Girls told to wear longer skirts at school because the boys are distracted and male teachers feel uncomfortable.

[Exercisejunkieforlife]

My DD is 15, yesterday all the girls were kept behind in assembly and told they must wear skirts from the official uniform shop.
I have no problem with this as this is where we get DDs skirts, my problem is with the reasons given.

They were told that it distracts the boys when the girls walk up the stairs and makes the male teachers feel uncomfortable.

AIBU to think that the girls should not have to modify their behaviour / what they wear so the 'boys' don't look up their skirts and that the male teachers are responsible for their own feelings. ?

What difference does the age make though. Off limits is off limits.

And by the way, I tested the statements about seeing up skirts on stairs. I tried really hard to look for other women's underwear on the stairs going to work today, and at my place of work, but nope. Nothing. However hard i tried, i could not see a flash of knicker.

Skirts in school should be a decent length - hemlines no higher than knee-length, imo.

That's a good point FlyAway I'm not sure even if a skirt is very short how going up stairs would result in showing knickers! You'd kind of have to be on open stairs such as where you could be stood right underneath and then regardless of skirt length you'd probably be able to see.

I imagine it's more like at my old school and they don't want tight fitted skirts, as you can see that a girl has a bum!! Ours was same with trousers.
I'm not sure why they don't just introduce a ankle length, high neck smock for all high school children to wear a bit Victorian night wear style! As obviously no kind of sexually inappropriate behaviour would have ever gone on back then!

"I'm not sure even if a skirt is very short how going up stairs would result in showing knickers"

Obviously haven't been on a school staircase for a while then.

I think far too many posters are getting carried away with this. Its not dictating what can be worn, but what is appropriate for a certain time and place. It certainly was worded wrongly though.

Men wear inappropriate clothing sometimes too. I don't think this is a sexism issue. There is a problem in our society with women being blamed for male behaviour. The Ched Evans thing makes me mad...

But that doesn't mean I want my child to go to a school where the kids are scruffily dressed and take no pride in their uniform. Lycra skirts look ridiculous.

When I began my first post on this thread with the words that "as always, the male sex is totally to blame in this situation" I thought I was being facetious. No longer. It seems to be the norm that females can dress and behave precisely as they choose without attracting any judgement whatsoever as to the appropriateness of the dress and/or the behaviour. Men, on the other hand, are in the wrong simply because they are men.

No uniform= no problem

clara

You do know that there would still be restrictions about the clothing that pupils could wear?

I'd go for the 3 Cs: Clean, Comfortable, Covered up.

Teeny tiny skirts would still be banned.

I am betting the poster who couldn't see flashes of anything from her short-skirted colleagues didn't have someone wearing one of these going up the stairs - imagine this, but in black and with tights on. All you have to do is work to make hem ride up. Standing looking in the mirror they will look fine, people don't think about what happens when you actually move!

claraschu

No uniform= no problem

Bless you if you believe that. As I mentioned previously I work with young people in a post school environment. We frequently have conversations about covering up, pulling up your pants, removing hands from trousers, turning obscene T shirts inside out, putting those puppies away.

No uniform = a different selection of issues.

It's 2017 and we're STILL focussing on what is "appropriate" for women to wear. And then we think the problem's solved by "unisex" clothes, which nowadays means requiring girls to wear male-coded clothing ie. STILL requires females to change behaviour to accommodate male behaviour

That's not entirely fair. Many girls might want to wear comfy trousers and should have the option.

Many pages ago I suggested neat tracksuits for school. This wasn't about gender-coding. It was about comfort and ease of movement. I'm thinking these would eliminate ties too. I'm also all for neat trainers rather than school shoes.

Do you think the short-skirted, knicker-flashing girls will end up in the Daily Mail on Grand National Day?

Have you registered your discomfort at how rapey the male teachers at your child's school appear to be?

It's 2017 and we're STILL focussing on what is "appropriate" for women to wear. And then we think the problem's solved by "unisex" clothes, which nowadays means requiring girls to wear male-coded clothing ie. STILL requires females to change behaviour to accommodate male behaviour

Very true Flyaway

A school over here solved the problem

They banned skirts. Now all pupils wear trousers

No that is not solving the problem. You have spectacularly missed the point.

As Lottie said a couple of pages back there is a world of difference between saying " you lot are scruffy and untidy, this is the uniform" and " you lot are wicked temptresses flaunting your knickers and these grown up men can't control themselves"

Obviously I'm paraphrasing Lottie's points

KingsCross88

the OP could do that if she wanted to look like a complete idiot.

Lass who said anything about 'grown men' who can't 'control themselves'?. Oh that's right, you did.
That isn't actually what was said in the OP at all.
And schools banning skirts does solve the problem of ... skirts been worn too short.

Thongs for the girls
hoods and blinkers for the boys
sorted
and bromide tea

the boys are the problem, they should have the change

Noeffingidea

The OP's words from the opening post.

They were told that it distracts the boys when the girls walk up the stairs and makes the male teachers feel uncomfortable

I would assume "male teachers" are grown men.

lass how does 'feel uncomfortable' translate to 'can't control themselves'? They mean 2 different things.

I remember my dds wearing cycling shorts under their skirts as boys would look up them when they were going upstairs. Their skirts were not short, on knee.

Where I work I actually could see a students knickers under tights as her skirt was so short. I had a word in a nice way as it looked awful. I think people male or female should dress sensibly in an educational or work environment. I don't think girls skirts should be too short or boys trousers exposing boxers which seemed to be fashionable at one point.