School Protests

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I'm just curious as to what everybody thinks on the recent school protests that have been going on?? One happened at my DD's school just today. They have been inspired by Rainford High School in St Helen's who started the first one.

Basically students refuse to go to lesson and protest for things like skirt lengths - teachers asking kids to roll their skirts down and demanding them to be knee length, and also protesting for the rights to go to the toilet and for the toilets not to be locked at lesson times.

What are your opinions on this?

Let's get this straight...

Schools are closing toilets because kids are going there to vape and anti-social behavior which means they are not safe for students who genuinely need to use them.

Students with medical needs, periods, etc can access them if they need because they have permission to do so.

Today at one school I know a group of students who happen to be addicted to vaping (21% of teenagers are) instigated a protest which caused injuries to staff and other students. They set of the fire alarm also causing huge disruption to learning. Apparently they are planning another protest next week 🙄.

This is absolutely unacceptable. There is no excuse for it and teachers will be quitting in droves. They really don't need this type of shit to deal with at work.

This is the school protest people should be more interested I am unsure if any of these protests are linked at all.

www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/four-boys-arrested-over-sexual-8173087

Plus here is a link to a protest vm.tiktok.com/ZMYAsm6Yv/

Social contagion.

What are your opinions on this?

Use the toilet before the lesson
Dress in accordance with the school rules

Honestly what is the fucking point any more. We need a two tier education system. Parents who want their children going to schools that have rules and those who want their little dears to do whatever they like.

That said the red card idea is not something I agree with. That needs a lot more thought.

Using the toilet before the lesson can't always happen - can you imagine a poor year 7 whose not yet gotten used to her period being refused to go to the toilet?

As for skirt lengths, do agree with that it shouldn't be so short you can see underwear, but in DD's school it HAS to be knee length and they get told off if it's even slightly above. Frankly think that is ridiculous.

I honestly think it does vary between schools, some schools are fair and the students just don't understand whereas in others the schools are honestly awful and the students have every right to stand up! Letters to the principal etc. won't always work.

Also, the thing about separating the students is disgusting - absolutely horrible.

I'm a teacher and honestly - these kids are going to get a shock when they get a job in the real world (if they actually get one).
And with chronic staff shortages there aren't enough staff to monitor the toilets every second, that's why there has to be these rules. This is just one more thing that is pushing teachers out of the career.

Another point - it's a bit sad but I heard today students are protesting for ridiculous reasons as well. Such as being allowed to use their phones during break and lunch, amending the pasta prices. These things can be solved by talking to teachers and staff. So students are definitely just running with the idea to skip lessons.

"If you could see the mess some of the girls in my school make in the toilets, you would want them locked too. Absolutely disgusting."
I don't doubt this for a minute but as usual the majority who wouldn't dream of doing this get punished because of a disgusting minority.
I have one child left at school she knows as did her siblings before her that if she needs to go she politely leaves the room and i will deal with any repercussions - so far not happened but she knows what to do.
I have a tall slim daughter who wears an m&s school skirt which comes above her knee so i expect that will be the next thing .
I can't help thinking schools should get worked up about so many other valid things than the length of a skirt .

Disagree with protests. Kids attend school to get an education, and usually the good schools are those which expect high standards of behavior and respect of authority. This place hardly sounds like Crunchem Hall - normal skirt length and toilets outside lesson time isn't exactly boot camp.

Parents should get behind the school, and any issues/exceptions picked up between the adults. Kids will always take an excuse to get out of lessons!

There is no getting round the fact that some girls who are having periods will require access to toilets outside of break times.

If my child was at Rainford High I'd pull them out. If I taught there my notice would be in. That is absolutely unacceptable.

Protests at most other schools are likely bandwagon-jumping though, where the schools' responses are the best they can do with the funding they have and protests won't change it.

Goodness me, I was told that all my life, but work was nothing like school! I actually found the workplace so liberating, to the point that I couldn't wrap my head around it. In the vast majority of workplaces (I do understand there are exceptions), you get so much more autonomy and reasonableness as a working adult.

My peers have shared my experience too! I know this sounds terrible but now I think back, how many of our school teachers who kept telling us that had actually worked outside of a school setting?

@Pancakes2023 also pancakes, if all the women were separated from their male colleagues and made to line up for men to gaze at my thighs, I'd just quit that job and find another one! That's the joy of being an adult :)

Of course you can't quit every job, and you have to follow attire rules, but few workplaces would be that blatantly demeaning. In this case, even those who've followed the rules have to do the thigh parade for their male teachers. So I don't buy all this talk about skirt checks preparing them for the workplace – not just you, but many others parroting this line.

Not all, but most of these protests are just a social media craze. There were protests at my children’s high school today even though the skirt thing isn’t an issue. My kids just said they are finding any excuse to protest as it is TikTok led.

My daughter goes to this school you have the story wrong, I agree skirt when pulled up are bad however they are targeting all girls when the skirt is not knee length. I buy my daughter her age group skirt from 1 if the 2 providers that we are allowed to buy them from, she wear tights and does not pull her skirt up! She is a school prefect and was given her first ever detention for her skirt not reaching her knee. I am buying her trousers as she is dreading going to school every day now whe it was a place she lived to go. She may still get a detention as trousers are NOT listed as an acceptable uniform item for girls- maybe read the story before jumping to conclusions!

Yet strangely in my working life (started as a graduate in 1983) -I have never encountered

• having to show a red card when on my period
• having male bosses kneeling down to inspect my skirt length and legs

Indeed either of these occurrences in a workplace would involve a huge payout at an industrial tribunal - so I don't know why it is acceptable in a school and especially in light of the school refusing to allow girls to wear trousers (something that my bog standard comp allowed in 1976)

Personally I would be reporting the 2 above to OFSTED as safeguarding breaches for allowing girls to be treated this way

I'm not sure why people try to compare this to rules in the workplace

I work in tech so I wear hoodies and jeans a lot of the time as does our cto. I wear brightly coloured nail varnish, have multiple piercings and visible tattoos. On the odd occasions I go into the office I can access the toilet any time I need it, and no one lines me up to check the length of my skirt. I wear trainers, and am allowed my phone on me and we all work remotely or hybrid depending on our preference

Whilst I am by no means suggesting that all of these things are suitable for people in school or even that all jobs do or can allow for this, the whole girls have to wear knee length skirts because we are preparing them for the workplace seems a little extreme

Especially given trousers are apparently not a uniform item for girls in the school in question

These protests by the children are awful in school and i cant believe parents are supporting this. The way the kids behaved is disgusting & disrepectful to all teachers & staff. My child got caught up in this , and got so upset & scared i was called to pick my child up. The school has standards which is good & is one of the best schools in St Helens & the Head & staff have worked hard to make it a good school over the years. They have listened to the students & agreed a compromise, but the girls didnt comply & kept wearing the skirts too short( ivd seen lots walking in) . The school have safeguarding measures in place & the idea that the staff wouldnt adhere to them is absurd. Why would you jeopodise your career?? Plus all the disruption when GCSe are round the corner, bet the parents would be moaning of there little darlings dont get the grades... the tik tok generation are after their 15 mins of fame & to hell the impact on everyone involved, who are just trying to do their job - teach/ go to school & learn ... if u dont agree with a knee lenght skirt a) go to another school b) wear trousers ive seen girls in them...and as for marie rimmer MP, she should be ashamed of herself jumping on the bandwagon, with no facts!!

Surely if any parent that believes that a school is getting it so wrong that student protests are necessary and appropriate - then the parent should make the ultimate protest by withdrawing their child from the school and applying for a place elsewhere.

Schools are funded based on student numbers - if you don’t like the way a school is doing things, then vote with your feet and take your child elsewhere.

Given this school rule impacts only girls (the measuring skirt length one) I'm not sure we should be in favour of girls having to have their education disrupted in case they have a growth spurt and their skirt is half an inch to short one day whilst the boys carry on as normal

Maybe if you weren’t a teacher you would realise the only shock these children will get when starting work is how easy going and how few rules they have to follow compared to school.

I thought working was a breeze compared to all the rules I had to follow in school

Also I have never been asked to do homework in any job. Never been told I had to work at home in the evening and hand it in the next day and get more work to do on a Friday because I would have all weekend to complete it

I would get rid of skirts as school uniform all together. Comfortable trousers, polo shirts and jumpers or sweat shirts for everyone and a sew on badge.

Toilet breaks are a bit more difficult. Single sex toilets in all schools, adequate numbers of toilets and maybe an extended school day to allow a longer lunch break, staggered lunch breaks, an extra break in the day might be a solution.

There will always be students who use toilet breaks to disrupt lessons and that is hard on kids who genuinely get caught out.

its all very well having a red card that allows girls to use the loo but what about the ones who want some privacy and wont want to broadcast to the whole class they have their period.

I agree the way the school has gone about it is bang out of order. No one, but especially girls, should have their skirts checked to that degree by any adult male or female. You can tell by a quick glance if a skirt is roughly knee length. Having a rule about the exact length of a skirt is ridiculous, as long as its within a couple of inches of the knee then it shouldn't matter. As long as they can walk up the stairs without flashing their underwear then the skirt is long enough.

Imo it's not sexualising children to tell teenage girls that it isn't appropriate to go to school in a skirt that barely covers their arse. That might be appropriate for an adult going clubbing but not a teen going to school. I'd also expect if a boy turned up in booty shorts or skin tight leggings to be sent home to change into something more appropriate for school.

Telling girls there skirt is too short and will distract the boys, or worse male teachers, however, is sexualising.

If a female teacher, or a male one for that matter, turned up to school in a skirt as short as some I've seen on high school aged girls round here I'd expect them to be told it's inappropriate for the workplace and to go home and change. It's about dressing for the job.

At one of the local high schools a lot of the girls wear skin tight tube skirts so tight they can barely walk and so short it barely covers their arse, you can't miss them walking down the street pulling the back of their skirt as it's so tight it rides up as they walk. At my dcs high school they have to have a pleated skirt so at least they can walk properly but of course some do roll it up as high a possible.

I'm completely against the loos being locked though. Access to a toilet is a right, not a privilege. Even prisoners have access to a toilet at all times.

At my dcs school there aren't enough toilets for everyone to go at break. Lunch is staggered but they only have 30 minutes, couldn't eat outside and the lunch hall is so small so there's a few times a week dd hasn't had time to eat nevermind had time to queue for the toilet. Thankfully the new head went back on the outside eating ban due to complaints from parents but there still isn't always time to use the toilet and eat due to queues, especially for the girls. I'd rather they extended the school day by half an hour and gave the students an hour for lunch so they'd have plenty of time to eat and use the toilet.

If they need to go during lesson they have to ask the teacher who has to call an SLO to escort the kids to the toilet even if they have a toilet pass. This can take quite a few minutes so if they're desperate, have period flooding or suddenly come down with a stomach bug, they run the risk of an accident in front of the class and being humiliated. I've never worked anywhere that locks the toilets for staff. I've worked places where you aren't supposed to use the toilet outside of breaks but if you suddenly need to go then you can go.

My dcs high school has cctv in all corridors so it would take all of five minutes to find out which students are abusing toilet breaks or causing damage so I don't see why they have to lock all the toilets.

It was about the execution of the rule, male teachers measuring skirt length seems highly inappropriate. Also no acknowledgment that the same skirt will be shorter on a tall girl and longer on a short girl. I’m so glad that children are making a stand for some things, children often have little agency at school even when things seem unjust. I hope these young people will also be protesting about environmental issues too, we need a generation who will put our planet first.