am I over-reacting to make a complaint?

[anastaisia]

About this BBC News report.

Not on the content of it - a story about school terms and holiday times - but about the fact they've used a picture of school girl legs in short skirts to illustrate it.

I posted a comment saying I was suprised they'd use such a picture to represent school children after the recent news reports about 1 in 3 girls experiencing unwanted sexual attention, advances or assult in schools. Wasn't published and the picture is still there though I know they can update pages pretty quickly as stories change or people write in :(

I know it isn't horrific, but it's unrelated to the story and seems pretty inappropriate for any news reports about school children?

I think you are over reacting - has anyone actually seen a girl pupil in a skirt longer than those pictured lately?? If they'd put the girls behind then there'd be some other complaint about how girls are always pictured behind boys and that they are giving out some sort of subvertive messages about girls following boys etc etc

well yeah actually Lal123, two schools in our town, a comp and a private school; the private school the girls wear skirts just-below-the-knee, the comprehensive I have seen them in just-above-the-knee but they mostly wear trousers. Never seen anything round here like in the photos. When I was at school there were lots of girls who went around in that length skirt but they had to take them up specially.

but lal123: Why use a picture of 'unattached' childrens legs to illustrate that story at all. Why not go with something that represented time/years/seasons or something?

I think the fact its the BBC and the news makes it more significant too. If even the news shows pictures of school girls wearing short skirts - can we act at all suprised when girls roll up their skirts, or feel there is pressure for them to do so from their peers and the media?

Btw, we have lots of high schools here, way over 10 - none of them would 'allow' that length skirt in uniform rules, though some then follow up the rules more strictly than others.

I got a response to my complaint!

It says I cant copy or disclose it though .

Unfortunately it was quite dismissive .

They don't wish you to disclose a response that they made? Whyever not? How very strange are they scared they're grammar isn't up to publication?

Would they mind if you created a puppet show based on the narrative of the complaint and response do you think? Or no I suppose that counts as disclosure...How about via the medium of dance forevera?

"their" fgs: I shall report myself to pedants corner forthwith.

I didn't like this either, so you've inspired me to have some conviction and send in a complaint. I'm shit at wording things so it was rather bare, but it still counts as a statistic I figure

Since when did the BBC decide whether you can or cannot share an email!?

I haven't had a reply to mine yet. When I do if they tell me I can't disclose it I will certainly expect an explanation for why not
and I shall go around telling everyone about my secret email from the BBC

I agree about the inappropriateness of the picture but I'm a little upset at the linking of skirts with '1 in 3 girls experiencing unwanted sexual attention, advances or assult in schools.'.

Clothing has nothing to do with sexual assault. It has to do with being in the presence of an abuser and the entitlement they are granted by rape culture.

I absolutely agree with that earwicga and didn't mean to imply that the girls clothing in itself contributes in anyway to assult

But I do think using school childrens legs to illustrate news items contributes to a culture which makes it permissible to fantasise about school children and see them as sexual objects.

I think that this is slightly different to 'being in the presence of an abuser' because many of these incidents involved thier peers and are not taken seriously by 'society'. I do believe that in some small, but cumulative way, images like this appearing in the news has an impact on those figures.

Thanks anastataisia - I agree with you too. Will send in a complaint to the BBC too.

anyone else had a reply to their complaint yet? I'm surprised they didn't do them all in one batch making liberal use of the cut'n'paste button.

I must admit I was a bit is that all when I saw the photo. The skirts are not that short and the girls are wearing knee socks.

how do you feel about the fact that a picture of girls' legs has been selected to illustrate the story when any other school picture would have done just as well, though?
if the article was about school uniforms, particularly on a relevant topic, say 'Should school uniforms be unisex?' or 'Girls complaining about being forced to wear skirts in cold weather!' it would be more understandable, but why pick an image of schoolgirl legs when the article is about term dates?

I think if it had just been boys legs then someone would have complained. The OP made it seem like the skirts were skimming their thighs.

If the parents didn't want them to wear them like that then they did to do something about it.