Banning girls from wearing skirts to school

[Northernlurker]

Hi

I just want to get my thoughts in order about this. Basically I have heard on the grapevine that dd1's school is wanting to ban girls from wearing skirts because they have found it impossible to ensure the skirts are of 'on the knee' length.

I am not happy about this because the arguement against short skirts is that it is 'inappropriate', it is seen in some way as a sexual and moral statement. I think this is sexist bollocks. You should not judge anybody's situation by their clothing. Dd1 has been told that her skirt is currently 'borderline'. I bought itin the Autumn term and she's grown since. I am horrified that her school seems to be saying she' 'borderline' between virtuous and slutty. It's a skirt, it covers her bottom, it's not a hazard and it's only unsafe if violent men choose to look only at the skirt, transfer their warped and vile standards to it and then act violently.

What does everyone else think?

[TrillianAstra]

Ennforcing skirt length is a waste of teachers' time.

Wear trousers, it's completely fair, and no-one has to get out the ruler (and be accused of pervyness as they do it).

I've never met anyone in a professional job wearing anything vaguely approximating school uniform.

You've never met a man wearing trousers, a matching jacket, a shirt and tie?
Never met a woman wearing dark trousers or skirt with a blouse (matching jacket optional)?
I'll assume you don't work near many offices then.

[MillyR]

I am not really bothered one way or another if the school has a uniform. I also don't think it matters one way or another what length a skirt is. But I think once schools have set rules, they should be capable of enforcing them through the usual list of sanctions.

Most girls at DS's school choose to wear trousers anyway.

[GrimmaTheNome]

There is a practical reason why girls may not want to wear trousers all the time. I used to have really heavy periods, with 'flooding'. Tampon and towel and could still get leakage if stuck in a double lesson (or worse, my Eng. Lit O level). It was just about possible to deal with under a skirt but I think I'd have had real problems if I'd had to wear trousers at such times.

[SardineQueen]

That's true grimma. All a bit difficult isn't it.

[GrimmaTheNome]

Surely women's rights includes the right to dress in a way which suits the fact she's a woman? Some of the gender differences in dress may have come to symbolise sexuality or subjugation in some people's minds, but may have arisen for rather more practical reasons which still pertain.

[priest]

I think that your assertion that short skirts are only a problem if "violent men" look and act violently is....harmfully off base.

Men are made with a natural desire for the female form, it is how they are made.

Why should we allow our girls to tease and flaunt these in-built attractions and then blame all the fault on the boys when something happens?

I am certainly not making the assertion that boys should not take responsibility for their actions! but i am saying that if there is a known natural "pull/attraction" in this direction ....why would we get all up in arms about a school taking appropriate action to prevent a possible problem?

To say that girls should be able to dress however they wish without any responsibility to how it affects others is a blatant disregard for natural law.

Respectfully,

[GrimmaTheNome]

Certainly the school should take action to ensure the girls (and boys) dress modestly (no bums hanging out of trousers either, please!).

That really doesn't have to mean no skirts.

[SardineQueen]

Priest do you seriously believe that longer skirts will stop schoolgirls being assaulted?

Get a grip!

[SardineQueen]

Aha! Is this 20 questions?

Priest... Are you a member of the Taleban?

I claim my £10!

[GrimmaTheNome]

This story suggests that however women dress, some men will still harass.

But at least dressing to normal standards of decency removes an excuse.

[exoticfruits]

Sounds a great idea-teachers don't want to be enforcing skirt lengths-all wearing trousers stops the fuss.
A school near me has trousers for all, polo shirts and jumpers. The pupils can't do much with them-no shirts, no ties, no blazers and no skirts-boys and girls the same-I wish my DSs had the same at their school.

[hulababy]

All wearing trousers is very unlikely to solve the problm. They are many types and styles of trousers - tight fitting, loose and baggy, hipsters, different materials, some worn showing tops of things; cropped, very long, etc.

Children are children. They will try and break the rules regardless.

The answer is not to ban skirts as an option. The answer is, imo, to have a real clamp down for a while. It does generally work.

[GrimmaTheNome]

The other part of the answer is to have one or two totally unecessary uniform rules, such as length of tie, which are not strictly enforced , so that those inclined to rebel can break such rules. Most of DDs schoolmates have long enough skirts, but some have about two inches of tie. Completely harmless

[exoticfruits]

I don't think that rousers give as much scope. I realise-looking vaguely at the local ones that there are different styles but they still all look reasonably smart-not the way they do with skirts. Skirts were a huge issue when I was at school, we rolled over the waistband. We didn't have the option of trousers-neither did the teachers. I suspect the school is just fed up with the skirt issue and can't be bothered to police it-I don't blame them.

[exoticfruits]

trousers-my keyboard is playing up!

[hulababy]

Well, if it was DD's school I would be very against it.

As said before - as an adult I hate wearing trousers, especially if not worn with a long top or tunic. In many cases trousers are very unflattering and make me fee unconscious if I had to wear trousers with a tucked in skirt and shortish jumper. I also find them uncomfortable, esp as so many are worn quite low ont he hips and have little depth to them.

My 9y DD feels the same regarding the comfort factor.

The girsl shoud have the option but also know the consequences of breaking the guidelines. These sanctions should be upheld.

Giving in in this way is not, imo, the answer.

[exoticfruits]

I don't know why I am taking part-I don't have girls and I wear trousers 99% of the time. Ignore me!

[Himalaya]

I agree with Trillianastra that enforcing skirt length is a waste of teachers time, and it puts too much slightly pervy/fetishy attention on skirt length, when I think part of the whole point of school uniform is to try to reduce the distraction of adolescents' new found sexuality and self-expression when they are at school, which lets face it is just that bit more fascinating that conjugating French verbs.

If a school finds that trying to fight the battle of skirt lengths and skirt rolling is getting unreasonable I think it is fair enough to switch to trousers (or to tell the student body if you can't comply with the rules on skirts then they will be withdrawn from the uniform).

Northernlurker- is your school's skirt requirement for pleated skirts? Maybe they should withdraw that rule and let girls where any plain style of skirt at knee length? I do think part of the problem is the pleated skirt thing - you rarely see anyone in an office in a knee length pleated skirt.

[SardineQueen]

The bottom line here is that schoolgirls in secondary school and their uniforms are considered to be "sexy", when really they shouldn't be.

If a girl has a pair of trousers and she grows and they become tight around her bum - it's "sexy" / "inappropriate" / "will attract the wrong sort of attention" and so on.

If a boy has a pair of trousers and he grows and they become tight around his bum everyone just thinks "oh look he could do with some new trousers".

This is the real problem.

You can put schoolgirls in lumpen sackcloth but they will still be schoolgirls and will still attract "the wrong sort of attention".

We need to stop seeing young girls in this society as sex object / fetishising them and what they wear. Men should know not to proposition girls in school uniform whatever length skirt they have on.

[prettybird]

How old is the OP's dd1? If the skirt was a reasonable length 6 months ago but is now deemed to be borderline, then either she has had a helluva growth spurt - or it is not actually that much of a "pelmet".

If the school is not going to take into account the fact that children grow, then they are being the unreasonable ones if a couple of inches above the knee is deemed to be unacceptable.

[Insomnia11]

I wouldn't be keen to send my daughter to a school that spent its time worrying about the length of skirts of pupils or banned skirts...and if they changed the policy while I was there I'd object.

FWIW when I started work at a law firm in the late 90s I was advised that women wearing trousers in the office was frowned on

[reallytired]

Trousers are very practical for young girls and women. I think its quite resonable for a school to insist on trousers.

Prehaps girls should have the option of wearing a tunic or a skirt if they have religious reasons. However a school should be allowed to decide their own uniform. Provided that there is no sex discrimation I can't see the problem.

[HaughtyChuckle]

When I was at school 01/02

the headmaster tried to make us wear skirts and in the report he wrote 'some girls don't have the figures for tight trousers'

no joke I nearly died he wasnt sacked

[nickelbabe]

I hate wearing trousers, and would hate this rule.

One reason I have just thought of is wet weather.

The one and only time I wore trousers to school, I got drenched from head to toe by a passing lorry going through a puddle.
All day I had to sit in soggy trousers, where the fabric was completely stuck to my legs.
If i'd been wearing a skirt, I would have been able to tuck a towel underneath my skirt whilst in lessons, keeping the wet from me.

Now imagine driving rain for 4 months throughout the winter, and girls having to sit there all day with wet trousers sticking to them.

Let the boys have their discomfort.

It's a stupid rule.