Stowmarket High: Skirts banned at school 'to protect girls' modesty'

[justicewomen]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-49663689

I am appalled at the continued erosion of women and girls rights and freedoms to tackle problems that they are not the cause of

Argh, not another skirt uniform thread lol
If I read that correctly, they're saying skirts are banned because of modesty and glass sided stairwells?
How ridiculous, oh noes people might get a flash of a female leg, pass the smelling salts!
FFS

Not exactly.

'Mr Lee-Allan said he thought the glass-sided stairwells could have been another reason for moving away from skirts, but the contractors had assured him this would not be an issue.
He said mentioning modesty in the newsletter was "my error, hands up".'

Ah OK, fair enough but the article did say A school newsletter informed parents that, "with modesty in mind", skirts were no longer considered appropriate even if he did take it back after talking to the contractors (and the parents criticising and WTF'ing!)

Yeah. Not an impressive headmaster.

I am wondering if he is thinking of up-skirting problems.

He probably was - but didn't identify the problem properly.
'Skirts are being phased out because we fear some boys may be voyeurs' ...

As it seems the stairs aren't a problem, it's not clear why the option of skirts is being removed.

Pathetic.

HT said 'the new uniform was "more affordable and smarter".'

Well, that's fine, but there's no earthly reason why a skirt would be more expensive than trousers. The school skirts DD had were a simpler garment than trousers, and generally looked at least as smart.

Designers, architects and builders could learn to reject "glass-sided stairwells", perhaps, if they cause such problems? Learn from your mistakes?

In our school (1970s), a scattered school site, it meant having to go traipsing outdoors, in the wind and rain, to access lots of the classrooms. Girls campaigned for girls to be allowed to wear trousers, as practical clothing.

Whereas in summer, hot weather, skirts were more pleasant. And I would not have objected at all to any boys wanting to wear skirts in hot weather, for comfort.

Well, in this case the problem seems to be the HTs mistaken supposition that the stairs would be a problem, rather than a fault in the design.

He’s an idiot. Is it cost? Is it “modesty”? Is it because “gender neutral” clothing improves outcomes?

Nope it’s a vanity project, like all new school uniforms are, and to boot one which polices young women and restricts one of their choices. Pathetic.

I hope they inform all visitors of the shortcomings of their stairwell design.

Do we get a new thread every time a school announces its new uniform rules?

Clip on ties are even more pointless than the wrap around version.

Clip-on ties , rather than the wrap around version, reduce the risk of being choked/throttled.

I agree that both are equally pointless, though!

Boys may well want to take "creepshots" of clothing that shows an errant curve, as well.

Perhaps we should just mandate that they go to school in burqas, or just take lessons from a screen at home, for their modesty's sake.

I was just about to say that’s an argument used to justify Burqas but got beaten to it

Imagine if a non religious comprehensive school enforced that as school uniform and said don’t worry, it’s ok, we’re just protecting the girls from the horrible boys. Nothing to worry about move on. It’s for your own good women

I loved my ‘wraparound’ school tie. I can remember my pride when I learned how to do it myself. And everyone did up their ties differently. Long, short, thin, fat. And skirts. There were all different lengths.

And everyone did up their ties differently. Long, short, thin, fat. And skirts. There were all different lengths.

They're a means of providing a bit of individuality on a uniform, and allowing scope for those who want to rebel a bit to do so harmlessly. With skirts, sensible schools just do what DDs school did; it seemed they set the required length a bit longer than they really wanted to enforce - so the ones that felt obliged to 'roll' could do so without getting chilly arses.

Yuk. The word 'modesty' makes me think of the puritan couple in Blackadder.

"But we can not make all the people happy."
So let's just take girls' choices away, because they are the least important group.

Why would the option of skirts make anyone unhappy?

The Headteacher had to be a man.

Are the trousers at this school very loose then? Because normal girls' school trousers are quite tight round the bottom and not particularly "modest"

Yes but tight trousers mean that boys and men can leer without complaint.

Presumably the female teachers will also be dressing modestly and will be chucking their boden dresses and opaques .