Girls at DD’s school cannot wear socks because men and boys feel uncomfortable

[Eastie77Returns]

DD’s school has placed a ban on girls wearing socks due to persistent issues with girls wearing skirts that are too short and not the school’s regulation kilts. According to the e-mail sent to parents, girls wearing socks with said short skirts has resulted in some “members of the school community” feeling uncomfortable. When the issue was raised further by some parents, the (male) Deputy made it clear that it was essentially unfair to male pupils, and presumably teachers, to be made to feel awkward when girls undergarments were visible to them. There have also been issues with boys making suggestive comments to girls in short skirts.

I support the school enforcing school uniform policy but hate the fact that 12 year old DD and her friends are already being policed as to what they can or cannot wear because…men. DD hates the thick black tights she now has to wear. She always wore the correct length skirt and knee high socks.

The situation will apparently be reviewed ahead of the warmer months. I just feel this reinforces the view that girls & women need to ensure they dress in a way that doesn’t attract male attention but boys are not learning that inappropriate comments and behaviour towards a girl because of the way she dresses is completely unacceptable.

I was walking to the shops, schoolgirl in front had a skirt shorter than her blazer and was wearing a thong. I really thought she was naked from the waist until she turned round and I realised about the thong. I'm not easily shocked, used to work for vice squad in local police force, but to see a girl of 14 or 15 walking along like that did shock me.

Are they meaning ankle socks or normal knee socks can’t be worn, or are they meaning the thigh high ones with highly impractical HUGE ribbons that seem to be a K-pop thing?

I disagree - as a woman it makes me feel uncomfortable too and it's just clearly unacceptable to be literally flashing your underwear at school

It's not about men being predatory is about sensible professional attire

At our school the skirt uniform option used to be a straight black skirt. These were rolled up to indecent levels. The uniform was changed to pleated kilt style because they're harder to roll up. The shortest option to buy is 18".
I still see girls walking around with skirts barely below their arse cheeks.

That isn’t very sensible. Fine in Feb but less fun in July!

At my DD’s all-girls school skirts are ludicrously short by Y11. DD is still wearing the (admittedly slightly large) skirts I bought in Y7 and is content they will last her to end of summer Y11. It’s very cost effective!

It is hard to police when it’s 90% of the girls - you can’t send them all home!

I had to pop into school one day and saw a group of older girls in their PE skorts - I didn’t think it was possible but some of them had such skimpy kit that bum cheek was hanging out!

At DD’s school it is absolutely not cool to show knickers under a skirt though - overpriced tiny Nike shorts are preferred.

Do you honestly believe that the girls have no responsibility to dress in a decent and appropriate way?

You think we are doing girls any favours by teaching them they can basically do what they want and behave exactly how they want and nobody else matters?That their behaviour wont't have consequences?

Of course if a girl goes round showing off her knickers, as a lot of them do, it doesn't give men and boys the right to assault them. But do you really think making themselves look like sex objects on a daily basis is the way to encourage people to respect them and taje them seriously.

Blaming boys for the girls inappropriate and ridiculous behaviour is totally wrong .
Sounds like an easy route for the parents of girls who don't bother to parent them in a responsible way: we'll just blame the boys.

There is a big difference with a school dress code and women wearing what they choose on a night out.

There must be a large percentage of the girls rolling up skirts for it to be a problem "not just a few".

Those violating the school uniform policy should be dealt with every time. Maybe only they should be asked to wear tights. Not fair for students like your DD

‘‘Twas always the way, be better to make trousers only the uniform, would prevent any issues.

If there were no ridiculous school uniforms (they’re such weird costumes) they would all wear massive jeans or trackies.

Some girls won't be able to wear tights for sensory reasons so they cant apply this rule to everyone anyway. It's stupid.

I live near a local girl’s school and many girls wear their skirts rolled up and bunched at the middle. Bare legs even in freezing weather. I feel so sorry for them. As soon as they leave school and go to college they will wear jeans. It is a particular period of their lives when short skirts are part of the unofficial dress code. No male teacher will mention it. I have had male tutors asking me to have a word with repeat offenders ( I am a teacher). It is such a tricky situation. No one knows how to handle it. It disappears by Years 12 and 13.

We wouldn’t have been allowed to roll our skirts up. Why are they being rolled up? (I was at school in the 70s and it wasn’t a thing).

Have the same near us ..it's shocking what their parents let them walk out of the house wearing .
Personally I'd be in favour of a blanket ban on skirts ..if some girls can't follow the rules , everyone in trousers .

Cropped tops and Nike pro shorts seem to be what lots of girls wear outside of school here.

I'm a teacher. When talking about uniform I often ask why the PE kit includes skorts or netball skirts etc if girls legs are so indecent?

Girls wear their skirts like because they WANT males to look at them. Don't delude yourself that its for any other reason. I know this because its exactly what my friends and I did as young teenagers in the 70s. Although ours were rolled up a more respectable 3/4 inches above the knee.
We still had a little self respect back then.
Oh and parents/ teachers werent too scared to mete out a bit of discipline 😉

Yes ,but that's for sport for jumping around not sat in a classroom..plus they have shorts under the skirt ,so no underwear visible

Year 7 wearing knee length skirts and long socks are a rarity unfortunately. No one has a problem with them. It is the rolled over, uneven length, bunched up, bare legged look that causes problems. I feel so sorry for the girls in really bitter weather feeling it is their duty to wear a fashion style that is so uncomfortable.

I'm a middle aged woman and I don't want to see anyone's underwear when I'm out and about. I think the Deputy Head making it about boys and male teachers being uncomfortable is a mistake. It's simply not appropriate to have your arse hanging out in a school or work setting. Expecting teachers to police the uniform policy everyday is ridiculous. If you know the schools expectation about skirt length and you repeatedly ignore it it's because you don't think the rules apply to you; that's arrogant and entitled.

You have understandably taken issue with the Deputy Heads reasoning but don't seem upset that it's the behaviour of the girls which has prompted the policy change your daughter dislikes. Feminism is not about women being able to do whatever they like, whenever they like or else they must be victims of the patriarchy. You probably wouldn't hire a lawyer who came to a meeting dressed in a batman costume. A requirement to dress appropriately for time and place is not oppression. Arse hanging out on a beach - fine, arse hanging out in Tesco - not fine.

Some of the girls round here have their skirts so short their arse cheeks are showing. It’s perfectly ok to say that’s not acceptable attire for school. People who object aren’t perpetuating rape culture or saying if anything happens it’s because of what she was wearing. We’re saying there’s a dress code that should be adhered to.

The issue is the skirt length, I do agree that nobody should be exposed to the underwear of school girls though, it happens a lot here, and they are not conservative with their underwear choice. I work in a shop and we often get a glimpse of thong whist they walk past, too short is the issue

As it seems to be the skirts that are the issue, surely the practical thing would be to do away with skirts, and make trousers the uniform for everyone? Can your DD not wear trousers instead of skirt and tights? Might be more comfortable?

That’s interesting as I was at school in the 70s (state comp) and no one rolled up their skirts. I wonder if it’s because it was a girls school.🤔 So are you saying girls roll up their skirts for the male gaze? I think if that’s the case then they can’t complain males are gazing.

If I was running a school the uniform would be trousers for everyone.

When I was at school every girl who wore skirts used to roll them up, it was basically a rite of passage. But they only went to their thighs much like a mini skirt and if anyone had done it so they're arse was showing it would've been talked about for days.

I now often drive past a high school where most girls still wear their skirts that long but a few have their blazers longer or you can literally see the bottom of their buttocks. My thoughts are usually 1) aren't you freezing? And 2) what has changed in schools now where showing your bum is acceptable? I'd be dismissed if I tried it at work. And probably have to pay for people's therapy bills too.