School and 'rules' re shorts under dress

[oblada]

Before I take this further quick 'poll'; does your school insist that girls wear shorts under their dress if they want to mess about at break time in a way that could involve someone seeing their knickers? Would you expect a rule like this? My daughter is saying that her school and her after school club have told her off for doing gymnastic 'moves' during break time whilst wearing a dress with no shorts or tights underneath. She says she's been told it's 'rude' because people can see her knickers. She is 6yrs old btw. I think this is completely bonkers and she should be allowed to do as she wish as long as she is not actually showing her 'privates' to people on purpose. Underpants are underpants and are not offensive (to me). Of course I don't know yet how much she has actually been told off, or whether it's peer pressure rather than school so I'll go and ask later. But thought I'd gather some views!

"I wish school uniform from Reception onwards would be shorts/trousers for boys and girls - no skirts or pinafores."

See my post above. I thank goodness that we don't have that Draconian rule.

"DD is at high school now and the girls swelter in tights during the summer because they're "afraid" of someone catching a glimpse of their knickers. For some bizarre reason the girls don't wear trousers even though they are allowed."

If they are anything like my DD 1 (recently left school), the girls all seem to insist on wearing short skirts that barely cover their arses, teamed with opaque black tights. It seems to be a style choice, not in any way an attempt to look sexual, but yes, it does mean that they swelter in hot weather. There is (in DDs 1 and 2's former high school), nothing to stop girls wearing trousers, shorts or skorts, or even longer skirts that come to the knee or lower. But, as I said, many choose the arse skimmer with thick tights option, so hot and sweaty they stay.

I agree with jellycat, small child accidentally flashing is hardly a big deal. Mine happily dived into the sea in just their pants at 6. Stripped naked on the beach to change etc. Also if it really bothers a child that they might reveal their vulva then just get sturdy pants that fit snugly ?
I should add that my opinion is not a judgement on any individual parent or child who does like the shorts, it is a judgement on a culture that sexualises small children.

@SoddingUnicorns Calm down love; you're liable to get banned for swearing and shouting people down, haven't you got a Momentum gig to go to or something...

My daughter wears cycling shorts under her school summer dresses, she is ten and due to being tall her summer dresses are quite short! She does spend a lot of time doing gymnastics though. She also wears shorts with a blouse some days but likes the dresses too. For what it's worth I used to wear my running knickers under my school uniform so I could do gymnastics at lunch time, now they were sturdy!

@MrsMint jog on, I’ve got better things to do than engage with a racist. Most people do tbh.

No idea what Momentum is btw.

Still awaiting you explicitly stating your views......

No different seeing pants to swimming costume isn’t bikini.
Little girls are already retrieved physically. Look at baby boys crawling round and climbing in leggings and trouaeeea and girls getting stuck crawling in their floaty dresses being told to keep clean.

MyOther - yes we had those too. Maroon ones. Very cosy in freezing weather under short games skirts. But yes, different as we were all older girls, and also dealing with periods in the days of huge bulky san-towels. Big thick over-knickers then much more reasonable, especially as our games skirts were really short. We wore the thick knickers for PE without the skirts.

I agree with a PP who said that knickers aren’t what they used to be. My regulation school uniform knickers were thick navy blue nylon, to the waist and with a thick selvage around the top of the legs. We wore skirts to school and wore our navy knickers with an aertex shirt for indoor sports. When we did handstands and cartwheels at break, we flashed our knickers that everyone had already seen at gym and that revealed nothing anyway.

Shorts under a skirt sounds OTT but big knickers is probably a good idea.

At my girls' school they can if they want to but don't have to.

So DD1 (Y2) wears cycle shorts under her dress DD2 (Reception) doesn't as no one else in her class does yet.

Sainsbury's have some really nice girls school shorts which I may get them in future.

A nice thick pair of white Petit Bateau classic knickers is perfectly decent under a summer dress.

FiestaThenSiesta
You've missed the point
Making very young girls wear ' modesty' shorts and body shaming is a disgrace

I don't know if they insist, but my daughter wears short cycling shorts under her summer dress. She does not want to flash her pants. She's 8. I'm fine with that, and she is comfortable. She also spends more time upside down and cartwheeling than the right way up. So a sound investment in my eyes!

Boys never are. No danger of them flashing their pants by mistake while they climb a tree.
My DS aged 6 who has some coordination difficulties and is massively stubborn shows AT LEAST an inch of pants above his trousers every day as he's so bad at putting on his trousers. Any bending, sitting on the mat, or running and everyone sees whether it's Spiderman, flamingoes, or plain green today.

We try to pull them up for him or show him how - if he does it himself he usually just pulls up his pants further and if we do it for him he can get quite aggressive so generally we just remind and coach him but don't worry if they are a bit visible.

I have bought some summer dresses for DD (just 4 and v small) to try on as it proved impossible to get black shorts in tiny sizes and I don't want her roasting in a prefab classroom in September/July though she'll normally wear trousers. If there's any mention of her pants showing I shall be photographing DS' inch-plus and asking whether that's OK! But I doubt it as school are pretty sensible overall.

(PS if anyone wants an anonymised photo of DS waistband I can oblige)

I do find I have to shop around for the girls knickers though.

Some have really narrow/long gussets and hardly any elastic so they gape and you can see straight into them.

Disney store and Sainsbury's seem to be the best I've found.

The superlatives don’t help the discussion. Girls need help finding a solution that allows them maximum freedom without risking indecency or danger. That is necessarily somewhere in the middle.

ShouldofWouldofCouldof
Actually I do routinely wear a bikini which is basically the same as a bra and knickers so am I deemed a 'flasher'?? Get a grip!

Making very young girls wear ' modesty' shorts and body shaming is a disgrace

Nobody is body shaming. And forcing your views on to other people because you’re so sure you’re right is pretty disgraceful too.

Showing one’s genitals is generally seen as indecent.

Pants are worn to cover the genitals in order to prevent indecency.

Pants themselves do not need covering as they are not indecent.

Most primary schools teach children that what’s in their pants are their private parts, which are not to be flashed around in public.

So UNDERwear, as Shoulda likes to call it - I’m hearing Dame Edith Evans doing Lady Bracknell here - serves the purpose of covering up genitals. If your underwear doesn’t do the job of covering up your genitals, then you have a wardrobe malfunction, which is a different matter.

Over time, young girls stop doing cartwheels all over the place. But while they do I take great joy from the sight of carefree little girls un-self-consciously enjoying themselves and would be sad - just as I am at not seeing hedgehogs or skylarks any more - if this were to stop.

Poppyfield - I think an MN campaign from rca return to proper knickers is in order.

For a

user1499173618
'Indecency or danger'....sigh

Some people see danger everywhere. A 6 Yr old girl is not inviting indecency or danger by doing handstands in a dress.

Sometimes I think we are taking massive steps back when it comes to people's perceptions of a females place in the world.

SoddingUnicorns
your hilarious

Of course it’s indecent to flash your genitals. And dangerous.

Remind me of the danger attached to a 6 year old showing her pants please?