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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Should skirt length matter in secondary schools?

463 replies

Holdonforsummer · 19/06/2025 19:10

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.

OP posts:
notacooldad · 22/06/2025 20:05

I've never seen a teenagers arse or knickers but then again I don't look

Unfortunately for me, as I go into schools, colleges and other places where teenagers are including their home ive seen more arse cheeks than a st Tropez beach.
It is particularly awful on home visits when the teen comes downstairs in tiny boxer shorts and crop top. One sat on the rug in the living room and her labia was hanging out. She was told to go and put her trackies on as neither her or her nan wanted to see her bits!

Needmorelego · 22/06/2025 20:20

WhenYouSayNothingAtAll · 22/06/2025 19:59

Tbh, I doubt DD would wear one. Nothing to do with being raised modestly or not. She has 3 skirts in total , one uniform, one pe skort and one cargo skirt.She is looking forward to being able to wear school trousers again though, once the weather cools off.

To be honest fashions change.
My secondary era (late 80s/early 90s) long ankle length skirts were the fashion and everyone wore them.
Girls don't wear them at the moment because it's not trendy.
Give it a few years and long might come around again.
(what's a cargo skirt?)

Gloriia · 22/06/2025 21:07

notacooldad · 22/06/2025 20:05

I've never seen a teenagers arse or knickers but then again I don't look

Unfortunately for me, as I go into schools, colleges and other places where teenagers are including their home ive seen more arse cheeks than a st Tropez beach.
It is particularly awful on home visits when the teen comes downstairs in tiny boxer shorts and crop top. One sat on the rug in the living room and her labia was hanging out. She was told to go and put her trackies on as neither her or her nan wanted to see her bits!

What a bizarre thing to share and not relevant to school uniform at all.

notacooldad · 22/06/2025 22:38

@Gloriia
What a bizarre thing to share and not relevant to school uniform at all

Not really,it was going on from someone seeing they've never seen arse cheers. The skirts are so short evey time im in a school or similar the skirts are so shirt and you can see everything,especially when you are walking behind them on the stairs but they don't care, I added the next bit because there is just no modesty with so many girls. They don't care what you see was my point.

Gloriia · 23/06/2025 07:43

notacooldad · 22/06/2025 22:38

@Gloriia
What a bizarre thing to share and not relevant to school uniform at all

Not really,it was going on from someone seeing they've never seen arse cheers. The skirts are so short evey time im in a school or similar the skirts are so shirt and you can see everything,especially when you are walking behind them on the stairs but they don't care, I added the next bit because there is just no modesty with so many girls. They don't care what you see was my point.

How you described what was 'hanging out' was grossly inappropriate. You could have got your point across without being so unpleasantly graphic. Do you still do home visits? We fortunately didn't have to put up with school staff doing a home snoop, anything school related was conducted at school.

Theunamedcat · 23/06/2025 07:56

On a train with school children the other day looked to my left and came face to face with hair escaping from pe shorts moved my eyes (trying not to be obvious) and was confronted with the boy behind adjusting himself with both hands 😅 I looked at my phone for the rest of the journey

Lesson learned

Gloriia · 23/06/2025 08:33

Theunamedcat · 23/06/2025 07:56

On a train with school children the other day looked to my left and came face to face with hair escaping from pe shorts moved my eyes (trying not to be obvious) and was confronted with the boy behind adjusting himself with both hands 😅 I looked at my phone for the rest of the journey

Lesson learned

Tbf males 'adjusting' themselves isn't purely a school boy thing and one can't help wondering how the school kid's body hair was 'escaping' from their shorts. I'm not sure I'd have noticed.

These poor kids. I hope they've no idea the scrutiny they are under from some adults.

CorbyTrouserPress · 23/06/2025 08:51

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Wdfssda · 23/06/2025 09:38

Theunamedcat · 23/06/2025 07:56

On a train with school children the other day looked to my left and came face to face with hair escaping from pe shorts moved my eyes (trying not to be obvious) and was confronted with the boy behind adjusting himself with both hands 😅 I looked at my phone for the rest of the journey

Lesson learned

He might have had a wedgie. Happens to everyone.

notacooldad · 23/06/2025 10:00

How you described what was 'hanging out' was grossly inappropriate. You could have got your point across without being so unpleasantly graphic. Do you still do home visits? We fortunately didn't have to put up with school staff doing a home snoop, anything school related was conducted at school

Ok, fair enough,
It was definitely was a 'ffs, really?' moment.
I'm not school staff but work with pupils both in school, in the community and in their homes.
I definitely prefer being in the community with them or in a council building to do my work.

Theunamedcat · 23/06/2025 15:19

Gloriia · 23/06/2025 08:33

Tbf males 'adjusting' themselves isn't purely a school boy thing and one can't help wondering how the school kid's body hair was 'escaping' from their shorts. I'm not sure I'd have noticed.

These poor kids. I hope they've no idea the scrutiny they are under from some adults.

Edited

They were extremely short pulled up at the front and in my eyeline it's not something I chose to notice I'm just a short person at crotch height when sitting and armpit height when standing it's not a pleasant height go be honest 😂 honestly the boy shocked me more than the girl literally both hands shoved in there having a root around 🤢 days like those I'm glad handshaking has fallen out of fashion

raffegiraffe · 23/06/2025 17:03

Wdfssda · 21/06/2025 23:16

I honestly cannot make a value judgment without seeing their PE uniform. But after looking through photos of my DDs at their school sporting events they had shorts on, and yes it was shorter compared to their school skirts but that's because it's made for sport. Sport is different to lessons. My DS didn't wear his sports kits in history lessons. Students were sent home if they wore jeans like trousers instead of proper formal ones.

As PP said you don't teach in sportswear there's a time and a place for stuff. Main thing is though, the school has a dress code and rules which students should follow. If they break it, so be it, but the school can dish out any uniform related infringements as it sees for. Shirts need to be tucked in, ties done up and skirts for the girls should be at an appropriate length.

If you can't understand that, maybe it's a you issue.

Yep, maybe 😂

Wdfssda · 23/06/2025 17:07

raffegiraffe · 23/06/2025 17:03

Yep, maybe 😂

😂at you

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