To ask if boys can wear coloured gingham school shorts?

[Makingitupaswegoalong]

DS starting school in September. I’ve never liked the grey boys’ school shorts. I think they’re horrible.

Could a boy wear the shorts version of the summer dresses in the warmer months? The ones like this:
https://direct.asda.com/george/school/shorts/light-blue-girls-gingham-longer-length-school-shorts/G008057152,default,pd.html?redirectFromInt=1&cmpid=ppc--geor-------_-dskwid-_dm&utm_campaign=pla:Fashion-School-_Performance_Max&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17501196607&gbraid=0AAAAADt8Wcm1oMWVYoBrMZRAaJmY4OxHM&gclid=Cj0KCQjwgIXCBhDBARIsAELC9ZgYG9pdeZibdgD76_xniRBLDqnyyvZArL9DdLA7VsYiWE5zGC1CWE0aAkIFEALw_wcB

The little boys round here wear a lot of brightly coloured patterned leggings.

Why couldn’t they were these shorts? Are they obviously girly? Would people bully him or think we were weird? I just think they’re nicer.

Are those shorts part of the school uniform - for girls, for anyone?

If they are permitted as uniform then sure, send your son into school in them.

If they're not permitted for anyone then no, you cannot send him in them.

Some children might say something (probably older kids) and I would expect the teacher /staff to deal with that as they would deal with any unpleasant comments - calmly with no drama because these are small children.

Your son could start a trend and all the boys might end up in them OR he might come home and say he doesn't want to wear them and wants the grey school shorts - because he's picked up on the social expectation in school.

School is for secondary socialisation -learning more about the wider world and society - moving beyond your family and personal choices and opinions.

Your child is not a tool for you to manipulate to change/challenge society.

Both you and your child would be labelled as weirdos from day 1, so as long as you are prepared for that then crack on

Oh and it doesn't matter if you like the uniform or not. It's not you wearing it. All school uniforms are drab. I can see the school years being a long and difficult road for you

I don’t understand why you would want to deliberately make your son the odd one out among all the other little boys, just because you personally don’t like the look of (practical) grey shorts. It should be about him, not you.

If you want to express your personal preferences and individuality in your child's school clothes, you’d be better off sending him to a school that doesn’t have a uniform.

All these bullies must be coming from somewhere.

Absolutely not OP - check your schools uniform list/policy.
Grey school shorts will likely be the boys uniform, and can be worn all year round if desired.
The girls will have an 'option' to wear the gingham dresses in the summer term. I've never seen anyone wearing gingham shorts.
Your son will not thank you for letting him wear gingham shorts to school!

ALL school uniform is horrible. The sooner you reconcile yourself to that fact the easier you will find the school years

There's no point resisting. I have always hated the shirt and tie (that they even had to wear in Reception) and the naff polyster blazer and badge that makes them look like mini Alan Partridges.

Fortunately DS actually doesn't mind them so at least he wasn't unhappy. In fact he has even chosen a suit with shirt and tie for sixth form.

I’ve been labelled as a weirdo my whole life; it wouldn’t be a surprise! I’m honestly not particularly progressive either, just often a bit oblivious to social norms.

Anyway, point taken! Definitely will not be buying gingham shorts. I think my real anxiety here is that DS just seems so young to be starting school. He isn’t even four yet.

It does seem a bit unnecessary that gender stereotypes are reinforced quite so young: boys’ uniforms are to be boring but durable whereas girls’ school clothes can be more decorative and impractical. Wouldn’t something like tracksuits for all be better?

I also find the assumption that any child who is a bit different will be bullied really sad, because there will be children who are different for all sorts of reasons and I hoped schools were a bit better than that by 2025.

In our family all boys start out in “dresses” and we have all worn and used gowns to some degree, some of which were made by my grandmother and great aunts. They are far more practical for changing. They also last and last.

When babies start crawling onesies are better for both girls and boys.

None of that means the majority of little girls and little boys move or play in exactly the same way. Nor should that affect career they go into. No CEO was ever asked how dirty their knees got as a child.

I couldn’t be more strongly in favour of equality. But making it about dresses and play patterns is broad-brushing the issue. Much of our strength as women comes, to my mind, from the fact we ARE different.

It takes a world with different skills. We don’t have to pretend we are all exactly the same. There are variations as individuals in any case.

Dress him like his little friends. Send him to school in the school uniform - he is no more allowed to break the rules than any other child. You could make him entitled.
Buy one pair of the bright shorts and see what happens.
You want a situation where he and his friends and older kids pay NO attention to their clothing but concentrate on their games, interactions and schoolwork.

Join the school council and bring up the uniform topic.
It could be that the majority approve of the uniform as it is.

Eh no, why do YOU think he’d be bullied OP? Because you’re the one who asked ‘would he be bullied?’ in your first post so obviously the thought has crossed yoir mind too. Domt put it onto anothe poster to answer a question like that just yo pick holes in their answer if they were to give one when you’ve asked it yourself and you already know the answers. The fact is, he might be bullied, the fact is, you know that.

YANBU that there should not be a boys and girls uniform specified and they should be allowed to wear what they want. If it were up to me I'd vastly change or phase out uniforms anyway.

In reality other parents, schools and young kids are really traditional about boys wearing and doing this and girls wearing and doing that. Sadly it's the society we still live in.

DD1 when she was in reception got called a boy because she had her hair in a bob and wore shorts sometimes (which were allowed) instead of a skirt.

Choose a school without a uniform policy then.

"My understanding is that legally schools cannot have separate girls uniforms and boys uniform."

I'm sorry, but you're mistaken here. Schools certainly can have different uniforms for boys and girls.

What would be unlawful though would be if the girls uniform was significantly more expensive than the boys uniform (or the other way round) as this would likely be sex discrimination.

Good.Luck.With.That.

That's almost like saying "choose a secular school." No such thing in the UK.

Parental choice in education is mostly an illusion.

My daughter used to slide across the grass and climb and do gymnastics all round the field without worrying about her silly school dress and whether her knickers were on display (they were 😬) Time to do away with the ridiculous sex-based stereotyping of school uniforms I feel.

DS just seems so young to be starting school. He isn’t even four yet."

I do agree that it seems very young. My three had either turned five, or in DC2's case, was a month off turning five, when they started school. We're in Scotland though.

I don’t think there is one without driving into the nearest city. I don’t think we would have got in.

I have 4 teenage boys and I used to dress them in bright stripes and tights when they were little (in my defense, tights on boys are normal where I come from). I love bright colours and they all looked adorable etc. When they went to school I stuck to the standard boys uniform of grey shorts all year round. The grey shorts are no big deal, 100% cotton from M&S and you size up so they hang down below the knees. Still looked adorable I have to say, but not as colourful, of course. However, there are weekends and evenings and non-uniform days and this was in the days of neon football boots so there is still plenty of opportunity for colour outside school.

But you're right, they then all enter the teenage 'everything mucs be black, grey or, at a push, navy' phase, which is a little depressing. But I wanted to sound a note of optimism, the colourful football shirts and boots often do prevail and they do eventually exert their own sense of style and, perhaps, early colour brain-washing from their mothers. I am just watching my eldest walk up the drive, back from uni, and he is wearing one of the most day-glo pink Nike training tops I have ever seen, orange shorts (it is raining) and bright white crocs. Be careful what you wish for I guess😆

Please don’t. Young kids can be very mean and if expect them to make fun of him for wearing girls shorts.

Yeah I tucked my dress into my knickers for handstands and never worried about it until I was about ten.

I wouldn't countenance wearing shorts or trousers until then in case someone mistook me for a boy. The horror. 😱

@Blimeyblighty oh yes sorry doh!

I'm so glad my kids aren't in school. "Do what everyone else does or you will be tormented." And yeah I know it's true, I was bullied like hell back in the day. No wonder society sucks.

Also, in Sixth Form, it is socially acceptable to do crazy colourful ties with the boring grey/navy suits, if that helps at all. DS2 is wearing a yellow with pink flamingoes one today.

Jesus, chill the fuck out.

Shorts and a polo shirt (T-shirt) - no more unsuitable than anything they’d wear on a hot weekend is it? If it’s the fabric you’re deeming unsuitable, you can buy them in cotton.
If it’s a hot day they’d be sweltering just as much in casual shorts and T-shirt.