General Chat

I too can see both points of view, the girls aren't naïve (neither are they tarts!!), have been warned about this man, told to keep away and not antagonise, basically to ignore him - and stay together - they're not the sort to wander off with a stranger who says (eg) I've lost my puppy will one of you help me find it?'

They also all have mobiles, so if the situation gets too scary they can phone home/police/whoever appropriate.

Personally, I don't think a skirt 2 inches higher or lower would make any difference. Pervs may state in court that 'she/he was being provocative', but they use that 'defence' nomatter how old the victim.

Unfortunately, none of the boys from the village catches the same bus as the girls - not that 12 year old boys are any tougher than 12 year old girls!!

I think many schoolgirls try to 'improve' their uniform to follow fashions whether it be short, long, midi etc., at least once they are out of the school gates. In my day, midis were fashionable but our skirts had to be a certain length, so we went as long as we could get away with! I can also remember having a petition to be able to wear black tights as they were 'in' too.

What worries me more is the fact that many girls seem to think that their value is based on their looks and how 'sexy' they are. Who are current role models? I have no idea but i'll bet they tend to be bombshell-type celebs and those with a lot of internet kudos.

.its awful that young girls at that age need to dress down so they dont cause attention from undisirables.


There just didnt seem to have the mass of perves and old letchers when I was at senior school,,,,,I cant even recall men wolf whistling at schoolgirls.......

I agree Sheila. My eldest was 'hauled up' for wearing a skirt that was too short (she's tall, it was a standard school skirt, but still, it was her 'fault'), so she wore a skirt that was 4 inches below her knees - hauled up gain - it was too long. She then argued to be able to wear trousers - and won!
I've had a couple of discussions with my grand daughter about 'body image', (started by her) she understands these models are mostly airbrushed, and we both agree, the worst aspect of it all is to base a person's 'worth' on their looks, thereby pushing people with deformities, or was we've decided to call them 'people of individuality' into a form of 'worthless' status, with no interest in a person's personality.
It's not just the 'Sun' who are guilty, I think the 'Daily Fail' is even worse!!

We have been known to look through the 'column of shame' in the Daily mail online, and pass comments on the comments :-D
We'd also like to see what the people giving their views on 'X', 'Y' and 'Z' look like :-\

An old friend of mine died a few years back and I am now back in touch through fb with her daughter who I used to babysit at times in the 1970s. This young woman, a single parent, has three children, two grown up sons, and a daughter of I think 8 or 9. The photos of this young girl on fb are upsetting for me to see, she was out at a local country fair last week in tight leggings and a really small crop top which would have only reached the bottom of her boobs had she got any yet. She also poses a lot in front of the camera, she is named after a pop singer and looks a bit like her but for a young girl who was with a friend dressed in more appropriate clothing, she looked wrong. Her Mum is a warmhearted friendly woman, and adores and idolises her daughter, she is very well cared for and loved but it concerns me to see the clothes she wears. It isn't the first time I have noticed she is dressed in this way from the many photos shown. I feel as tho I want to talk to her about the way she is dressing her daughter but don't know how to go about it and if I should. Her father is still alive but in his late 80s now, he was a lot older than her Mum and had affairs and divorced her mother when L. was small. I don't think he is very well and may not notice the child's clothing. L. has a grand daughter too who is not much younger than her daughter but she seems to be dressed in more suitable attire.

I can imagine this young girl will always dress provocativelyif encouraged from this young age and just hope it doesn't cause her trouble.

I know girls/woman should not have to dress down to deter predators but they need to find the right balance I think.


Lizx

I think another problem is the fact that they do grow up so quickly these days but although they like to think they are grown up they are not always street wise. I am pleased that I am not a parent of young children these days, and equally pleased that my younger grandchildren have very sensible parents whose values seem to have rubbed off on the children. Granddaughter will be 12 this month, I hope she stays as sensible and well balanced as she is at present but you can't ever tell for sure.

edited to change 'your' to 'young' children.

Fully agree, Liz. I was shocked (as was youngest daughter), when once, we were shopping together (she was about 16) and were looking at underwear. This young girl of about 8 came along and picked up a pair of size 8 thongs, turned to her mother and said, 'can I have these, they're my size'. The mother said 'yes'.
I would have pointed out that they weren't for children and said NO!
It's too easy to give in to very young children who want to dress like their peers.
Talentless 'Pop' stars have a lot to answer for, as do shops who sell padded bras for 28" chests!

Grand daughter has never been allowed to wear leggings without a skirt. It may be a short skirt, but she also doesn't wear short skirts without leggings!! ........the neighbours children, though regularly wear just leggings.

I think my daughter succeeded in her insistence by pointing out that 'no-one wants to see either your knickers or your knicker line!!'
:-D

..........I think she may also have pointed out that granny sometimes wears leggings but (thankfully) covers her bum etc up with a mid-thigh dress :-P

Lady Scozz we had to wear horrible juliet caps with a tassel :-P :-P :-P. Did not dare roll up skirts either as we used to have to stand against a metre stick and if they were not regulation length we had punishment. Get caught in or out of school not dressed in complete uniform including tie and knickers boy did you cop it. Could only by the uniform from one outfitters too so everyone wore exactly the same.

For the first two years, we had to wear grey serge tunics, bottle green berets and bottle green knickers :-|

We wore dark green tunics white blouses and ties, berets in the winter and the dreaded Panama hats in the Summer
.Some of us tried to get away with wearing pretty net petticoats and this was in the mid to late fifties.. One of the sports teachers took it on herself to be the correct underwear police. She would confiscate any that weren't *** green celonese, built up, lock knit *** ones. Horrible things. I have never forgotten those words.

Some of us had a fair way to travel to and from school and we had to stay in proper uniform attire and even our ties correctly worn until we were home.

royal blue blazer and beret - navy box pleated gymslips - no hoisting! Most mothers had a habit of buying them bigger so they would last

Box pleated gymslip here too...........but when I was aged 17 I used to do it with skirts after I was out of sight of home!! Mum and dad didn't approve of mini skirts.......I never ever told them I used to do that.

When I was at school the fashion was "The New Look", which was skirts at mid-calf length. We had to wear our skirts above the knee, which was far too short!!

No way would we have made them shorter!!

My granddaughters (aged 10 and 14) both wear trousers to school, as do most of their friends, so fortunately the question of dressing provocatively doesn't arise.

Dear All

Hello

The uniform I wore consisted of a white blouse and box-pleated skirt,
made out of mostly polyester fabric!

The navy blazer was too tight under the arms and the collar too high.

As for the PE outfit, I was so little in height, I looked like I was wearing a Victorian outfit.

Horrible viscose tee-shirt, green box-pleated skirt and big gym bloomers!

Trousers were banned.


Take gentle care
Best wishes
Elizabeth,
xx