Headteacher bans skirts as if too short they 'put girls at risk'

[Northernlurker]

here

I was pretty apalled by this - banning skirts because they give out 'signals' and the girls are putting themselves at risk by wearing them????
Thankfully my daughter doesn't attend that school but I have e-mailed the school address protesting at these comments. What does anybody else think?

OK and you think that paedophiles will be deterred by trousers or longer skirts do you maamruby?

And you think the responsibility for avoiding sexual abuse should rest with the potential victim, rather than the potential perpetrator do you? Because that is what telling girls to dress to avoid rape, is doing - placing the blame for abuse onto them, instead of onto abusers. Are you completely unaware of that? Do you not have to go on some sort of equality awareness course when you work in a school?

There are Muslim women and girls who are subjected to much verbal and sometimes even physical abuse when they go out (veils ripped off, name calling, some of it sexual) -- they are not going around in hot pants or short skirts obviously. Yet men and boys seem to think they are perfectly fine targets.

It's not about the clothes girls and women wear, MaamRuby. It's about the boys and the men and whatever problems they have and inadequacies they feel.

Shouldn't schools be challenging those attitudes though maamruby, rather than re-inforcing them?

But you seem to be using attire as a justification

Maam Ruby that is...

I have written them an email of complaint,

On 14 Jun 2010, at 21:23, ....

Dear Sir or Madam

I wish to complain about the dress policy for girls on your website listed here:

www.staidans.co.uk/index.php?page=information/news/news&pghead=home

The language used clearly implies that should a girl wear a short skirt they are "at risk". This is simply not true and you have no factual evidence to back up your hypothesis. If you do have fact based evidence, please publish it.

The clothes a girl or boy wears do not increase their risk level and do not inhibit their safety.

I urge you to remove this from your website.

Yes society is a bit screwed - not helped by our sons being told that the girls's short skirts were a risk so lets ban them and our daughters being told that for their own safety they must change their wardrobe.

Of course our clothes say something about ourselves, our personality. They don't give anybody intimate knowledge of our wishes and intentions though. I don't think anybody goes out dressed in an outfit that says 'Please abuse/rape/murder me - I'm well up for it as you can tell by the length of my skirt!'

I don't understand why it is still the norm for boys to wear trousers and girls to wear skirts.

This does anger me. If someone is depraved enough to want to assault a young girl, or indded anyone, then they willdo this whether they are wearing a short skirt or not. Is there any evidence that rape victims have been wearing short skirts...? Thought not.

This guy is obviously very sexist, I wouldnt want him anywhere near my daughters.

The mum's cooking comment would be enough to get a punch in the face from me

Where does it say about cooking I can't see it on their website? And I think wanting to punch the Head teacher in the face is a bit OTT, but I assume you are joking.

Of course Im joking. I am against violence 100% Just wanted to illustrate how cross the chap made me.

It says the girls are not leaving the house with their skirts this short...
so presumably most of the shortening goes on in the toilets and is undone for going home

So if the skirts are only this short in the school who does the head think these girls are at risk from... teachers?? him??

Brilliant dittany.

Yes he's responsible for inciting people to want to punch him...

Presumably black students are going to be forced to wear balaclavas to 'protect' them from racists?

There is a difference between an ideal and a reality.

The reality is that if you are walking around leaving very little to the imagination, they you are drawing attention to yourself. IF there is someone who is of a predatory nature, you are more likely to be on their 'radar' than someone who is not.

Equally, tell me that your eye is not drawn to a man's 'packet' if he is wearing a pair of tight cycle shorts?

Why is it that people have to jump on the sexism bandwagon whenever someone makes a decision that affects girls?

I will be raising my children (all girls) to know that they have beautiful bodies, and they should be proud of them, but that doesn't mean that they have to show every inch of skin at every opportunity.