A mum has been left raging after her teenage daughter was told girls in her school would be banned from pulling their tights up in front of male staff, and the incident has sparked debate online
A mum has been left horrified after claiming her daughter was told it is “inappropriate” to readjust her tights in front of male teachers at school.
Anyone who has worn a skirt at school knows that while tights look smart, they are not always the most practical school uniform item for a busy day. Wearing tights all day can mean they need pulling up occasionally, they can get annoying ladders or they start to feel itchy and irritate you.
One mum has sparked debate online after sharing that her 14-year-old daughter landed herself in trouble for sorting out her tights while at school. The annoyed mum, who wishes to remain anonymous, took to MumsNet to share her rage and said that the unnamed school’s headmistress had explained there is a new set of rules – and one of them is “female students are banned from pulling up/adjusting their tights in front of male teachers,” the mum claims.
She said the head teacher believes it is “inappropriate” and suggested that girls pull up their tights in private bathrooms only. “Surely this is crazy?” the concerned parent added.
The furious mum continued: “Why would you be offended if you were a male teacher? Surely it’s not a male teachers business if a pupil needs to pull up her tights on her way around the school, I hate wearing tights as they often fall down.
“My interpretation of this rule is that she’s insinuating this is a provocative act, and in my opinion it’s totally inappropriate for a male teacher to be distracted by underage girls, adjusting their uniform if needed.”
Many other parents were just as appalled. One individual said: “What? I’d be livid if this was announced in assembly – are the boys being given instructions not to adjust their clothes too?”
One woman shared her experience at school and said: “I went to an all girls school. We pulled them up in front of anyone. Literally so uncomfortable otherwise!”
One individual pointed out how unrealistic the head teacher’s idea is, and said: “Is she joking…? God I wouldn’t even notice I was doing it when I was at school! And what if I they have cheap tights like a lot of teenage girls do? They’ll be in the bloody bathrooms every five minutes.
“If I were your daughter I would seriously ask to go to the loo every five minutes to prove a point.”
But some agreed with the head teacher, as one individual wrote: “I agree with her that pulling up tights is something to be done in private spaces. As should all adjustment of underwear by all sexes. So rule is fair enough, but it is odd that she singled out doing it in front of male teachers.”
One other commented: “Depends. If they are hitching up skirts to pull tights up round their crotches then they should be doing that in private.” Another agreed and added: “Surely parents teach their children to adjust their underwear in private. I’d say it about boys if they wore tights too.”
One other suggested a change to the uniform, and wrote: “Time to get rid of skirts and tights as school uniform. Let them all just wear jeans.”
Do you agree? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
