To think that 5/6 year old little girls don’t need to wear shorts under dresses to “protect their modesty”

[Darthwazette]

Just what the subject like says really. I’d be interested to know other parents thoughts. I’m not a weirdo, this request has been made of my daughters from school and it makes me feel a bit icky.

There are eleven year olds in school with camera phones. Safeguarding issues happen.

Exactly. Why are their concerned mothers not encouraging them to wear cycling shorts under their micro mini skirts? It’s baffling.

I agree with you in a way but also see the other side. I was a TA once and often saw very young girls (reception, nursery age) who are blissfully unaware of their bodies. This is lovely but it does mean they often display a brief flash of their genitals when sitting in certain positions. Often the knickers are loose and baggy on very young girls and so you see more than you'd expect. In they ground they did cartwheels or hung upside down from bars.
If you think about it you never get a flash of little boys willies because they're always in shorts or trousers. Boys genitals are well hidden in school and I feel it should be the same for girls. Lots of girls at our school wear shorts, trousers or the cycling shorts under skirts.

Depends at that age at school we used to constantly be doing handstands so I’d want my child to wear shorts then. But I think it depends entirely what activities they get up to.

😂😂😂

Think we are the minority though. Honestly didn't know this was even a thing and I have a daughter.

Doesn't this just raise the question of why are girls knickers "knicker shaped" and not just boxer short style.

Can you no buy boxer style hot pant Sykes for young girls? Save the pants plus shorts issue for once?

If not I'm off to set up a business that makes hugging boxer style briefs for girls.

I agree with this. When it’s very hot I find dresses cooler than shorts (although I do have some linen ones that are cool). Plus I am extremely pale and it’s easier to be more covered up to prevent burning.

My DD prefers dresses, and she doesn’t want to wear cycling shorts underneath. I have not forced her despite the fact I know she spends a lot of time upside down on the monkey bars at school. As a result of this thread I’ll consider getting her bigger pants though I guess.

I worked in schools and nannied.

Yes, they do need to be wearing shorts because they aren't conscious of what their legs are doing and they forget when playing.

Unfortunately little girls underwear can expose a lot of they have their legs apart and I would rather them wear small shorts than be exposed to any adult who happens to be around.

Let them be kids and play rather than be stressed about keeping their dresses down

My 8yo has started to wear her PE shorts under her dress which is entirely her choice. She says she doesn't want her friends to see her knickers when she does cartwheels or handstands.

It's entirely her decision and I support her in this.

I remember practising cartwheels at school in Year 6, so aged 11, and my friends and I rather haughtily took the view that 'boys shouldn't be looking!' It really didn't bother us if we were showing our pants. It's not like we were pulling them down or anything. The focus wasn't on the pants showing, it was on getting our cartwheels better. Teachers never commented on it. Feels a much more innocent time somehow.

Fast forward 10 plus years and I did two terms of supply teaching in a Year 1 class. At some point I asked a couple of girls if they liked practising cartwheels on the field. These 5 and 6 year olds replied that the headteacher had banned cartwheels and handstands. I asked them if that was because he didn't want them hurting themselves and they said no, he didn't want them showing their knickers. I felt quite sad that little girls had been made to worry about not showing their knickers for a few seconds while playing. I used to take the class out for playtime ten minutes early and let them practise cartwheels.

I now have my own young daughter but she's home educated so doesn't wear uniform, but does wear dresses at home and I never put shorts under them. I remember putting her in shorts and t shirts on holiday when she was three thinking they'd be cool and practical but when I was helping her pull them up and down for the toilet I noticed how sweaty she was getting round the middle. When I switched her to dresses she found them much cooler and more comfortable in really hot weather. So I wouldn't want her to add shorts under them as presumably that would make her sweaty again?

I worked with small children for years and was never flashed. But then I have never looked at the genital area of small children or any age children, except when I had to change nappies.

My DD is quite slim, I actually have found the short type ones worse for not covering her because they are not tight around her thigh. Someone upthread mentioned Boden, they are good but bloody expensive! M&S have some PE knickers that good but alas they are sold out.

I wish my mum had thought to put shorts on me. Used to have boys watching us doing handstands and cartwheels on the school field because they could see our knickers. My children went to a special needs school so never been strict with uniform. They wore a polo shirt or t-shirt with school logo. I did put her in a skirt once but she never thought to hold it up on the toilet. Got poo on it.💩 Only trousers or shorts after that. Apart from Christmas parties when she wore dresses and staff knew to hold her dress up

My just turned 6 year old is asking to wear shorts also. When I’ve asked why, it’s because a year 5 boy told them to stop doing cartwheels because he could see their knickers, he didn’t want to see them and it was inappropriate. He was apparently backed up by a teacher. I’m tempted to contact school but they’ve enough on their plates.

It's a uniform. Preference doesn't come in to it.

School uniforms (if we must have them and I don't think we should), should be uniform.

They should be practical and healthy.

Bundling girls up in shorts and a skirt is none of those things.

I never put shorts under my daughter's skirts or dresses, nor do I wear them under mine ( though to be fair I don't tend to do cartwheels unless I've had a vodka too many, then I turn into a gymnast)
If the school had asked me to do this, I would have been down there tearing strips off the head.
Why should my daughter be told to cover up or worse, called immodest!
How do you think we went on years ago? We did cartwheels and handstands, climbed on monkey bars and up tree's in a dress, hell, we even used to tuck those dresses into our knickers to make it easier, and no one gave a shit.
Contrary to popular opinion, there are no more paedophiles and perverts around now than there were back then, it's just that now children are encouraged to report anything untoward happening to them, and are more likely to be believed, which is a great thing and so the perpetrators are quite rightly punished.
I know of four girls and two boys in separate families who were being sexually abused by their own father's when we were kids. No one knew anything about it until we were young adults and they were finally brave enough to report it to the police. Yet, three of them were my friends whose homes I was in and out of.
So no, I refused to cover my daughter up. Maybe the schools should concentrate on teaching the boys to bloody show respect for girls instead.

if it’s part of your child’s school uniform then you agree to that when you enroll them at the school . If it’s not then it’s entirely up to YOUR child . My DD aged 7 has worn them from p1 because she asked to .

I like a bit more coverage, that's all. It makes me feel secure and comfortable.

I also wear shorts-style swim bottoms for the same reason. I could just wear boxer style underwear I suppose, but I just like the shorts. People have different feelings about the sensory aspects of different clothes.

It's not at all relevant to primary school children, who I agree should be allowed to make their own decisions about what they find comfy, but just as a response to the people who find it absurd that an adult should choose to dress like this. I don't care.

And wibbling on about "being upset" and "politics" just makes you look like you feel the need to make this personal.

Quite a few posters have mentioned how unhealthy it is for girls to wear shorts under a skirt. Does this apply to children who wear traditional Asian clothes in warm weather, especially those who may cover themselves completely (often in layers) for religious reasons?

@CaptainMyCaptain

Isn't it just!

Someone on this thread thinks it'll protect them against peadophilles too.

H&M do knickers throat are kind of like mini boxer shorts, they are good compromise because they don't move around or fall down if they're cartwheeling or whatever

I put little shorts or leggings / tights under dresses for my daughter. Modesty is 1 reason but the main reason is getting the most wear out of the clothes.

DD is tall like me and her dresses fit her on top, but many of them are too short for her. Wearing with shorts / leggings means she can wear them until she grows out of the top part.

leggings prolong the wear of summer dresses as well. She can wear a short sleeved dress with cardigan and leggings in spring and autumn.

"I really don’t see the need at school - all the adults are DBS’d, the rest are kids."

Passing a DBS check just means they haven't been caught yet. Judging by the number of male teachers who get done for CSAI.