Dd 14, back to school and new rule females pupils are not to pull up tights in front of male teachers

[catnoir]

Dd 14 had her first assembly of the year this morning, and head mistress / principle has a list of new rules, one including female students are banned from pulling up/ adjusting their 60 denier tights in front of male teachers as she feels this is inappropriate and it must be done in private in bathrooms. Surely this is crazy?

[grannytomine]

acornsandnuts well they won't all be 13, some will be 16 and some might be 18. If it is pulling them up at the knees fair enough but if it is pulling up skirts and adjusting them then yes it is inappropriate and I can't imagine why anyone would need the Head to tell them that.

[1DAD2KIDS]

Total madness. I would definitely be queuing the head teacher on this rule and ask for information on the rationale behind this environment. Surely how you adjust your tights is a mater for the individual. You should be feel to adjust your tights as privately or publicly as you feel right without judgment. I don't get it and it worries about the potential message the head teacher is sending by (on what seems like the face of it) almost sexualising a practical normal act. Also it is a strangely gendered rule. Why only in front of male teachers? Why only the adjustment of tights? It is an insult to both the girls and the male teachers. I think it sends a very backwards and regressive message in terms of gender division and how girls bodies are looked at.

[grannytomine]

I'm just picturing the scene when you say go shopping, the checkout operator says hang on, pulls up her skirt, her tights are falling down so you see her knickers and she does a wriggle and pulls her tights up. I probably wouldn't want her touching my food.

Or maybe the next time I see my GP she might decide to pull her skirt up so I get a view of her knickers as her tights get pulled up. How about parents evening when the Head is on the platform giving her welcoming speech. It goes on and on doesn't it.

[acornsandnuts]

I doubt they are pulling up their skirts to go this. I have teenage girls and they generally give an ungainly hoik with tights that are as thick as trousers. Totally the the teachers issue IMO.

[grannytomine]

Well it would be useful if we knew what she means, do you think it is inappropriate if they are pulling up their skirts to adjust tights?

[acornsandnuts]

Do any of you remember being s teenage girl? Would you honestly lift your skirt and show your knickers in a class room????

They are readusting clothing! It is the male teachers issue and I would be livid.

[MeganBacon]

If you hitch up your skirt to hitch up your tights, and I can't imagine how else you do it, then that's just not normal social behaviour. You don't go round flashing your pants at people.

[BoffinMum]

A Minister of Education for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia walked in on me hoiking up some particularly troublesome opaque tights once - he was 15 minutes early for a meeting. We both froze like rabbits in the headlights. Then he walked towards me and we shook hands and never mentioned it. (He had studied in the US apparently so perhaps this wasn't his first time!)

[NYConcreteJungle]

Do you think there is someone who gets a kick out of these posts? I will stop until MNHQ comment.

[BeALert]

I work in a school and IME it's always the girls' uniform that's picked over and criticised

Yes.

We don't even have school uniforms here, but when clothing rules are defined, it's almost always the girls not the boys who are affected.

Lots of people have pointed out that if male teachers are unable to cope with female students wearing clothes that reveal their shoulders (gasp!) then perhaps they are not really cut out to be teachers.

Meanwhile DD1's school allows students to wear any clothes that don't endanger their health (during sub-zero temperatures they have to be reminded not to wear flipflops - I am not joking) and somehow they are still among the top 20 schools in the US.

[grannytomine]

BoffinMum, that reminds me of a secretary I worked with, the bosses SIL came to work at the firm and he ripped his trousers across one knee just before going into a meeting, secretary got out her sewing kit and knelt down infront of him to stitch them up. Boss walked in to see SIL standing with his back to him, secretary on her knees in front of him with her head sort of bent at his crotch. His face was a picture.

[grannytomine]

I think showing your shoulders is a bit different to pulling up your skirt to adjust your tights. It won't be appropriate when they go into the job market so why let them think it is OK?

Asked my daughter, who teaches 11 to 18 year olds, and she says girls do pull their skirts up to adjust tights.

Can you imagine the uproar if someone came on saying 13 year old girls were being asked to pull their skirts up in front of teachers, male or female.

[Cailleach666]

Our school has a uniform policy which "avoids any direct or indirect discrimination on the grounds of race or gender."

So a list of suitable garments are given, shirts, ties, skirts trousers etc.

Any garment can be worn by any sex of pupil.

[Eolian]

Ridiculous. The girls should make sure that they one by one put up their hands every 5 mins in lessons and ask to go to the loo to pull their tights up!

[PortiaCastis]

Hmm good excuse to bunk lessons.
"Sir may I be excused because I don't want you to see my drawers" about 50 times per lesson

[MrsT2007]

It's as much to avoid the 'sir was looking' type accusations

Half the time the male teachers are stuck, sometimes it's so obvious they're in a difficult position.

If they ask girls to pull skirt down etc etc they get accused of looking, when in fact they're just trying to adhere to uniform policies and common decency

[BoffinMum]

Nice one grannie 😁

[d270r0]

I suspect this stems from some kind of incident that occurred last year involving a student demonstrating possible indecent behaviour around a male teacher involving tight adjustment.

[catnoir]

Pigface and Maryz, not that I actually really care what you think of my post, it's absolutely legit, I was shocked listening to my dd today telling me this and wanted to ask general opinion if I aibu thinking this is a ridiculous rule.

[catnoir]

Also, who realistically pulls up their skirt to pull up their tights? As I've said I hate wearing tights as they often tend to fall down and I've never needed to pull up my skirt to pull up my tights, never seen anyone do this either and went to an all girls school with very similar uniform.

[BeALert]

Also, who realistically pulls up their skirt to pull up their tights?

I did wonder how this thread went from girls not being allowed to pull up their tights to girls flashing their knickers at male teachers. Bizarre.

[honeylulu]

I've pulled up my tights in court (lawyer not criminal). Just a quick tug on each thigh, but I couldn't concentrate on my legal argument whilst suffering from MC Hammer crotch.
Judge said nothing.