Yea, this seems to be the principal issue here. There's nothing remotely controversial about long skirts so they should be able to approve some just fine. I mean they approved pants, so surely they are realizing some people want to cover their legs. And the vendors will sell whatever, they'll be glad to make more money from more merchandise.
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UK School threatens legal action after Muslim girl told skirt is ‘too long’
- Thread starter Puroresu_kid
- Start date
Yea, this seems to be the principal issue here. There's nothing remotely controversial about long skirts so they should be able to approve some just fine. I mean they approved pants, so surely they are realizing some people want to cover their legs. And the vendors will sell whatever, they'll be glad to make more money from more merchandise.
You were still being xenophobic towards religious beliefs
Yeah. When I was in school the staff would get pissed if the skirt was even half an inch above mid thigh.
Solution: The school's uniform supplier makes a longer version of the skirt.
Or are they going to tell her that she can't wear a hijab either? Because I feel like that is what the school really wants to say.
Or are they going to tell her that she can't wear a hijab either? Because I feel like that is what the school really wants to say.
Moves to have specific branded clothing that students are required to wear certainly are, and should not be permitted for public schools.
But my parents were very happy that all they had to buy were generic white shirts, black/dark grey trousers/skirts, and any kind of black 'dress' shoes that were not sneakers, rather than fashionable clothing. The uniform was far less expensive.
It was bad enough when there were days where you did not have to wear the uniform and we wanted something nice to wear. I remember us finally convincing our parents to take a trip to the outlet stores and getting 'nice' clothing for that one time, only to still be bullied because it was not the right clothing, or out of fashion by the time it was at the outlet stores.
The only school-branded thing which was required was the tie - and that was inexpensive or could be handed-down.
There were optional things like sweatshirts with the school 'logo' embroidered on them, and if you wanted to wear a blazer you were required to buy a sew/iron-on patch, but that was it.
'Short trousers' were not banned where I went to school; but you would be bullied terribly if you wore them, so no-one did.
Exactly. Like, she looks smart, and is clearly identifiable as belonging to the school through the tie and blazer anyway.
There's nothing xenophobic about being flumoxxed over people having beliefs making things unnecessarily difficult for themselves. If the problem was showing skin, she could wear trousers instead so it comes down to overly conservative muslim ideals about girls' clothes. It obvious that schools should be more flexible when it comes to skirt length, and I'm sure it would be much appreciated by everyone.
I always used to think this but in practise all the poor kids will just have the piss taken out of them for wearing the same shitty clothes. We had the odd non-uniform day for charity and even that was stressful enough.
That pretty much matches up to my memory of secondary school in 1990-1995. That the tie and school badge had to be right, but you could sew the latter onto any blazer you liked as long as it was the right colour. Same goes for white shirts, black/grey trousers and black 'smart' shoes. They were all pretty generic and cheap. I went through the knees of so many pairs of trousers playing football, and had random growth spurts, so my mum would buy long trousers that I rolled up at the start of the year and by the end they all looked like frayed patchwork things. Everyone's black school blazers were speckled white on the back as the preferred prank was tiny bits of paper rolled up and covered in tippex, propelled with a biro used as as a blowpipe. Parents and teachers were not amused, as you can imagine, and I found mine stifling anyway given the school's Victorian central heating system. Non-uniform days were rare but I hated them, as I never had any 'cool' clothes or whatever brand of trainers were in vogue. If this makes me sounds nostalgic for it, I'm not, it was awful. Having to have specific trousers/skirts is much more expensive (comparatively) now though.
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Full time education is legally compulsory until you reach 18.
The skirt in question
Okay this is stupid and I hope the family wins the lawsuit and then counter lawsuit the school board.
School unifroms are so archaic anyway.
I've heard the arugment that they help with kids who don't have the latest fashion, but I witnessed more than enough mockery at "second hand/hand me down" uniforms that it didn't get rid of that.
Let the kids be comfortable and figure out ways to keep them engaged beyond trying to force regiment.
I've heard the arugment that they help with kids who don't have the latest fashion, but I witnessed more than enough mockery at "second hand/hand me down" uniforms that it didn't get rid of that.
Let the kids be comfortable and figure out ways to keep them engaged beyond trying to force regiment.
Man, I really don't miss worrying about what I wore to school. I never went to a school that enforced uniforms, but I was always really self conscious about trying to decide on what to wear/buy. Kids were just awful in terms of picking on other kids for wearing something not fashionable etc.
I'm kinda surprised at the people saying kids would get made fun of for wearing "poor" clothes. I lived in a nicer area, and this is something I've never seen in all my years of public schools, but I guess it might be different in the UK.
It's all rooted in classism, although there's elements of consumerism too. The idea is that uniforms are supposed to be cheap and easily available at local supermarkets/department stores, which is why it used to be that you could wear any shirt/trousers or blouse/skirt/trousers you liked as long as it was roughly the right colour, because the tie and badge on your blazer would make all the generic stuff look like a uniform anyway. This silliness about specific branded skirts makes me wonder how many schools are now using it to make a few quid.
Yes, but typically you can get a religious exemption. For example I'm pretty sure she already has one for the hijab.
This is something I thought I wouldn't be reading, holy shit. Abhorrent behaviour from the school. I'd imagine it would be the other way around and the school would be sued for discrimination.
Agreed. Just last year my sister bought her granddaughter a jacket with dinosaurs on it, because the kid thought it was cool and she wanted it. But her mother said that she can't wear that, because she would be bullied because dinosaurs are for boys. I don't know if it's true that she would get bullied, but if she would, it would be safe to say that kids find any reason for bullying if they want to. Apparently kids without Apple phones get bullied too (allegedly). I'd imagine the wealth of the family would be apparent to other kids even when uniforms are required. Like from the car the kid gets picked up from the school, their phone, somebody at the school probably knows where/how they live and so on. Get rid of uniforms and let kids express themselves and be who they are like in this case.
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I got abuse constantly in Scotland. Trainers and jackets, bags, jumpers even though we wore uniform.
Secondary school uniforms are extremely expensive and should be revised to something more simple than "everything has to have the school logo on". It's an extra revenue stream for the school and their chosen supplier, and should be banned.
Simpler uniforms without the branding (apart from a tie) should be the norm.
Simpler uniforms without the branding (apart from a tie) should be the norm.
Yeah, I grew up poor and still would never choose uniforms. Old band tees and old jeans, worked fine for me. It's not like people don't know you're poor in a uniform anyway
Skirt too long or wrong religion 🤔
It's not different in the UK. Are you kidding me. It's like top 10 worst countries in the world for class divide.
Branding on school uniforms is pretty ridiculous, the school where I work has the school logo embroidered in black on the black trousers, by one of the pockets. We do a daily uniform check and have to check for the logo, which is often covered by the blazer, and because it's black on black it doesn't exactly stand out either. It's the one aspect of our uniform policy that really bothers me.
Especially if there's "girls" and "boys" uniforms, ugh.
Just leave the kids alone to wear what they feel comfortable with.
School uniforms are common in the UK and its former colonies. Here in Australia, 100% of state schools and 99% of private schools have school uniforms, although the styles do vary.
When I was in high school my female teacher for our home class would line all the girls up in front of her desk in front of class and measure the length from their knees to their skirt bottoms with a ruler every morning before going to first class and also after lunch before going to classes.
In fact the issue of girls just rolling their skirts up insanely short in high school was such an issue for my school that in my last year they outright changed the whole uniform, before that it was shirt, ties and skirts or trousers for girls, and shirt, ties and trousers for boys. After the change it was just a blue collared t shirt and trousers for all boys and girls.
This story is fucked up, uniforms aren't an issue but trying to shame someone for having their legs covered is fucking stupid.
Bluey, Australia's greatest contribution to planet earth, does not have uniforms in their school. But they are dogs so maybe it doesn't apply...
And while the issue could be not wearing approved brand clothes, the school picking on a Muslim girl to threaten legal action is a...choice, and islamophobic.
I wish you could experience school in Scotland. Even -with- uniforms, people would take any opportunity. Bag, shoes, glasses, whatever.
Non-uniform day was an absolute slaughterhouse.
What's crazy? To people in the UK not wearing uniform is odd.
Absolutely spot on here. School uniforms are big business in the UK and looks like this school want to make an example of this family.
Fuck them though, load of bullshit. Funnily enough, I live in Hillingdon so this school is not too far from me.
What a load of bullshit. Fuck this school. I hope they lose hard.
This shit is so fucking stupid. She is wearing a uniform for fuck sake. Why does it matter if it is not exact?
Back when I was a kid in my old country we had to wear uniforms. Yet it didn't matter what brand or how different it looked as long as you wear what they tell you.
I used to wear pants that the school sold and of course, the pants was so cheap quality that it was fucked before the first semester was even finished. This lead to me just buying my own better quality pants (that were cheaper mind you) and no body gave a shit.
This shit is so fucking stupid. She is wearing a uniform for fuck sake. Why does it matter if it is not exact?
Back when I was a kid in my old country we had to wear uniforms. Yet it didn't matter what brand or how different it looked as long as you wear what they tell you.
I used to wear pants that the school sold and of course, the pants was so cheap quality that it was fucked before the first semester was even finished. This lead to me just buying my own better quality pants (that were cheaper mind you) and no body gave a shit.
Sounds brutal. Here in the US where I live, outside of the popular kids who probably cared about fashion, the vast majority didn't give a shit what anyone wore. All my clothes were generic shirts and pants, and I just wore running shoes every day. I'd often wear clothes until they were literally falling apart, like visible holes in my shirts and shoes, and no one cared. Same for everyone I knew.
It just feels so conformist, like you're depriving children of individuality at an eraly age.
Give all the kids equal money/access to clothes and you'd be pretty well right.
As it stands, nowhere close to that which is why uniforms work.
At my school only the school t-shirt was required. Pants, shoes etc. were optional.
I really dislike gendered school uniforms.
They'll be fine, kids have no shortage of outlets.
These days it's comparing their Fortnite character skins.
Yeah, I disliked wearing skirts as a kid so being forced to wear one would not be good.
I guess this is true, but the concept still feels a bit strange
But here you have a girl that don't feel comfortable with the clothes they provide her with?
lol its not. They have plenty of way to be individual. The uniform is a life saver in worn out clothes, headaches getting ready for school in the morning.
My child didnt have a uniform when she was a kid in creche and my head was melted beacuse she wanted to wear mad clothes at 3/4. Once she was 5 and in Small Babies she had to wear a uniform and it was so much easier getting her into school.
Saying that her school has a very liberal enforcement on uniforms, as long as you get the colours you can get the cheaper stuff in Pennys or Dunnes. My girl didn't like the jumper so we got her a hoodie zip top and it was only a fiver to get the school crest put on to it.
Sensible use of uniforms by schools can save parents massive headaches and money.
Because the skirt is too short and the school administration are being dicks about it.
Less chance for poorer students to feel out of place if everyone is wearing the same thing and it's not a fashion show. No one should feel bad going to learn because they're not wearing the latest brands or something.
That doesn't carry as much weight when the dress code involves wearing school branded clothes (as per the article), which generally aren't exactly cheap to begin with. Hell, some of my families school uniforms are notably more expensive than the clothes they usually wear.
If they had a dress code which didn't require specific school branded clothes, that would be a different story. Or if they provided the school uniforms for free, or at some absurdly cheap price or something. That said, she should still be allowed to wear a long skirt if the shorter one is against her religious beliefs nonetheless. It isn't like the long dress isn't smart or is morally objectionable or whatever.
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