Girls being less active due to school uniform

[SummerDays2020]

https://amp.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/15/school-uniforms-may-be-barrier-to-physical-activity-among-younger-girls

I have wondered why schools don't just have a unisex uniform and this seems a good reason to do it. Also to make the uniform less restrictive.

I always wished my dds could wear trainers as it would have been better for running around at primary and walking up a hill to secondary school. Better for snow and rain too. I was glad when they got to sixth form and could wear what they wanted. Wearing trainers at my dcs' secondary school, even black ones would have been considered a huge rebellion

This is the hilarious thing about trying to force teenage pupils to wear "office" style attire. As usual, schools are living in the dark ages, because literally no one wears "office" wear in offices anymore. (Well maybe the odd city law firm). Men don't wear ties so why should teenage children, especially ridiculous is making teenage girls wear a tie! Nor do women in offices generally wear blouses and skirts anymore. Schools really need to be dragged out of the past and maybe start looking forward for once. Uniforms are one part of it, the subjects they teach, content, and how they teach it is also 50+ years out of date.

I agree with this. At DD's school they still wear P.E kit all day on P.E. days. But regarding being smart her normal uniform is an open neck blouse, skirt/trousers and a jumper and her school look much smarter than those with blazers and ties.

If skirts were removed from Secondary schools those that are constantly fighting the 'skirt length' battle also could save their energy for important things.

Even more ridiculous was my son's grammar school. They still insisted on suits, ties and formal shoes even in the sixth form. All on the grounds of "preparing them for professional life". What a joke. My son wears a tie shirt, jeans and trainers in his "professional" office job in one of the UK's biggest financial services companies, like all this colleagues. He's not worn a suit once, nor even "smart" casual such as polo shirt and chinos - well, that's a lie, he wore "smart casual" on his first day and apparently stuck out like a sore thumb, so his suit and "smart casual" wear are gathering dust in his wardrobe!

I am really against removing skirts as an option for school uniform. Many girls like skirts. I really dislike traditionally feminine things, like dolls, the colour pink, skirts etc, being looked down upon as inferior.

My DD wears pinafores and dresses because we couldn't get any trousers that were the right length and right waist for her when she started school. (Her jogging bottoms in the school colours are actually too short for her.)

She wears her pinafores and dresses with tights for school in winter but is used to wear dresses/skirts with leggings or shorts underneath so she can ride her bike.

But why do they need to dress for 'the corporate world' (which is generally more casual than school uniform anyway?) They're not all going to work in that environment and they're studying which in the real world people tend to wear jeans and a hoody.

DDs friend just moved to Scotland from England. The friendship group is extremely jealous that she can wear any trousers plus a school hoody as her uniform! Meanwhile they have kilts and blazers.

The idea that it prepares for work is ridiculous. Do kids say in Germany struggle to go from school clothes to a dress code at work ? Of course not. Also many kids go from school to uni where there’s pretty much free choice of clothes - even unnatural hair colours (gasp!) I’ve never heard of uni students struggling to adjust to dress codes at work.

School uniform is too strictly enforced. My dd didn’t wear trousers at secondary because it didn’t suit her body shape. Other girls couldn’t wear trousers because they were curvy so it looked like they were flouting the rule that says no tight trousers. Uniform trousers come in different lengths but if girls are to wear trousers then they need to come in more variation of hip:waist ratios.

The issue is only being able to wear certain trousers not trousers in themselves.

At my DD's school they can wear any trousers. DD wears the stretchy jersey ones that are very comfortable. Most girls wear skirts, though, but they have to be on the knee or longer so no pelmet skirts.

DD only wore skirts/dresses all through primary school. They had the option to wear trousers/shorts and several girls did.

She still managed to run around, climb, did gymanstics and at her CM after school she climbed trees, used a swing and trampoline.

She slowly got less active in school breaks the older she got, but I could see the same in the daughter of a friend in Germany, pre-teens don't do this apparently, regardless of wearing uniform or jeans and hoodie.

DD had two sporty hobbies, so I wasn't too concerned about this.

I find the secondary uniform more ridiculous. Even the most traditional London banking sector is not that formal as my DD is now in 6th form or during KS3 and KS4. I hardly ever see my male colleagues wearing ties.

Get rid of uniform and do a general dress code to avoid nearly nude in Summer (no bare shoulders or midriff for example and no shorts/skirts shorter than just above the knee) and they will still bring in good grades.

Primary school uniform for boys and girls should be tracksuit bottoms, a polo shirt and a sweatshirt with trainers imo. No dress options for girls at all (why are they needed). It’s warm, comfortable, practical, unisex and still looks quite smart (polo shirt has a collar and the sweatshirt can have the school logo on it).

I do think there’s a benefit in having kids easily identifiable as going to one school or another. But they could have uniform polo shirts/sweatshirts, even coats to do that, and let them wear what they want on the bottom. It would save so much time and unnecessary drama.

The income leveller argument is also moot these days. By secondary kids know who lives in a big house, has fancy holidays or wears super expensive trainers thanks to social media.

School uniform is absolutely shit. I don't understand why so many people still want their kids to be forced to wear it. It's a weird British obsession.

As for this sort of thing Uniforms are supposed to prepare kids for the working world where they might have to dress smart/business casual - people manage in France/Germany/US/wherever.

The sooner we scrap uniforms the better.

I agree the income leveller argument is bullshit.

I went to a girls school and you weren't allowed to wear trousers even in the winter. Some girls played sports at lunch but obviously had to get changed.

If they wanted to casually play football at lunch it'd be more of a hassle because uniform rules were so strict. No idea if they changed it now. Left school in 2011

This is so true for a lot of girls. Trousers don't fit well. I do buy (and take in the waist of) a pair school trousers each year and they remain barely worn until the next year.

Skinny kids with narrow hips tend to be more comfortable in dresses. Skirts and trousers need to fit better to stay up.

I'm in Scotland so uniform is very flexible, most wear grey trousers/skirt/pinafore unless it's a PE day, when they wear leggings or joggers.

I agree that school shoes should be trainers, black if necessary but much better than smart shoes. That said DD always choses light shoes rather than trainer types and clearly runs around in them ..

Some children prefer uniform though. I did and so did my siblings. We hated non uniform day as our family were poor growing up and we couldn’t afford fashionable clothes. I remember pretending to be ill sometimes so I didn’t have to go 😳

You could argue that some parts of school uniform are worn about as little as 'fast fashion', so there is a case for minimal or no school uniform for environmental reasons.

It's not looking at them as inferior but just as not practical in certain situations. Girls could still wear leggings which are considered feminine. But if girls restrict their movement (won't do cart wheels etc) because of skirts it needs to be looked at. Another option is wearing cycling shorts under skirts.

Could you not have taken up some trousers? That's what I have to do for my DD. But leggings and shorts under dresses and skirts is a good option too. DD always wears cycling shorts under a skirt for school.

My DD wears stretchy jersey trousers which fit well. I do have to take them up because she is short. They have an adjustable waist too.

That's good it didn't hold your DD back. But the research suggests it does hold many girls back.

This is pretty much what my DD wore in Primary except she wore leggings.