School dress code

[NomNom]

My dd1 is 13, she goes to the local comprehensive (mixed). In this hot weather she has been told that she has to wear either a skirt (not more than 3cm above the knee) or long trousers. She can wear her shorts (they're not hotpants!) if she wears tights underneath which is obviously totally unacceptable when it's 28 degrees.

She hates wearing skirts, and I don't blame her. I'm not a big fan myself.

She likes her shorts, they are regulation colour, tailored and in no way provocative, they are over 3cm above the knee but a whole lot less likely to be blown over her head in a gust of wind.

Why are shorts unacceptable? The school told her that her legs were a distraction to the boys I say the heat is a distraction to her education and the boys should be concentrating on their books and not her legs. Obviously 13yr old boys are going to look because it's in their nature, but that's their lookout, isn't it?

The boys aren't allowed to wear shorts either, so I suppose in the name of equality neither should dd, bit is that fair?

Why can't both sexes be given the option of shorts?

What on earth is wrong with shorts? I'm bemused.

[llareggub]

I argued this point with my school 20 years ago. How sad that things haven't moved on.

[mumblechum]

All the girls at ds's school wear unbelievably short skirts, ie just skimming the knicker line.

C'est la vie.

Shorts and tights sounds quite horrid tbh, surely a skirt would feel a lot cooler?

[NomNom]

Yeah, me too llareggub

They're legs! she is not prone to low cut tops of flashing her fanjo.

[NomNom]

Or, mumblechum, shorts with no tights which would be both mine and dd's choice

[badgermonkey]

They have probably had problems with too-short skirts/shorts before. At our school there were some terribly short skirts being worn - you could see the top bits of their tights in some cases - so a knee-length rule was brought in and now all the girls think it's too uncool to wear a skirt and wear trousers. They're not allowed to wear shorts because a "tailored shorts" rule was brought in one year, which worked well for a year as knee-length city shorts were in fashion, then it got stupid the next year when bum-skimmers came into style. So they're banned.

I would defy the most liberal person not to have been horrified at some of the skirts and shorts worn to school before these rules were brought in. Clearly the students weren't sensible enough to be able to decide for themselves what constituted a suitable school skirt, so the rules had to change. That's how it goes, I'm afraid, and some kids will fall foul of it.

[LouIsWaltzingMatilda]

At least she has the option of being cooler by wearing a skirt. The boys are the ones suffering.

[Shallishanti]

skirt and socks sounds cooler than trousers to me, and at least she has a choice

[LynetteScavo]

Riven - it is that hot! Here in the midlands it's Spanish hot!

I think both boys and girls should be allowed to wear shorts, and both without tights. (But the shorts, shouldn't be allowed to be any shorter than the skirts.)

As long as they are not being foreced to wear ties with collars done up, I think you should chill out. 13 yo's look good in a skirt. Tell her to make the most of it now.

[ravenAK]

If I were the Head tailored shorts of a sensible length would be acceptable for both boys & girls - lots of year 11 lads in my form were lobbying for shorts this year, quite reasonably IMO.

About all you can do is write to the governors suggesting smart shorts be adopted as a uniform option for both sexes.

However, it's really not on for the school to cite the distracting effect of your dd's legs on the boys as a reason! There was a thread on here quite recently where a Head had banned skirts for being 'provocative' & 'putting the girls at risk', & was rightly pulled up on it.

[trilliAnasTra]

This isn't exactly a women's right question - it sounds as if she has more and better choices regarding what to wear when it's hot than the boys do.

[pointydog]

agree, this isn't about feminism.

Re 'the school' telling her that legs were a distration - who in the school said this?

[HerBeatitude]

I disagree that if you don't like school rules you should home educate or move schools. That's a recipe for unaccountability to a certain group of stakeholders and stagnation.

Things get amended, updated etc., because people object to things. If parents were expected to shut the fuck up about rules that are obviously wrong, girls would still not have the option of trousers, muslim girls wouldn't be allowed to wear headscarves and all schools (not just grammar and faith schools) would still be insisting that parents paid £90 for a blazer instead of being allowed to buy a badge to sew on a cheaper one.

I don't understand the argument that parents shouldn't lobby to get school rules changed. It's a bit like saying that if you don't agree with the way gynaecologists treat women, you've got no right to use the NHS, or if you don't like the way the police treat rape victims, you have no right to use their services when you're burgled. I just don't understand why schools shouldn't be held accountable for their policies like any other institution.

But yes, broadly I agree that the shorts issue isn't really a feminist one - it's about sensible clothing for the climate.

[pointydog]

Your dd should try to raise the issue, backed by a petition perhaps. Citizenship and all that.

[HerBeatitude]

But yes also agree that the legs thing isn't on - it's making her responsible for boy's reactions rather than making them responsible for them.

[HerBeatitude]

Yes if she's serious about changing it, she should raise it with the school council