School policies that encourage girls to take responsibility for male behaviour

[jewel1968]

What are your thoughts on a school enforcement of skirt length policy in that skirts should be around the knee. And more specifically what would you say about a female teacher telling a 13yr old girl not to wear shorts on a school camping trip because of the impact it will have on male teachers. Not my DD but a friend's DD.

Is there a very unhelpful message here for girls i.e. that they are responsible for the behaviour of boys/men?

Standards of dress that are respectful towards people are also about maintaining an environment that puts the focus on things other than sexual attractiveness or which sees harassment as inappropriate

But this insinuates that it's the clothes that are the problem. That somehow it's the clothes that bring on the Harassment. Which is not true. Naked ,bikini or burka it's not ok. It's never ok.

Cost will also be a big factor. Dds skirt costs 18.50. At that price shes wearing it til it falls apart whether it's down to her knees or half way up her thighs

You cant expect people to fork out on new skirts the second their kids grow a couple if inches.

If theres going to be a uniform it needs to be affordable practical and easily available. And with a wide enough range to ensure all body shapes can be catered for. The same trousers can look like baggy combats on one kid and skinny trousers on another .

Uniform policies are often responsible for alot of body shaming. You cannot expect everyone to fit the same item the same way.

Fix don't you think that the vast majority of men don't act when they find something or someone attractive unless it is appropriate?

Abuse and inappropriate behaviour is not based on attractiveness or sexuality anyway. A paedo is interested in kids whether they are fully covered or in a bathing suit.

A teacher eyeing up underage girls and attracted to their short skirts would constitute a paedo.

Non paedos dont eye up childrenn no matter how short their skirts

And predators dont give a shit what you wear

it's very uncomfortable for some male teachers when dealing with girls who are wearing revealing clothes. Not because of the risk of doing something inappropriate, but because accusations can happen so easily
How does a girl wearing revealing clothes make accusations more likely?

Male teachers should be capable of looking at a girl's face rather than her body and complaining that he finds it uncomfortable..

I find uniforms really difficult, I'm a teacher, our school has uniform and is pretty relaxed about it. We'd not send a child home unless they were wearing something completely different. We say skirts need to be no shorter than mid thigh. Girls wear skirts so short if they bend forward they risk showing underwear. Female teachers are most annoyed at skirts too short. I get it's not clothing that's the problem, but clothes do impact how people see us don't they. If we ditched uniform it would be easier I think because everyone would probably be in jeans.

it is relatively easy to design unisex rules

1.The body must be covered from neck to 10cm above knee and arms to the elbows, whether you wear skirts, shorts or trousers. unless in PE where normal sportswear is required

1. No underwear should be visble above, below or through clothing
2. long hair must be tied back neatly

But tea

You are already screwed if you are tall and/or particularly skinny with those rules.

Shirt sleeved shirts dont reach the elbow . Kids shoukdt have to roast in.long sleeved shirts theres nothing special for sexual about an arm

If you are large of chest your shirt will potentially have to be a bugger size meaning more exposure around the neck/collar area. Particularly if no tie is required and girls wear revere shirts .

If you are tall and have a 22 inch skirt then its gonna be short.

Common.sense needs to be applied

Excuse typos

Skirt length can be too short in my opinion - and its worse in school than the office, as for some subjects they use high stools. the stools are used in Science and Practical subjects, as they get less in the way when carrying out practical tasks.
However having worked in schools I complain just as much about boys whose bums hang out of the back of their trousers.
If there is a problem with shorts it should be the same for both sexes.
And in practical subjects: anyone with long hair should tie it back, ties should be tucked into shirts, and only closed toe shoes should be worn.

But some schools are sexist or thoughtless.

what would you say about a female teacher telling a 13yr old girl not to wear shorts on a school camping trip because of the impact it will have on male teachers.

How insulting to her male colleagues!

FixTheBon

Wowe, nice attitude.

The most common clothing worn by a woman or girl prior to rape is Jeans and a T shirt.

Women who wear burkas are raped.

But as it is all down to clothing, just how many women and girls have you raped? Because if it is about clothing then you must have assaulted a lot of people.

2. No underwear should be visble above, below or through clothing

The problem with that is most school shirts are thin white poly cotton, no problem for boys but you can see bras through them. So do you have girls going without a bra?

But I've taught more in FE than schools so I find students and teachers manage without a uniform or with the minimal uniform some settings have (polo shirt and jeans).