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.

That utterly ridiculous. He should try wearing the tights himself.

I dont like uniforms, but this is taking it to a new level of ridicoulousness and also misogyny.

Couldn’t agree more! I’d go as far as ditching blazers altogether (they so ridiculously expensive as well, and often get lost) and just wear jumpers/sweatshirts with school logo. Uniform can still be smart but without the stuffiness.

It was in our school in the 70s.

I'm just imagining what kind of reception I'd get if I turned up to teach in a skirt as short as the girls wear. Not sure anyone would really appreciate that.
And I was an absolute bugger for a short skirt from.yr9-13. Especially yr 13.

I really don't like having to walk ip school stairs with my eyes cast down in case I get an eyeful.

Equally, I'm aware dd rolls her skirt up because she 'doesn't want to look like a nun (neighbours asked me if she's cold on her way to school!). ' it's the same reason she wanted highlights and to wear her tie in s stupid way: To fit in with the girls who make the rules.

I've told her that she's basically giving some pervy blokes wank fodder when she walks to school (not in those words!) And that she's not really making a free choice if her dress code is being dictated by wanting to look like the scallies. But by the time she learns that the cycle will continue.

My kids have only attended private schools so I’m not sure if this makes a difference but tights if wearing a skirt have always been mandatory. In juniors, they had the option of summer dress and white socks (summer term only) but seniors did not/do not.

They also roll up their skirts. When my daughter told me NOBODY goes with a normal length skirt, I thought she was having me on. She actually wasn’t! I have never seen underwear though.

Tights would solve the issue and they’re widely accepted as school dress code so it’s hardly something dramatic.

Well then they have ruined it for all involved. The school should send girls home during the day that do this. And if it doesn't work or their peers can't keep them accountable either , then the no socks is probably a good idea ... hopefully the culprits will soon learn there are rules for a reason. I actually think the school are making a strong point provided they've tried enforcing tye rules properly with consequences

Cycling shorts have padding and its uncomfortable to walk in them. Even without the padding the material is not something to wear all day long.

I work in a school and some of the girls come in ridiculously short skirts, this is not our uniform policy, they are told time and time again, as are their parents. As a female myself, I feel uncomfortable walking upstairs behind them. Not just skirts that cause issue, it’s the lashes, nails and makeup. It’s school, not a ruddy weekend bender. We always have girls in break and lunch detentions for breach of uniform policy.

Up until 18 months ago I taught at a school where skirts were incredibly short, and it wasn’t pleasant seeing underwear and buttocks. I was accused of looking up girls skirts as a middle aged female teacher-it caused a horrible, sexualised atmosphere. Some of the boys were definitely uncomfortable with it as they didn’t want to be accused of looking. The school I’m in now enforces skirt lengths so the problem doesn’t arise. My previous school also had lots of girls with false nails so long that they could barely write.

You can get breathable anti chafe shorts. Or gym/exercise type ones. Not actual cycling shorts!

There are not 500+ girls arriving at DD’s school with their bums on show. Or even 50! The Deputy said himself it’s a small number of girls. The issue is, the entire school of girls is being punished because of the behaviour of a few.

I went to a co-ed state grammar school decades ago. Girls wore very short skirts, there was never a problem. Later on my stepdaughter wore extremely short skirts to her private co-ed grammar school, there was never a problem. Teenage girls like to wear short skirts. I would absolutely have hated to be told to wear trousers, shorts etc.

That is absolute nonsense!

Wouldn’t need to stay off for thrush - that’s ridiculous. If a girl was susceptible to thrush she can wear trousers.

I haven't read the rest of the thread. But as a wen who works in a school it is really inappropriate for girls to wear such short skirts that you can see their underwear. I find it embarrassing as a women to walk up the stairs behind these girls, so how do you think the male teachers feel.

We have also had issues with upskirting even with a phone ban in school. So it's also a Safeguarding issue. I wouldn't want my daughter doing this.

We were doing exactly the same thing in the 70s. And this at an all girls grammar school whose rules included red gloves in winter, white gloves in summer, no going into shops or eating in the street when in uniform.

And that uniform was only available from two stockists and the list you got from school included everything from your knickers, Brettles socks and shoes right through to your hockey stick.

So its not so much the socks they have issue with but the bare legs with short skirts. I have seen some incredibly short school skirts on some girls in our local shopping centre. I was sitting on a bench and the skirts were so short that their butt cheeks were showing. 1980s PE pants and my swim suit covered more. You have to draw a line somewhere.

My daughters school brought this in last year, all last summer she had to wear tights on really hot days ! Its miserable and really unfair on all the girls.

I will get my arse flamed for this but I feel sorry for the boys, having to walk behind girls with their bare arse cheeks in full view. What are they supposed to do? Where are they supposed to look? What if they get an involuntary erection, as pubescent boys often do? Are they supposed to wear blindfolds all day?
I have (now adult) sons and if I had word that one of my sons had been called a pervert for seeing young girls arses on display and caused an involuntary erection I would be down at the school kicking up a fuss.
Thankfully late 90s/2000s there was none of this nonsense. Who is looking out for the young boys who can end up feeling horribly embarrassed over things they have no control over just because girls want to attend school displaying what they had for breakfast?
Ill get my coat...

Taking care of a good friend's young child and having to help with toileting, would be the only reason I'd be ok with seeing knickers/pants of anyone who isn't my husband! Add to that any remote possibility of the person who's pants I've seen be in the position to get me into a world of trouble if anyone mentions I've seen their pants, and I'm out of there. As much as I'm usually not for punishing the masses for a few's misdemeanours, if this prevents young girls naively or purposefully showing their underwear to the boys and male teachers and the string of problems this could create, I'm with it!

Is it actually a sock ban? Or have they been told to wear tights not socks? If it’s just a sock ban then I’d go to school with no tights or socks. If they have been told to wear tights, has the thickness been specified? If not, thin black tights it is.

Girls used to roll their skirts up in my day. If they were caught their parents were called to come and take them home to change them. They used to make their ties really short too.

Current school uniforms in this country are totally archaic...They need to get rid of them altogether or bring in uniforms suited to modern life: What's wrong with having smart school logoed sportswear, that is comfortable, more accomodating of SEN needs, cheaper and easy to launder. Most jobs don't require suits anymore and some of the most highly paid people I know literally wear jeans and a t shirt. Current school uniforms and related policies are bonkers, take far too long to administer, can be exclusionary and are just bloody uncomfortable!

Secondary school it’s not uncommon for the uniform to specify the thickness of denier tights with a skirt. Boys have to wear trousers when it’s warm most don’t allow shorts so not really seeing the issue here. We are not talking primary school or infants with girls wearing white ankle socks with summer dresses.

So glad my DDs wore trousers. Infact the vast majority of girls wore trousers rather than skirts. I don’t get the desire to wear a skirt so short you can barely move or bend.

Exactly.