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.

Op have you considered the cut etc of these shorts as I suspect from a distance it would look like the skirt from the gingham dresses and cause a few double takes at the very least?
I bought my daughter the playsuit style and you can't immediately tell it's not a dress, just more practical in my mind so I feel these shorts may read the same

My kid was bullied in reception because his trousers were cotton (he had eczema) rather than standard issue M&S polyester. Barely noticeable- but enough for a few of the boys (little bollixes, tbh) to point and jeer - “you’re not wearing the proper trousers.”

He’s now an adult and takes pride in being resilient enough to be his own man, and has dealt with more than his fair share of bullying. He’s strong and mature for his age, and definitely having the last laugh over the trousers police. BUT - it was still a horrible experience for him to deal with in his first month of school.

dont make your little boy fight your battles for you.

Dont do this to your kid. School can be hard enough anyway.

What would you like him to be wearing in colder weather? @Makingitupaswegoalong (which 75% of the school year tends to be)

This but then again on here people would send their boys in a dress to make a point.

The thing is op, you have to recognise, young children like to fit in. They are uncomfortable standing out. This is very useful in evolutionary terms, it ensures that young children learn & abide by the social rules humans need for peaceful social cohesion living in groups. Its also essential in a school context - in school children are part of a group, they must learn to follow rules & structures.

Your son will not like if you make him wear something different to the others "because you hate grey shorts"

Actually I don't like shorts on any child. Their poor wee knees take enough of a battering when they're covered, bare skin is just cruel imo.
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I agree. It’s weird that boys in this county wore them all year round for the first half of the 20th century.

Have yous met any 8 year old boys? Its really hard to get them to bloody wear trousers. They like shorts. My ds is there middle of winter with his nobbly knees, "no mum im fine in my shorts".

That's great, I think there are several in London but a lot of areas won't have that option.

And on Googling it's not easy to find a list of schools with no uniform.

Lots of the school shoes sold for girls are utterly ridiculous - flimsy strappy things utterly useless in the Winter. Ugh!

Our primary does a lot of non uniform days. That a pain in the arse from a different perspective.

I help out at the school and you get the issue where the kids are sent in by parents in the most ridiculous stuff. Think full on princess dresses. Or ridiculous shoes / boots that they can't put on by themselves.

By the time they hit year five they have to have the right brands or they get shit for having the wrong stuff.

The parents then complain if the none uniform gets dirty from mucky play or paints etc.

Uniform eliminates work for the staff in this respect. They don't have to deal with Molly in her pretty dress going to clean the paints turning the taps on to full and then splattering all over the dress. (Fortunately I spotted that one and stopped it before it happened - the teacher was at the other end of the classroom and was going 'noooooooo' but I was already on it). And they don't have to help her with her ridiculous Doc Martins with laces. (Same child. Reception age).

At least if you get uniform mucky it's just uniform and it's not a big deal in the same way. By the time the kids get to the summer term it's seen better days but that's ok.

So for me, it's less about conformity and more about practicality and creating less issues for the teachers themselves.

These issues do exist before school. I've seen parents complain at forest nursery that their daughters white hoodie got mud on it. Well yes....

Silly shorts like the above are not a great idea for many practical reasons.

I went to a primary with no uniform. At the time my parents liked it. But bullying definitely was a problem.

The same school now has uniform.

Teach your child that a uniform is a uniform - you don’t have to like it. If you get a job with a uniform or dress code you just have to follow it and wear what is expected/ required - not try and find a way to stand out

Yes, how terrible a child be able to express themselves or have some variety in there clothes. That is harmful to others how? You should like everyone should be happy and wanting to live in a dictatorship. Jesus wept.

Mine had one but not compulsory. Everyone ignored it after the infants.

Hear hear. The problem with society is with wanting to impose pointless rules on others and conform at all costs. Many other sensible countries manage without school uniforms. Most countries, in fact.

Generally clothes can be acquired cheaply and uniform just adds expense to the family budget.

with the other parents who will all be talking about it behind your back

Gosh, this is so unnecessarily nasty! All the other parents will be talking behind my back? Do they really have nothing better to do!

I’m sure there are mean parents who bitch about other parents and other people’s children but I think that’s a reflection on them honestly, not on the people they’re targeting.

Gingham is usually just for summer term and only for girls.

If you send your son in gingham, you risk someone asking him if he’s a girl or a well meaning adult to ask you if he’s trans. In an ideal world, clothes would be clothes but schools are generally very left wing on the issue of gender and would take you seriously if you said he was non-binary or trans. Crazy but true.

If he would be able to deal with questions about being a girl then you could send him in girls uniform but most children are happy enough with the explanation that the other boys will be wearing this and go along with that so they feel like they’re the same.

Yeah well it will still happen so what you gonna do?

I’m honestly not fighting any kind of battle. This was my thought train:

1. I’ve never liked those school grey shorts;
2. I wonder if there are any alternatives;
3. Maybe these could be an alternative for younger boys;
4. I wonder what Mumsnet thinks about this;
5. Wow ok it’s a categorical no, definitely a non-starter.
6. The nastiness on here and the threats that if you don’t conform you will be bullied is quite startling.

I’ve already said what I’m going to do, multiple times.

So have you ever seen a boy wearing these?
🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m not sure I’ve seen any child wear them, actually! I don’t usually see children in their uniform, though.

My son wanted to wear summer shorts like the girls do (he likes more colourful fun clothes and cardigans rather than school jumpers) we found them a bit loose in the leg so got some lovely cotton shorts from h and m - school were fine about it even saying how smart he looks in them.

Sorry for jumping in but I vote for ignoring any bitchy parents who feel the need to talk behind someone's back. Maybe pitying them a little bit as they have such small minds. Nothing more than those bullying children people talk about, just all grown up.