important to you to roll it up rather than have it knee-length'

You're a teacher but can't understand this? Ok let me help, it matters to them but should not matter to you. Bit like what you choose to wear every day matters to you but other people couldn’t care less, or shouldn't anyway.

The current length of girl’s skirts is a modern phenomenon though. Yes we wore them short and rolled them up but I don’t recall anyone having it so short their arse cheeks were on show. I see this every morning on the school run now. I don’t have an issue with short skirts, I’d be a hypocrite if I did, but when you can see their arse cheeks they are just too short.