male teachers distracted by school skorts

[Deadringer]

i have read similar stuff on here but am gobsmacked that this has happened at my dd's school today. Dd goes to a fee paying girls only school, they have a strict uniform policy which i am happy with. On pe days, because of covid the girls have been told to wear their sports uniforms as changing rooms have been closed, so they are wearing their tracksuits, and the badmington and hockey teams have been wearing their skorts on training days. This morning one of the girls was stopped at the door and told that her skort was too short. It is a compulsary uniform for the hockey team, and they only come in one length. This girl is particularly curvy which is presumably why she was singled out. A couple of hours later, she was called out of class and told that her skort was distracting to the male teachers and she wasn't to wear it again. Then an announcement was made to the pupils that the skort was no longer to be worn in school or at training, but might possibly be worn at matches. This seems utterly ridiculous to me, that an item of uniform chosen by the school has been deemed inappropriate. I can't believe too that the principal was stupid enough to tell the girl that she would distract the male teachers. Surely ianbu?

That's awful but I can completely believe it.

And yes to pp about navy gym knickers and netball skirts.

There was nothing sexual about them at all they were vile!

Girls are not reponsible for the behaviour of men. How difficult is this concept to grasp?

My daughter wears a skort for PE and it is definitely short but is also much better than the horrific leotard that we had to wear.. even outside in the winter and for swimming too!

When I was at school in 2001-2006, I remember our class having a talk and being told not to wear skirts too short as it was distracting the male teachers.

Yes this actually happened! I am guessing there was an incident with a male teacher and female student and the head decided to blame the student.

Nothing new is it. Females getting blamed for males shortcomings.

@WorksTheDinerAllDay

I'd be kicking up a stink if my daughter was told that and I'd have serious concerns about the attitudes of staff.

Too right!

I actually thought a skort was a new thing, like special culottes. Disappointed now.

At my dc's school, skorts are only for actual sport so all other times the girls need to wear the school leggings or tracksuit bottoms.

I must say that some older girls definitely need to buy a new skort. The actual skirt bit is meant to cover their bottoms and often they don't. I think some people buy a skort in yr7 and their daughters continue to wear them until yr11.

No excuse for what the male teacher said though. Just a general message about skort length would have been enough in the same way there are presumably rules around skirt lengths.

To pick up on what a PP said, I do wonder how uncomfortable a lot of school sports kit makes girls feel and consequently puts them off sport.

Basically, they think pelmet length skirts/skorts are not to be worm always from the playing fields as they think it looks common.

Teachers aren't distracted, it's a smoke screen to distract from the real reason, which is simply that the school hates that look.

I’m struggling to believe this. We are at a fee paying school ( our second) and I just can’t see this happening. Private schools often have skins ( tight sports leggings) that are included in there P.E kit. Or jogging pants

Plus the parents would absolutely be up in arms over the sexualisation of the girls.

Plus the uniform expensive are the school going to refund all the girls parents who bought the skorts?

Sorry no I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick

It's truly wondrous isn't it how women and girls competing in athletics can compete in shorts like men do, without "distracting" any male officials and judges.

There are some countries such as Egypt where women and girls face severe problems in pursuing athletics because they are required at all times to be so covered up.

Will we now be seeing a new rule in Britain where women and girls have to be covered up while competing in sports, just in case they distract men?

Just putting this out there. You say the girl was curvy. I'm VERY curvy and this results in skirts being shorter than they should be. Does this particular girl curvyness results in her skirt being waaay too short than the other girl?

My DC are at a fee paying school and girls were told similar last week by their female tutor. It happens.

Teacher needs to be removed from school if this is the case. Suggest you take this to the board of governors if the head is not stepping up on this issue. Perhaps a male head is not best suited to an all girls school.

Schools do peddle thus kind of crap, though.

Our HT wrote to parents about skirt length, and how it was a safeguarding issue as it wcould arract unwanted male attention (on way to school)

I had a lovely discussion with DD, and agreed a heap of reasons why this was a crap stance, and that if it's ever mentioned again, the terms in which I should write back. Mainly that girls are not responsible for poorly socialised males, and what is he teaching the boys in the school about how not to be creeps?

I will never understand why girls are the ones who are supposed to change their uniform for the comfort of the men and boys in schools, and then we wonder why victim blaming is such a huge problem. My guess is that the boys are never told that their trousers are too tight because they are distracting to the female teachers. (I know OP's dd goes to an all girls school, but this does happen in other schools too.)

I can well believe the headteacher said that, when my secondary school got a new headteacher he called all of the girls into an assembly where he told us that short skirts and tight polo tops were distracting to the boys and male teachers in the school - and that we would be sent into isolation if we didn't learn to dress more appropriately. Both the school skirt and polo top had to come from one uniform supplier because they needed to have the school logo, so a taller, curvier girl was obviously going to a tighter, shorter uniform.

A variation on the almost daily “distracting the boys” thread.

It didn’t happen.

I can’t imagine, even a new HT who would have loads of experience anyway, so isn’t a new teacher but new to that role, would say such a thing. I also call BS, maybe the girl lied as was embarrassed

Of course YANBU if it happened, but IME a skort is not appropriate attire to wear into school. Ours are very short so the blazer would probably cover it, making the 'fee paying girls school' look a bit rough, which is probably what the headteacher is more worried about.

I think skorts should come in longer lengths for taller kids - my DD is year 7 and 5 feet 7 already - her skort is too short, even she's said that

I also think that if men are distracted by children in any clothes, they shouldn't teach children

Either it didn't happen, or sell it to the Daily Mail with appropriate sad face.

I’d be emailing the principal and asking him to provide you with a list of the names of the male teachers on his at staff who would be distracted. By children’s legs. Very important to know precisely who within his staff he is taking about.

See if he’s willing to name them.

For anyone saying schools don’t say this sort of thing to the girls- they absolutely do. Few paying school again - they have finally adjusted their language and refrained from using the word ‘distracting’ this time around and focussed on ‘appropriateness’.
Skorts are so much more practical than the old netball skirts or those dreaded gym shorts which were like giant pants. Wish skorts were around back in the day.