School dress codes - fingertip rules for girls (out of control, playing, daughter)
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skorts are so practical for girls of all ages. My 12 year old girls wear almost nothing but skorts and jeans. They don't like shorts except in the summer. They like the modesty skorts afford them along with the comfort. I don't understand why a school would not allow skorts, capris or gaucho pants. But I do have a problem with a lot of what goes on in Texas these days.
skorts are so practical for girls of all ages. My 12 year old girls wear almost nothing but skorts and jeans. They don't like shorts except in the summer. They like the modesty skorts afford them along with the comfort. I don't understand why a school would not allow skorts, capris or gaucho pants. But I do have a problem with a lot of what goes on in Texas these days.
I agree that skorts are practical and comfortable. I have no idea why they don't allow them, but 7th grade seems to be the breaking age. Mine wear bermuda shorts though as well and like it, but I guess she can't wear those to school now that she is going into jr. high. My son would have hated not being able to wear sweats as he hated jeans, but back when he was in school there the kids wore what they wanted to wear other than really skimpy stuff.
Obviously schools are not bars, and I work hard to dress my daughter modestly because that's my personal preference for her appearance. The problem I have is that the focus is mainly on GIRLS and makes them self-conscious about their appearance simply because they are told to cover up because boys and male teachers cannot stop from ogling them, and that it's just "what boys do." There is no accountability for the education of boys on how NOT to treat women as objects. But that's a whole other discussion. TV, music, movies, commercials, magazines - they ALL treat women as objects instead of equals. So unless parents teach their sons to ignore what the media are pushing on them, my daughter will continue to struggle to find clothes that meet the school requirements.
As a male teacher, I can absolutely say that neither I nor any of the male teachers I know are "ogling" young women. We are given the dress code rules by the administration, and we are expected to enforce the dress code rules. However, telling a young woman that here dress is inappropriate because her skirt, shorts, shirt, etc. is too revealing makes us appear that we are ogling them. It is as embarrassing and uncomfortable for us as it is for them. Many male teachers refuse to enforce the dress code because if they tell a girl her outfit is too revealing (by whatever definition we are given), and she reports to her parents and/or the administration that the male teacher made her feel uncomfortable, the teacher could possibly lose his job.
If you want more modest clothes, then stop buying the short shorts and strapless outfits. The retailers will change. I promise.
Obviously schools are not bars, and I work hard to dress my daughter modestly because that's my personal preference for her appearance. The problem I have is that the focus is mainly on GIRLS and makes them self-conscious about their appearance simply because they are told to cover up because boys and male teachers cannot stop from ogling them, and that it's just "what boys do." There is no accountability for the education of boys on how NOT to treat women as objects. But that's a whole other discussion. TV, music, movies, commercials, magazines - they ALL treat women as objects instead of equals. So unless parents teach their sons to ignore what the media are pushing on them, my daughter will continue to struggle to find clothes that meet the school requirements.
I'd be all for uniforms if my school district required it, to be honest. Much less hassle. But the fact of the matter is that these school rules specifically target girls, and yet girls have very little clothing to choose from. Last year and this year I've been to Old Navy, Target, and WalMart looking for appropriate shorts for girls and found NONE. They were all short-shorts. My mother managed to find some in her area and bought them for my daughter, but here in SC it seems girls are expected to wear daisy dukes.
I did go to Land's End as someone else recommended and found several Bermuda short options in their Sale area. Have already purchased them for her!
I have a boy and a girl. Both went to a private school with stringent uniform requirements. Forget "fingertip length" -- if a girl could kneel and the skirt didn't touch the floor, it was too short. The pants were often deemed "too hot" and shorts had to be five inches above the floor when kneeling. As far as telling them to "cover up because the men will go wild" -- well, that's the stupidest reason I've heard. You cover up because you are not at the beach and revealing clothing is inappropriate in an academic setting. The same girls would probably never dream of wearing shorts to the prom, because it's inappropriate. The problem here isn't one of sexual titillation -- it's teaching appropriate dress.
While it's true that the boys should be taught not to oogle the girls , it's also true that the girls shouldn't be giving them anything to oogle. Tough to do when the shorts show the crack under their butts, or the top is so sheer that you can see the their nipples under their shirt. If a guy walked around with pants so tight you could tell if he was circumcised, or a shirt so tight you could count their abs -- you better believe the girls would notice. But to be fair, even if a girl was clothed from chin to ankle, a guy's imagination would fill in the blanks.
Our school has the fingertip rule, and unless you have weird anatomy the majority of girls shorts are within compliance, such as sport shorts which are the most commonly worn attire for girls around here.
A few years ago a couple of moms of public middle-school cheerleaders here threw an absolute fit when the principal told them they could no longer wear their cheerleading uniform skirts to school on game day unless they had sweat pants on underneath them.
They said they were sad to see a 40-year tradition go and felt SOME girls were being singled out because their skirts were TOO short. But the principal was trying to make them conform to the dress code in school.
It was such a non-issue, because they still looked "in uniform" with the sweat pants on, but of course it made the local TV news.
A few years ago a couple of moms of public middle-school cheerleaders here threw an absolute fit when the principal told them they could no longer wear their cheerleading uniform skirts to school on game day unless they had sweat pants on underneath them.
They said they were sad to see a 40-year tradition go and felt SOME girls were being singled out because their skirts were TOO short. But the principal was trying to make them conform to the dress code in school.
It was such a non-issue, because they still looked "in uniform" with the sweat pants on, but of course it made the local TV news.
I remember someone bringing this up when I was in HS 20 years ago. The cheerleaders broke the dress code every game day and got up on a stage and danced. Talk about ogleing... I guess that was ok though...
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