8yo girls must wear shorts under skirts...

[MyFirstMyLastMyEverythingBagel]

... In order to play on the bars in the school playground?!
My 8yo DD came home from school yesterday upset as she wasn't allowed to play on them - the teacher had said she needed to have shorts on as the boys would see her knickers.
I'm really upset by this, she is 8 years old and has a life time ahead of her to be worrying about modesty/body image without the school instilling it in her at 8. We've had a lovely summer, much of it spent splashing in the river / sea, DD totally in self aware in her knickers and a t shirt.
I'm actually pretty cross and plan to speak to the head about it, but want to know if iabu? How would you feel about it? My child is a child and I don't feel she should be made to feel self conscious about a brief knicker flash when she is playing.

For those asking, no girls can't wear uniform shorts anyway.

This is obvious sexism.
If you have the energy, try to sue them for discrimination.

If you don't ... change schools?

Load of nonsense. What happens when someone decides there needs to be another pair of shorts to cover the shorts that cover the knickers?

Neo Victorian bullshit.

she is 8 years old and has a life time ahead of her to be worrying about modesty/body image without the school instilling it in her at 8

Just to play devil's advocate, since she wears knickers you're already instilling modesty in her.

My DD's usually wear stretchy shorts under their uniforms. I never thought of it as a modesty thing, but they spend so much time upside down, it just makes them feel more comfortable to do what they want to do without spending all this time effectively in just their underwear at school.

Boys can run, jump, play, sit cross legged on mat but as they wear shorts no one will see their pants or genitals or tease them for it. Why shouldn't girls feel as free and unrestricted?

And underwear does often gape around the crotch, leaving girls sitting crossed legged on the mat exposed. This doesn't happen to boys as they wear shorts of trousers.

I don't see it as a body shaming issue at all, but as a freedom to just "be" and play freely issue.

I wear dresses with just underwear underneath but I'm not spending half my lunch hour in a handstand or cartwheel - if I was I'd sure as fuck feel a lot more comfortable wearing shorts.

It would be lovely if the girls uniform included shorts. Once DD1 hit 7 she started to wear culottes or trousers most days anyway - they suit her activities.

But of course schools should not be making rules like this restricting girls movements and activities.

It's wrong that the girls can't wear shorts as uniform, this should be addressed.
My dd liked doing handstands, upside down on climbing frame, and many other things that maybe would show her knickers.

Luckily she was H.ed when she started her periods at 9, it would have been awful if she had been upside down on a climbing frame. I can see both sides tbh.

Outrageous. YANBU.

We need to reclaim the word 'modest'. It is being hijacked and twisted to mean something else. There is nothing immodest about little girls doing cartwheels. The dirt is in the eye of those who would police it.

Agree with PPs. Pants serve the purpose of covering the genitals. Now they want something to cover up the cover-up. What next?

If someone at school stopped my 8 year old doing cartwheels in this way I would be incandescent.

BossWitch you are SO RIGHT.
How can we give girls the message that it is not their bodies that are 'to blame' if anything inappropriate happens to them but it is the person inflicting the abuse.
Girls who are raped whilst wearing short skirts are treated as if they are the criminals - rape is on the increase - study out this week. We have to STOP this culture.

YANBU. It's awful to impose adult ideas onto children in this way. If the girls don't mind and the boys are not behaving inappropriately about it, then it's fine. If the girls themselves want more coverage, they should be allowed to wear shorts.

Oh don't get me wrong - if others DD feel more comfortable with shorts on then that's fine.
The issue is my DD feels comfortable without them, and she should not have to be made to wear them. She's a child, they're knickers, so what.
And to the poster who said 'flashing knickers with gusto brigade' grow up. She's a child playing, her knickers may be visible for seconds, if that offends you I suggest you don't look. 🙄

They need to either accept knickers are sufficient coverage for prepubescent children or they need to alter the uniform to trouser and shorts for all pupils and no skirts. They should not be making young children feel like they should be ashamed of someone seeing their pants.

Actually, what happens about changing for PE??? Don't they do what most primaries do and have boys and girls changing in the same room? Surely that's worse than a nicker flash whilst playing?

I agree. If the boys have an issue with staring at the girls knickers, remove the boys. Don't limit the girls.

We need to stop blaming girls/women for boys'/men's behaviour.

Every time I see stuff like this I feel glad my kids are in a lovely school without stupid rules. Uniform is very simple, white polo tops, black or gray shorts, pants or skirts then navy cardigan or jumper. They sell logo jumpers/cardigans for £10 or you can wear a plain one. No wierd rules about shorts and trousers. DD has gone in today wearing trousers and a jumper and no one will bat an eyelid.

We were told that girls can wear cycling type shorts under skirts IF THEY WANTED (as some had asked to do so) but that they weren't compulsary.

I think some girls do get a bit embarrassed and prefer it which is fine but it shouldn't be compulsary. My DD would be embarrassed if she flashed her knickers playing but she prefers pants so it's a non issue, she just wears the pants instead.

Why should little girls spend the day with sweaty bits just because someone thinks a 2 second flash of pink knickers is terribly offensive?

The issue is my DD feels comfortable without them

Again playing devil's advocate but couldn't the same be said about knickers?

It's easy to say that our own degree of modesty is the correct one and anyone else is some sort of pervert (I'm not saying you specifically) but modesty is a highly subjective notion.

Actually, what happens about changing for PE??? Don't they do what most primaries do and have boys and girls changing in the same room? Surely that's worse than a nicker flash whilst playing?

Also this ^ ours don't separate them when changing for PE until they hit juniors as it's not feasible or practical for the infants who still need help and closer supervision.

There was a thread about this some time ago. Some teaches explained they didn't want to see flashes of genitala because of poorly fitting or too small knickers or poo/wee stained pants as the girls cartwheeled etc.

DD has to wear shorts underneath her skirts/dresses if she wants to be upside down. School policy. I was pretty incandescent when the policy was introduced. I've settled down now. However, she is allowed to wear knee length tailored shorts and I also think this is fairer than your dds school policy. She prefers to wear culottes. I found them in sainsburys and m&s... Could be a compromise.

I just came on here to agree with previous posters. The only thing I was going to add was touch on on OPs last post and that is to the people saying "should we go back to making kids do PE in their pants" and "my daughter chooses to wear shorts under her skirt" - obviously if a child (or adult) woman (or man) wants to dress more modestly or feels uncomfortable showing their knickers they should be able to and the school should absolutely allow girls to wear shorts under or instead of their skirt if it means they can play more comfortably and without feeling self conscious but if they are happy playing in a skirt let them (for all the reasons already explained). Is personal choice such a confusing concept?

Wondering where this new 'modesty' bollocks is coming from.

My fear is its from religious crap creeping into our society and by definition all religions are mysogynistic and controlling of women. I think we need to take this very very seriously.

I actually think it's reasonable to teach our children that you don't flash your underwear. It's not so much body shaming as it is instilling a bit of decency in a world where all over the media people have everything out. My dd wears shorts under her dresses and she is 6. Not because I think she has to be ashamed of her knickers but because I think its ok to teach them to cover up, sit properly etc from an early age. Suddenly telling your daughters they have to not flash there pants just because they are spin the early staged of puberty is more likely to cause them to feel ashamed of their bodies. Teach it as the norm then it isn't an issue.

Should we also teach boys to cover up Meadows?

Should we also teach boys to cover up Meadows?

I have yet to see a primary school boy with their underwear on show?? Surely the mere fact that they wear trousers or shorts over their underwear means that they ARE covered

What the fuck?!
So they've designed a uniform that restricts the activities that they will allow girls to do.
Boys can do handstands but girls can't in the uniform provided.
Wrong.
Also what is going to happen of someone sees their knickers?! If the sight of a class mate's knickers is causing sexualised behaviour in an 8 year old boy then the answer is to sort out what has gone wrong with that boy. Not make all the girls hide themselves
It's this sort of shit that means people think it's acceptable to blame rape victims because they had a short skirt on. It's exactly the same fucked up thought process

Madness. I can't imagine telling my daughter she has to wear shorts under her dresses.

especially as the reason was stated to DD (boys will see your knickers) how dare that teacher put that thought into my 8 year old child's head. She just wants to play

As indeed do the boys - are they really that interested in seeing a girl's knickers or is it all in the minds of the adults? As pp said they get changed for P.E all together anyway so are likely to see a lot more than just knickers.