Schools banning skirts.

About ten tears ago, almost every girl in the school where I taught wore trousers. Then we became an academy, new uniform, and in an effort to get away from girls in tight, stretch trousers, the new hierarchy deemed it sensible to encourage skirts. We old lags rolled our eyes, it would end in tears. Sure enough the 'sensible' skirts became crazily short, and another cause for upset between kids and staff.
Yes I was a teenager in 60s, and checked my knickers weren't showing in shop windows, but it was a different world then, a less aggressive world. Sexual harassment was a wolf whistle, not being called a slag, not being bullied by your peers.

I for one will be pleased to see trousers as uniform for secondary school girls. I well recall the daily rows with 3 DD as they went through the teenage years, of them turning up the waist bands, and making the skirts shorter and shorter! and my battling to get the skirt lengths at a respectable level! ie at least covering all essentials ?

Hear Hear Petra...I heard the same and thought the same but thought I'd be in the minority! Am sick of hearing LGBT harping on! We have come a long way in attitudes but these constant 'white' papers she is on about....why? To me, they could possibly have the opposite effect. If I am right she was saying all people should be able to show PDA's? But why does anyone need to in the extreme? Growing up my girlfriends and I always held hands or linked each other - I don't remember anyone giving us funny looks! Boys didn't naturally hold hands with each other but they would put arms across shoulders. Again who objected?

But now...it seems we have to have public money spent on telling the public that it is ok? Of COURSE its o.k. If anyone is going to snigger then they will do it anyway just as we did as young children when young couples were snogging in local parks!

Going back to the original question I don't agree skirts should be banned. I agree trousers should be an option and in some cases more convenient but 'choice' is the key within the school permits.

As someone else said kids will all be wearing muslim type robes next so nobody can see anything (no offence to my muslim friends) but you can see it heading that way can't you? No legs, no arms, on view.

Rant over .....

Not schoolwear, but I've noticed some large ladies wearing loose long skirts in this hot weather. Probably normally n jeans which can get sticky around the inner thighs.

It’s been on the radio/tv a lot today because the government has opened the consultation into changes to the GRA ( all that self id stuff) and published the results of a survey of LGBT community. I’ll start a new thread on the consultation because it will be great if as many of us as possible comment on it

It's all gone a bit daft. I remember at school we had to wait for permission during cold winters to wear trousers in order to be warmer. How times change.
OTOH maybe it's better to wear trousers all the time due to those daft b------s who try to take photos 'upskirt.'

cherry at least schools would be spared all the trouble of saying that boys could wear skirts if wanted ( easy to actually
say but policing and enforcing behaviour around this would take up valuable time.) Teachers have enough to do as it is.
Am guessing that not many schools will actually ban skirts, but I can see why they would do.

This could be got around by saying any black trousers ( except denims) so the material need not be polyester or skimpy.They could be chino type in Summer.

We all (boys as well girls) went on strike
well actually a sit out on the high school playing field.
Singing we shall not be moved.
It worked the rules were changed and the girls were allowed to wear black trousers as part of the school uniform..

I agree that it would help with problems such as up skirting.
but so would culottes.
That's not the point though is it?
Ignoring the real problem
Forcing girl/women to change how they dress.

Not sure how trousers are gender neutral.
Yes they are worn in modern times by both sexes.
But skirts/ robes including kilts have been worn through out history.

Uniforms have changed since the 1980s
Female police officers and women in The Armed Forces now wear trousers as part of their uniform but this is through practicalities.
Some female NHS staff also wear trousers.

Question is why do the schools want a gender neutral uniform??

School uniform trousers are usually horrible polyester sweaty material, these don’t look good on the chubbier girl , a skirt can hide a multitude of sins and may be more convenient when they have a period. Should be a choice of skirts or trousers, maybe summer shorts for all.

Posters say about skirts being cool to wear in Summer, but all the girls I see wear very short skirts with thick black tights, they don’t wear socks .
Who knew there were all those boys out there just dying to wear skirts ( but are they?) Is it rather the case of LGBT activists pushing this along?
I can’t imagine boys in skirts walking home from school without being set upon ( by other boys) even if just verbally.
There are many areas where it would be physical, not verbal.
What they do after school, or when they are 18 is another
matter, but I would have thought,for their own safety, they should stick to wearing shorts or trousers.

The length in which a skirt is worn however is the responsibility of the school and they are the ones to make that decision.
Yes, I agree with that (and the rest of your post sarahellen

Female members of our armed forces wear both trousers and skirts. The same applies to our police force. There would be many ready to wave their banners demanding equal rights were they informed you must wear a skirt because you are a woman. I do not approve of the word 'enforce' That went out at the same time women were given the vote but there have to be standards when it comes to wearing a school uniform. A choice of trousers or skirts is not the issue and should be a pupils decision, what more could they ask for ?The length in which a skirt is worn however is the responsibility of the school and they are the ones to make that decision.

petra
Well said!

Since when was anyone's sexuality any business but their own (and any partners they may have).

At least they're not making everyone wear gymslips (horror)!

I wore a skirt or dress in the Summer at School, now I hardly ever wear a dress or skirt, trousers are the norm, or shorts in Summer.I feel like a rebel!

Very true. DH has mentioned the Kai Tais in Bugis Street Singapore. Lovely looking men/women apparently.

Alima
Well we have lady boys so they will eventually become lady men. They won't be as pretty though.

I’m with petra on this. There have been arguments about trousers/skirts for school for years. ( In the late 60’s there was shock at the length of uniform skirts, nothing new there). The thing that is really getting on my nerves now is, with seemingly everything having to be gender neutral, the way things are going there will be no females at all. They will all be men and lady men.

When I went to High School in 1948 the uniform rules said that skirts should be 1" above the knee when kneeling, NOT New Look length, i.e. mid calf!

Not much fun for young ladies who suffer regular UTI's or candida. The advice is not to wear trousers but the wear skirts. It's just the world gone mad. By all means give girls a choice (and boys!) but to remove something so traditional to be PC, it is ridiculous. What about young boys who identify as female? Many of them would find wearing trousers quite distressful.

This said in a loud shouty voice.
I'm sick to bloody death ( today) with hearing about the transgender 'community'
I had some tart spouting on about it on breakfast tv.
I get in my car and guess what, here we go again on woman's hr.
I have a lovely massage, very very relaxed. Get to my friend and she's got Jeramy ( spouts twadle) Vine on with another one spouting on about their sexuality. Give it a bloody break.
Rant over

In the early seventies I was the first teacher in my school to wear trousers. The head agreed as soon as I asked if he minded but he was quite progressive.

I don’t agree with banning skirts for girls, why should their choice be reduced? Neither do I see a problem with skirts and trousers being equally permitted to all pupils. Surely that is true equality; any other issues regarding appropriate lengths, behaviour etc should be addressed separately.

If boys’ behaviour towards girls is inappropriate at school, then it should be dealt with, or the issues will just move to outside school.

in early 60s we were not allowed to wear trousers/jeans to school.then mary quant came along and the battle began,all of the sudden jeans were allowed.microminis ,not so much.there were length rules.of course we roled the waistbands.
no shorter than 3inches above the knee.you were sent home to change.
beyond that anyone trying to dictate what we wore was unheard of,truancy,good grades and education were more important.as for gender issues,who cares,wear what works.kilts,asian robes,kimonos.kaftans all worn here.
in the usa here but have a large university with professsors from all over the world.so the familys wear thier countrys clothing.
as a history teacher i used these ethnic fashions as a teaching tool.kids did presentations on the history and purpose of the clothing.
i wear primarily tshirt sundresses and cotton kaftans because its so hot.out the door i wear jeans,working in yard shorts.niece has a dozen skorts.cool comfortable and can be adapted to most situations.

I agree short skirts are not appropriate. But then some trousers are not exactly modest either, in fact they are far more revealing around the bum than many skirts.

We need to be training boys that it is not OK to upskirt etc.

Personally I love wearing skirts. so feel sorry if the choice for schoolgirls is taken away.