Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be annoyed at the school not allowing girls to waer shorts

58 replies

Ivykaty44 · 12/02/2010 09:12

I mean smart black taylored tyrp short with tights under, the boys can wear shorts.

This is a local junior state school.

dd has been wearing them since September as they are practicle and I thought as biys could wear shorts girls would be allowed aswell.

The teachers asked her where she had got them from, my dd said they were form asa and the teacher replied - apparently - that says it all.

So am I BUR to be a little miffed?

OP posts:
Original poster
Ivykaty44 · 12/02/2010 09:13

asa = asda

sorry

OP posts:
titchy · 12/02/2010 09:22

YAB a bit U. Skirts with tights are just as warm and practical, and are school uniform. Shorts for girls are not. Shorts with tights underneath are quite a la mode at the moment aren't they - even more reason why they shouldn't be part of school uniform IMO.

MyHouseIsASquashAndASqueeze · 12/02/2010 09:24

YANBU to be miffed (especially if the teacher really said that, what a snob) but how short are these shorts?? I work in a school and even with tights underneath I think the shorts that some of the girls wear are highly inappropriate. They may be more practical than skirts in some ways but you can see everything and I wonder how their parents let them leave the house like that in the morning!

I'm just a lowly staff member so don't have a lot of impact on uniform policy by the way, just my personal opinion.

Original poster
Ivykaty44 · 12/02/2010 09:28

They are black tailored shorts that are half way down her legs, they are longer than shorts boys wear and the school allows boys.

TBH a lot of the girls, including my dd roll there skirts up at the waist band and I am not happy about that as it really isn't appropriate. The shorts cover everything and thick black tights under - it has taken them tillnow to realise it is not a skirt

I was under the impression though that girls and boys could'nt be treated differently?

OP posts:
smokinaces · 12/02/2010 09:30

so they're more like cullottes? (sp?!) I used to wear these to junior school, and they were allowed - smart longer shorts that look like a skirt? If so YANBU, I remember being so much more comfortable and happier in these than a skirt.

Until I got to senior school and rolled my skirt to my arse

MyHouseIsASquashAndASqueeze · 12/02/2010 09:31

Well with that description I see no reason why she shouldn't be allowed to wear them. If girls are allowed to wear trousers they should also be allowed to wear shorts (as long as they are appropriate).

I quite like the kind of shorts you're describing, I think they're practical and classy (unlike the almost hotpants I see on a daily basis )

redskyatnight · 12/02/2010 09:35

Do many of the boys wear shorts with tights underneath them?

I wonder if the shorts would be more acceptable if worn with black socks. (perhaps you could try).

Guessing it is the "trendiness" of the style that school is objecting to?

Original poster
Ivykaty44 · 12/02/2010 09:37

like this, but she is a girl and has thick black tights on not socks

OP posts:
Original poster
Ivykaty44 · 12/02/2010 09:39

would the boys want to wear tights? I guess most boys think tights are girls clothes but there is nothing to stop boys wearing tights if they awish

OP posts:
SE13Mummy · 12/02/2010 09:56

As a KS2 teacher I'd be delighted if some of my classes wore shorts like that instead of skimpy skirts. If they are smart, practical and boys are allowed to wear tailored shorts then I can see no reason why girls shouldn't too. When I updated my last school's uniform policy I actually included those tailored shorts for boys and girls because I thought they were a good option for girls who didn't want to wear trousers in the summer but wanted something less fussy than a dress - the boys were outraged when I suggested shorts that looked like that though, they wanted basketball player shorts included!

Perhaps you could ask to meet with whoever is in charge of the uniform policy and find out why smart shorts aren't allowed for girls... and then point out that in state primary schools they cannot legally enforce school uniform anyway so from now on your daughter will wear luminous pink hot pants to school.

onthehill · 12/02/2010 10:09

Oh my goooooooood! You are so NOT unreasionable, and I'm sure that it's illegal to state that boys and girls can't wear the same? At my dd's school (state high) they told a lad he couldn't have his (long) hair in a ponytail and he took it to the european court of human rights (or sommat ) and he won! I really prefer my dd to wear shorts personally, and i think some girls can feel quite exposed in a skirt, especially if they don't wear them at the weekend etc. So I would send your dd in in her shorts and tell the school to bog off and check their rights! And tell her teacher thyat EVERYONE buys school uniform in ASDA even the queen!

muddleduck · 12/02/2010 10:18

Get dd and her friends to get together and write a letter to the head and the governers explaining why they think there should be a change in the uniform policy.

policies are not fixed in stone - if they can put forward a convincing case then they might get a change.

(and she should stop breaking the rules until the change is made)

TheSmallClanger · 12/02/2010 10:19

Uniforms aren't compulsory at state schools anyway. They cannot punish her or you.

I think that your DD's outfit sounds practical and quite similar to culottes, which we wore in the 70s and 80s without a problem.

TheSmallClanger · 12/02/2010 10:20

State primary schools, I meant.

muddleduck · 12/02/2010 10:22

I still think it is more helpful to teach her that it is possible to change unfair rules than to just break them.

TheSmallClanger · 12/02/2010 10:23

You have a point there. I was just trying clumsily to point out that the school can't actually punish her.

MadameCastafiore · 12/02/2010 10:27

No your daughter should not be allowed to wear them - if it were not that they were presently trendy she wouldn;t want to and that is part of why you have a school uniform isn;t it - it is not supposed to be dictated by fashion of the pupils.

I really think you are kicking up a stink and not backing the school up about something that is inconsequential - if she was my kid I wouldn't have her fighting for her rights to wear shorts (it is a silly pointless fight) I would tell her tough - in life there are rules and you have to abide by them.

muddleduck · 12/02/2010 10:28

Useful for us to know, so thanks for that. But I think I would rather my boys thought that the school can (and will) 'punish' them for breaking any school rules.

FWIW I remember a big fuss at my school when a new family joined and the boys refused to have their hair cut to meet the school rules. The boys argued their case and the rules were changed. I remember it being a real eye opener for me that these boys (who to be honest I thought were stupid layabouts ) had the nerve to stand up to the school when they thought they were in the right. I was far too much of a good girl to have dreamed of doing something like that

muddleduck · 12/02/2010 10:29

That was meant for TSC

muddleduck · 12/02/2010 10:33

I disagree MadameC.
I think that this is a fight worth having. What possible good reason is there for allowing the boys to wear something that the girls are not? It isn't like they are asking to wear some obscure garment that has only just being invented. This isn't just about fashion it is about fairness. In my day girls couldn't wear trousers and I think that it is much better that this is now allowed in most schools.

I agree that we should be teaching kids to abide by the rules (even if they think they are unfair), but I think it is just as important to teach them that unfair rules should be changed and that there is not reason that they should not be the ones who tries to get them changed.

Booyhoo · 12/02/2010 10:33

i am no expert but i thought that when you agree to the school's policies that means you are agreeing to abide by them even if it isnt law to wear uniform, the fact that you have agreed to means you would be breaking the rules by doing otherwise.

letter to the head from the girls sounds like an excellent idea. i agree that she should be encouraged to break the rules.

Booyhoo · 12/02/2010 10:33

should'nt be encouraged

TheSmallClanger · 12/02/2010 10:36

My views on this are coloured by the fact that I was part of a Great Trouser Riot at my secondary school, which would not allow trousers for girls to begin with. It was the fifth year girls who organised it, but it was so much fun.

School uniforms and the time wasted on enforcing petty uniform rules is one of the reasons I don't teach at a school.

OtterInaSkoda · 12/02/2010 10:45

"that says it all"

If she did say that, the teacher is a twat. Don't tell your dd that though

MadameCastafiore - for sure in life there are rules that should be followed, but if nobody challenged the stupid ones, where would be be?

SmallClanger - couldn't agree more about time being wasted enforcing petty rules.

bruffin · 12/02/2010 10:49

Agree with MadameC, it's about a fashion trend and nothing else and goes against the reasons for uniform.

The high street uniform supliers are trying to create trends in uniform by producing fashion items in their range which seems all wrong to me, especially when it is almost impossible to buy a basic open neck girls blouse in m&s now. M&S made a huge mistake last year with their fashion blazer, which was acceptable in most schools.

Swipe left for the next trending thread