Should girls wear skirts in school?

[John Simkin]

From next year all pupils at the Broadstone Middle School in Poole, Dorset will have to wear long trousers. Headteacher Marilyn Warden said the decision had been made: “in order to give girls the same opportunities as boys for a safe, active and healthy lifestyle, while maintaining their modesty.”

Last year Kesgrave High School in Ipswich banned skirts. Headteacher George Thomas claims the decision has been a big success: “We no longer have teachers spending their time trying to stop girls wearing skirts halfway up their back.”

What do members think? Would you be in favour of a ban on skirts in your school?

[Guest]

From next year all pupils at the Broadstone Middle School in Poole, Dorset will have to wear long trousers. Headteacher Marilyn Warden said the decision had been made: “in order to give girls the same opportunities as boys for a safe, active and healthy lifestyle, while maintaining their modesty.”

Last year Kesgrave High School in Ipswich banned skirts. Headteacher George Thomas claims the decision has been a big success: “We no longer have teachers spending their time trying to stop girls wearing skirts halfway up their back.”

What do members think? Would you be in favour of a ban on skirts in your school?

With temperatures tipping 100 degrees F today in my computer room I think we should all be allowed to wear as few clothes as we like

We (an all girls school) have repeated staffroom "debates" about skirt lengths. This is usually motivated by the envy of some rather jealous old women however.

The head teacher in this case sounds a bit of an oddball..... under his new regime teachers will probably spend hours arguing with kids about the cut, colour, and tightness of trousers. Uniform regulations are a very obvious expression of institutional power - children will resist this whatever silly regulation is in place.

[UlrikeSchuhFricke]

in some German schools the students have decided to have some kind of uniform: a pair of trousers (no labels), a sweat-shirt or T-shirt of a specific colour. One reason behind these initiatives is that many kinds or better their parents are no longer able or willing to spend a huge amount of money on fashionable clothes. There is some kind of competition going on in German schools :who wears the most exquisite and mots expensive designer clothes. To put an end to such a competetion the students decided to re-introduce school-uniforms.

Edited June 24, 2005 by UlrikeSchuhFricke

[Mike Toliver]

What Ulrike writes makes a lot of sense - especially since it comes from the students themselves. My teenage daughter fortunately isn't quite so captivated by the lastest crap in fashion - and her mom is VERY good at spotting huge bargains at the thrift stores. But the pressure is very intense to spend outrageous amounts of money to "look good" (often times looking like a "sexworker"). Uniforms of some sort aren't necessarily a bad idea....

[Guest]

  Uniforms of some sort aren't necessarily a bad idea....

Uniforms in English schools are horrible - an outward and obvious expression of unreasonable power.

It is gratifying to witness the never changing determination with which some students subvert the "regulations" (whatever they may be) to express their individuality and kick against the system.

Encouraging a healthy disrespect for the regulations is good for democracy

[Raymond Blair]

I work at a school with a uiform service. I find in general a dress code does our school well as long as there is consensus in the entire community about the standard.

Skirts are trickier because we are supposed to keep track of skirts more than 6 inches above the knee.

Less rules and more rigorous enforcement is the best way to go IMHO

[UlrikeSchuhFricke]

At the moment you can once again see that the higher the temperature the shorter skirts and we have an ongoing debate in the common room is we should have some regulations about the length of skirts and t-shirts (which sometimes are extremely low cut and mostly are not long enough to cover the midriff). But it would be extremely difficult to agree on some regulations as most of the parents would refer to their own and their children's personal freedom. Most of the parents see their daughters leaving the house with those skirts and shirts and obviously they have no objections, which I think is a bit worrying because girsl do send certain messages to the boys (we are a mixed school).

As a mother of two meanwhile grown up daughters I would not have allowed my girls to go to school with a very low-cut shirt and short skirt, because I see some dangers in "sexing up" the girls.

We see in our school that not only our Sixth Form girls wear those clothes but that especially the very young girls come to school with the shortest skirts possible.

Edited June 26, 2005 by UlrikeSchuhFricke

[David Wilson]

There's a "Guardian" article about Kesgrave High School's decision to ban skirts at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,...1243477,00.html

This year, in my maintained mixed 11-16 secondary school, the girls have the choice of wearing skirts or trousers. As it happens, every single one of them has opted for trousers.

David Wilson

http://www.specialeducationalneeds.com

[Gregory Carlin]

From next year all pupils at the Broadstone Middle School in Poole, Dorset will have to wear long trousers. Headteacher Marilyn Warden said the decision had been made: “in order to give girls the same opportunities as boys for a safe, active and healthy lifestyle, while maintaining their modesty.”

Last year Kesgrave High School in Ipswich banned skirts. Headteacher George Thomas claims the decision has been a big success: “We no longer have teachers spending their time trying to stop girls wearing skirts halfway up their back.”

What do members think? Would you be in favour of a ban on skirts in your school?

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Talking to the parents can be a reasonably good idea.

Boards of Governors should also read Governornet, call the EOC, speak to the DfES at length and try to avoid publicity as far as humanly possible.

School backs down in row over ban on skirts

http://www.thisisdorset.net/dorset/archive...S_NEWS12ZM.html

School dress codes are defined by standards of acceptance which are set by society and to go against general practice is to invite a lawsuit.

Generally speaking one must keep a close eye on what could be possible should any 'dress code' precedent become established.