The way it should be. Girls wearing shorts and playing. Image courtesy of pat138241 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Why would a school would ban shorts for girls! Well there is one, and it is Bathurst Public School. In a Sydney Morning Herald article it talks about how parents learnt of the decision via their children. Parents of course did not take the news seriously and thought that the kids had got it terribly wrong.
The news was correct and shorts have indeed been banned for girls at the school. Who does this? Shorts are good to wear and being a girl makes you no different to boys who want to wear shorts. Shorts allow you to play sport, run around the playground and not show your knickers to all. It gives you more freedom and confidence than a dress or a skirt.
Bathurst gets hot and shorts for a uniform is a good idea! Why is it that they are penalising girls not boys? One woman quoted in the article touches on a very good point. She says that when she does yoga or sport she does not wear a dress. She wears pants or shorts, so why should not her little girl? Silly don’t you think!
It is 2013 and soon to be 2014 so why are we making girls wear only dresses for a school uniform? It is showing and teaching girls that they are limited in choices from a very early age.
Not every girl feels comfortable in a dress and prefers to wear shorts. Why would this not be thought of? Why is it essential that girls wear dresses at all times? Times have changed and girls and women do wear shorts and pants. Executives even have the pant suit, YES it does exist. I had some in my former life as a corporate climber.
Wearing a dress all the time is not practical and it is very sexist. One parent in the article is quoted as saying:
”Bella doesn’t really identify with gender stereotypes and that’s been a really conscious thing from me and my husband,” Ms Rodwell said. ”She owns dresses and likes to wear them out to dinner or when she goes to the theater.”
An edited version of the school uniform policy has now allowed shorts for sport only. I for one don’t see the problem with girls wearing shorts to school all day instead of the dress. As long as the shorts are in school colours and match in with what they are supposed to wear there should be no issue.
The school principal did not comment on the Fairfax article and it mentions that if parents want their daughters to wear shorts to let the school know. If my girls were enrolled in the school I would let them know the girls would be wearing shorts.
Why is it that we are being so backward? Girls can do whatever they want, be whatever they want. Why are we making them wear a dress when sometimes shorts are much more appropriate and practical, stupid if you ask me!
This is from a mommy to two girls who live in shorts, pants and sometimes skirts and dresses. My kids wear the right outfit to have a rough and tumble outside and love the freedom that shorts allow. I think this is a silly change in policy from a school.
In the Fairfax article it mentioned that a uniform committee had been formed and will meet on December the 11th. Let’s hope that they see sense and allow girls to wear shorts like the boys do!
What would you do if your school banned shorts for girls? Send in your comments.
