Major upset in Yorkshire over school insisting on trousers for girls

[fortyfide]

Are trousers a rarity in schools
And do unifroms get changed frequently at great expense?

what if the girls wore no clothes? or only a bikini to school? Or even to work? Is it all ok?

well no but only because we live in a society where it isn't deemed acceptable.

i do often muse about how arbitrary clothing is, have seen many a thread on here where people go on and on about how terrible it is when people dress scruffily for work etc and I just think...really? that upsets you?

our school rule used to be wearing skirts no shorter than just above the knee, so surely something like that would suffice?

"Are there people on this thread who think that school girls should be allowed to wear skirts that barely cover their bums to school, if they want to?"

No, but I'm surprised a male teacher or the head teacher doesn't have a better way of dealing with "you shouldn't be looking" comments other than feeling uncomfortable.

I do think for practical reasons uniform needs to be regulated, but the children need to be dealt with promptly and consistently.
Dc's school are very strict on uniform, but then make allowances for some of the higher achieving pupils, which in other dc eyes is unfair and causes problems.

When I'm prime minister I will make a national rule that everyone wears comfortable clothes and shoes.
I'm sure people get more pissed off because they are wearing shoes that nip or horrible restrictive collars and ties.

Are there people on this thread who think that school girls should be allowed to wear skirts that barely cover their bums to school, if they want to?

To a certain extent yes.

Are there people on this thread who can explain why they are against the idea of skirts which show bums?

I'm sure people get more pissed off because they are wearing shoes that nip or horrible restrictive collars and ties

yy to this!

"Are there people on this thread who can explain why they are against the idea of skirts which show bums?"

Isn't this a bit like telling women to cover up or they might get raped, or don't get drunk or you might get raped?
Girls dressing sexily is seen as being for boys/men to admire them, so wearing bum skimming skirts in school, they will be seen as young temptresses making the boys and men uncomfortable.

If more people could see clothes as clothes rather than sexy, flirty, dowdy, frumpy, provocative or whatever, then there wouldn't be an issue.
But we live in a culture where it is an issue, sadly.

I'd have a bit more sympathy with the 'what does it matter how short their skirts are' attitude if we were talking about young primary school kids who are often blissfully and innocently unaware of this kind of thing.

However, most teenage girls are not at all unaware and are choosing to wear ridiculously short skirts. Even when they have a normal length skirt, many roll them up. Why do they do this? A combination of peer pressure, wanting to look like the cooler girls, attracting the boys they fancy, pissing off the teachers, rebelling against parents. Well I'm sure we all remember what it's like to be a teenage girl.

Skirt length has been a problem in schools since time immemorial, and it's tedious, a bloody waste of school time and a potential minefield for staff. I don't see any downside at all to insisting on trousers. It kills two birds with one stone - 1) avoids inequality of vlothing choice between boys and girls and 2) stops the skirt length problems.

Incidentally, although I agree that not having a uniform seems to work well in other countries, I can't see how having it here would get rid of having to have annoying clothing rules which are hard to implement. 6th forms seem to have exactly the same issues with skirt length when they aren't in uniform, with additional complications over ripped jeans, no jeans, shorts, strappy tops, flipflops etc.

A combination of peer pressure, wanting to look like the cooler girls, attracting the boys they fancy, pissing off the teachers, rebelling against parents.

Still don't see what the issue is, if they're doing it out of choice. My skirt was ridiculously short at that age for a combination of all the above reasons. My mum just used to shrug and say ok, wear it like that if you want to, but you're going to look a right pillock in photos when you look back in ten years.

She was right!

"what if the girls wore no clothes? or only a bikini to school? Or even to work? Is it all ok?

well no but only because we live in a society where it isn't deemed acceptable."

This is why skirts that show their bums is not a good idea. Its the same reason - public decency.

Its not about asking to be raped / wear what you like its the rapists problem argument. Its about having some self-respect.

Dd rolls her skirt up, but is one of the ones that is overlooked.
She does it because her friends do and she'd look uncool if she wore it the correct length.

This is why skirts that show their bums is not a good idea. Its the same reason - public decency.

I couldn't give two figs about public decency. Didn't give a shit when I was a teenager, don't give a shit now. I'll wear what I want.

I don't want to go out in a bikini because I'd freeze, however.

its about having some self-respect.

So if I wear a short skirt I have no self respect?

A bum skimming short skirt? Well no, you wouldn't (especially if you were wearing it to work).

Well no, you wouldn't (especially if you were wearing it to work).

Well I wouldn't because I don't like wearing that sort of thing due to constantly being freezing, but I'll have you know that I wear ripped jeans and vaguely offensive t shirts to an office where everyone else is wearing a suit!

that have some self respect argument is really the most misogynistic one in the book.

Would you argue that women wearing high heels to make their legs look longer have no self respect? No! Because everyone should have the right to wear whatever the fuck they feel comfortable in/want to wear.

I cannot believe that a thread on school uniform in Hull has run to 12 pages! It seems a mountain over a molehill.

Trousers are smart and practical. Clearly this head teacher wants a simple uniform which allows all the children to focus on their learning. The girls are free to wear what their parents allow them to outside school.

upduffedandworrying - Oh! You are such a rebel!

What people wear to work is really a different subject. This is about what children wear to school - nearly grown up children, but not quite there yet.

The point is though, when at work and by extension at school, you don't have the right to wear what you want. Legally you do not. Some employers may not care but most do.

What you wear does say something about you, whether you care or not, it does. Teaching children that there are acceptable styles of dress and to take pride in their appearance is a good thing and will set them in good stead for getting a job.

Having said that, issues about sorry length make me uncomfortable due to the body shaming/control aspects.

Removing the skirt issue totally is what this school had decided to do. They can do that if they want. Skirts are not a right (though should be for boys and girls if allowed at all). The school had a duty to avoid potentially dangerous situations for staff. It isn't about sucking it up or 'having the skills' to deal with it. Being accused of inappropriate behaviour will stop most people in their tracks. It isn't an easy thing to deal with.

*skirt not sorry

The school had a duty to avoid potentially dangerous situations for staff.

Yes because being accused of inappropriate behaviour as a teacher by a student is all fine and dandy

" Its about having some self-respect."

In what way is making a choice about what you wear lacking in self-respect?

What if someone told me that having pink hair was lacking in self-respect, or having a tattoo?

"Removing the skirt issue totally is what this school had decided to do. They can do that if they want. Skirts are not a right "

But there is an intention behind every decision and whichever way you look at it the school's intention is suspect. IMO