Should skirt length matter in secondary schools?

[Holdonforsummer]

My daughter is 15 and in Year 10, she attends an all-girls comprehensive secondary school and they are obsessed with the girls’ skirt length. The skirt is like a tartan kilt and is supposed to be ‘on the knee’ but most of the girls roll their skirts to make them a bit shorter (think mid-thigh). I’m a bit on the fence about this but her school go on and on and on about it. They stop girls all the time, give detentions for short skirts, have assemblies about it, and have even been known to measure skirts and give girls long ones from the list property cupboard to wear instead. Yesterday, my daughter had just finished 5 hours of mock exams in 28 degrees and was walking home - outside school property - and was stopped by a teacher threatening detention even though she had left school. She came home furious and fed up of the whole thing. I can’t decide whether the girls just need to toe the line or whether behaviour from the school is bordering on a sexist, misogynistic obsession. YABU: the pupils need to obey the skirt rules, YANBU: The school should calm down and stop obsessing about skirt length.

I don’t know what school your kids go to but most teachers don’t want to see a child’s arse in school either, they don’t have ‘urges’ to control because they are not perverts or paedos.

I've lived and worked in many places and I've never seen secondary school girls sans tights. I remember one school even banned over the knee socks as they were deemed 'inappropriate'.

I imagine most teachers of today would heavy sign at yet another pointless task they have to deal with rather than actually teaching solely because parents can’t parent their children correctly and ensure they follow the rules.

Congratulations, unfortunately myself and many, many other posters on here have and do see it regularly. Just because you’ve decided it doesn’t happen doesn’t make it true.

Yes but it is such a shame that they can't think like college and uni teachers and recognise that clothes don't matter but the quality of teaching does.

One of our dc's teachers used to measure skirt length yet at parent evenings used to look at us blankly seemingly to struggle to remember who they were talking about.

It's like they've ve all been brainwashed. Uniform first, teaching second or even 3rd after hairstyles, no no 4th after jewellery.

But the rules for schools are not the same as college and uni. I actually feel sorry for teachers having to constantly deal with this day in day out when they don’t actually set the rules, they just have to enforce them when parents fail to. Personally I’d rather we scrapped uniform altogether, I’m certain if that happened the girls would come to school in joggers etc just as they do at college. I never see college/uni kids in micro skirts flashing their knickers, just the school kids.

'I never see college/uni kids in micro skirts flashing their knickers, just the school kids'

It's such an awful way to talk about schoolgirls as if they're little temptresses 'flashing their underwear'.

Ive seen plenty of college and uni students in summery short skirts plus cropped tops. Good for them not to care that some uptight people things they should be in joggers and cardigans.

You are the only one referring to schoolgirls in a sexualised manner. You are the only one who has referred to a schoolgirl as a ‘temptress’. You are the only one alluding to teacher’s not being able to control their ‘urges’. It’s getting quite disturbing to see how you are trying to turn everything sexual. The skirts are so short they flash their knickers unintentionally. I have no issue with summer short skirts or cropped tops, my DD wears both OUTSIDE of school so certainly not uptight. I also never said they SHOULD be in joggers and never even mentioned cardigans so please stop reaching to try and make a point or accusation that simply isn’t there.

'You are the only one who has referred to a schoolgirl as a ‘temptress’

Please quote me in context. I said that when you said 'flashing their knickers' it is an awful way to talk about schoolgirls as if they are little temptresses. I also believe that staff and male students should be taught that what girls and women wear should not concern them. As long as colour scheme/school logo is correct.

I have never referred to these girls in any sexualised way, only you have done that. You do know you can flash your knickers unintentionally. I don’t think these girls are purposely coming to school with the intention of flashing their knickers, but it’s happening because their skirts are too short and people like you have created an environment where teachers are too afraid to say anything for fear of being branded a perv who can’t control their ‘urges’.

Plus, the uniform is not correct as the skirt does not conform to the rules, therefore, it should concern the staff.

I think if your son turned up for school in tiny shorts with his bum cheeks hanging out someone would say something.

'it’s happening because their skirts are too short and people like you have created an environment where teachers are too afraid to say anything '

Oh if only they were too afraid to say anything! As I said previously one dc's teacher told us how she happily passed the weekly skirt length measuring test but then struggled to tell us about their actually academic development. What a sad state of affairs, such skewed priorities.

I mean if they are flashing then are are flashing. If they aren't showing them they aren't showing them.

Male staff and students should dress appropriately. As should female staff and students. If someone wants to dress in a "revealing manner" then can do it outside in their personal/social life. Not in a professional environment.

Intentionally or not, a number of them are flashing their underwear and arses. Like some others have said, they often are not wearing tights. I see it on every single occasion when driving home and passing groups of teens walking home from school. I suspect that when on work experience they manage to keep covered up.

Good for them not to care that some uptight people things they should be in joggers and cardigans.*

There needs to be rules, otherwise teenagers will take it to extremes, as others have noticed. They may be trying to attract ‘boys’ but the real problem is adult men. Sexualising school uniform by wearing mini skirts is not a good idea.

Sorry, Mumsnet almost unusable. What i was trying to say was that is bullying right there, saying that those of us who think pupils and students ought to make sure their underwear is not on display are "uptight". And then introduce the straw man of joggers and cardigans. There's about 80cm of range between above buttocks and ankle length.
We have to agree as a society what we are all comfortable with.

@Gloriia no girls wear tights round my way unless it's winter or they wear thin ones that you can see both the crotch area and their knickers underneath.
Personally I don't think the reason they shouldn't wear such tiny skirts is because boys/men can't control their urges - it's because it's just a very very unflattering look.

Yes and we had uniform in my day that is fine. Colour, logo, jumper etc we all adhered to. No one was measuring skirt length. They were teaching us academic stuff!
Exactly, sexualising school uniform is not a good idea. They are school kids and people should not look at them in any other way.

When you see how many posters/ parents are unable or unwilling to teach their kids the most basic rules about appropriate clothing, you can see why we so need school uniforms in this country.

Of course me should not be looking at them like that - but that doesn’t mean that they won’t, and it would extremely naive to think otherwise. Most men will control their ‘urges’ but there will always be a percentage of men who don’t. An adult woman will understand this and can make a personal judgement on wearing sexualised clothing. A child needs to be told.

Ours were taught, they passed the weekly archaic skirt measuring test with flying colours. My point is is should not matter, teachers should do their job not waltz around measuring clothes.

I'd say we should get rid of school uniform but I dread to think how many rules there'd be about clothes allowed in general.

I've worked in places with dress codes, absolutely no one measured anything.

I've worked in places with dress codes, absolutely no one measured anything.

I sincerely doubt that many grown women would go into a professional work environment with their bums and knickers on show. And something would soon be said if they did.

Ironically when teenage girls aren't at school they all seem to wear jeans, leggings or trackies.
If there was no school uniforms that's what they'd be wearing to school.

I totally agree that teachers should do their job and not be forced to ‘waltz’ around measuring clothes. If only parents would tell their kids to follow the school rules then maybe they could do just that.