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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think parent should check the school uniform before deciding a school

107 replies

AuntiePickleBottom · 10/05/2011 22:25

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1385492/Boy-wears-skirt-school-uniform-row-rule-says-wear-shorts.html

if it was my son, i wouldn't allow him to go to school in a skirt. I think it maybe because i would fear him getting bullied over it.

OP posts:
springpiece · 11/05/2011 13:56

If they're worried about the girls wearing hotpants they could have a minimum length for the shorts in the uniform policy - we had this for school skirts when I was at school.
I'm another one who thinks good on the boy. We were never allowed to wear trousers in the winter and I was always cold even in thick tights. I went to an all girls school though so couldn't cry inequality that the boys could wear trousers.
I'm all for school uniform but if a school is insisting that the kids wear something they have a responsibility to make sure it's weather appropriate imo.

diddl · 11/05/2011 14:07

"If they're worried about the girls wearing hotpants they could have a minimum length for the shorts in the uniform policy - "

Yes, it´s probably the thought of what the girls would turn up in?

Is it a 2ndry school?

If so, I´ve never know 2ndry school uniform to be shorts.

And even though the girls vcan wear skirts, they´re probably still quite warm.

meditrina · 11/05/2011 14:10

I'm another who thinks "Good on him!"

And this is a semi-rural area. Children in Histon nigh on invariably go to school in Impington for simple geographical reasons.

MaryBS · 11/05/2011 14:12

Good for him!

diddl · 11/05/2011 14:14

"We were never allowed to wear trousers in the winter"

Same here, & it was dresses in the Summer.

Which iirc meant we went back in them after the Easter break & wore them until the end of the year.

Then back into Winter uniform with the new term in Sept.

DoMeDon · 11/05/2011 14:18

YABU - he wants to go in and protest in his skirt. He says he doesn't embarrass easily - he's a brave lad. He has a valid point too.

ImeldaM · 11/05/2011 14:24

Well done him, good protest, don't think its anything to do with 'parents not checking the school uniform'

I remember having to wear a skirt to school in winter as a child & being very peeved that the boys were allowed to wear trousers, school changed its (outdated) policy during my school years.

lovecorrie · 11/05/2011 14:30

I went to that school in the 70's! When I was there, there was a big hoo hah about 6th formers - should they have to wear uniform or not! Funny how things don't change hugely over the years Smile

glesgal · 11/05/2011 14:39

I still remember a poster on here being shot down for saying her DS and some friends had started wearing a skirt to school in a heatwave. Brilliant of him to wear it in an unashamed manner.

kc0rns1lk · 11/05/2011 14:52

good for him - school uniform rules are becoming ridiculous

glesgal · 11/05/2011 17:40

Does anyone recognise the skirt he is wearing by any chance? I think my DD would like it.

confuddledDOTcom · 11/05/2011 18:17

YABU - he's in Year 8 and the policy changed two years ago, when he joined it was probably only just under the new policy.

Anyway, good on him! It's not illegal to have separate policies for boys and girls but what they've done is make the only alternative to trousers a skirt so only girls can (or generally will) chose that option leaving boys with no alternative.

JamieAgain · 11/05/2011 18:20

Good for him. What a brave boy.

saidthespiderwithahorridsmile · 11/05/2011 18:26

I would be proud if he were mine
he is right

and he has chosen a peaceable, humourous and inoffensive way of making his point

and good on the head teacher for not squawking and overreacting like a MNer - it looks as though they will change the uniform policy!

EduStudent · 11/05/2011 18:31

Another one who thinks that shorts should be allowed, and for the girls too.

3timesalady · 11/05/2011 18:34

I would support him 100% if he was my boy. Fantastic to have enough faith in your beliefs at such an age.

More please!

StayingDavidTennantsGirl · 11/05/2011 18:59

I think he has a valid argument, and has chosen a good way to make his protest. I also respect the Head for his calm response and for saying that they will consider the uniform rules again. This sounds like a really positive story to me.

I see nothing wrong with allowing students to wear shorts - as other posters have said, you could specify length and say that they weren't to be tight shorts/hotpants.

At the senior schools that ds1 and ds2 used to attend, the boys had to wear blazers, and even on the hottest of days, they had to obtain permission from the teacher to remove their blazers - and some teachers used to refuse to give permission. I never managed to find out what possible reason they could have for such a refusal - or why they thought it was a good thing for the boys to be sweltering in their blazers instead of working comfortably in shirtsleeves.

Thank heaven the school they go to now has a more sensible policy.

OryxCrake · 11/05/2011 19:22

I think he made a valid point in an intelligent and witty way. And the headteacher's response was excellent. I'm not surprised his parents were proud of him - I would have been proud if one of my boys had taken this stand. All credit to him. I love that he 'doesn't embarrass easily'.

I don't see why the parents should decide to avoid sending their child to the school of their choice because of a silly anomaly in the school uniform rules. YABU

Oblomov · 11/05/2011 19:25

I think boys should be able to wear shorts in both primary and secondary.
Ds1 is only 7, but I love seeing them all in shorts. grey school uniform ones. they all look so fab.

LynetteScavo · 11/05/2011 19:30

"Wearing a skirt is just like wearing shorts with a gap in the middle. I don?t feel silly at all. I don?t embarrass easily."

That's good, because you are so going to get the piss taken out of you by a load of the other kids, m'dear.

I'm thinking his parents have facilitated this.

animula · 11/05/2011 19:37

I love liberal schools and liberal parents. The comment from the Head in today's Metro was very positive.

ignatz · 11/05/2011 19:37

The boy gets a lot of respect from me and seems to be approaching a policy he disagrees with with more humour and level-headedness than most adults I know. I expect the school and his parents are very proud.

onagar · 11/05/2011 19:46

He deserves to be congratulated.

Once again the schools are hung up on uniforms when they are supposed to be teaching. Is there something about being in charge of a school that attracts fetishists? No one should spend that much time thinking about what clothes the kids have on.

fivegomadindorset · 11/05/2011 19:52

Good for him.

My daughter is 5 and is currently going to school in winter uniform and looks like she will until July. She refuses to wear a dress, has done since two when she was hysterical and tried to rip ot off her, and is not aloud to wear shorts. The non dress wearing is not a fad as the school I think seems to think it is, she gets very distressed when you try to persuade her to wear a summer dress or anything girly at all. Took me two years to get her to accept she was a girl.

Halogen · 11/05/2011 20:53

Shorts seems like a really sensible, inexpensive and practical summer uniform option for both boys and girls to me, as long as not too short or tight. It seems like a practical and comfortable way to dress children for school in warm weather. I'd be really proud of that boy if he were mine, he sounds like a smart cookie with a sense of humour.

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