School is accused of 'sexism' after asking parents to measure girls' skirt lengths

A school has been accused of ‘sexism’ after issuing a request asking parents to measure the length of female pupils skirts.

Ralph Allen School, in Bath, put a message out to parents and carers this week via Facebook, asking them to check the length of their child’s skirt before they leave the house in the morning.

The Facebook post shared on 5 June 2017 reads: “Parents/carers – please help! We are reinforcing to girl students the correct length of their skirts.

“The hem of the skirt should be no more than a planner’s width from the knee when the student is kneeling down. We will be asking students whose skirts are too short to unroll the tops or to wear an alternative the next day.

“We need parents to help too – check your daughter’s skirt length before she leaves for school in the morning and ensure it is no shorter than it should be. Impress upon our students that they should wear correct length skirts.

“Thanks in advance for your help.”

Since putting out the post, it has drawn some criticism from some parents asking why the school was policing how girls dress.

“The last two terms the focus has been on boys’ shirts being tucked in,” the school responded. “We have found that it is more successful to target one thing at a time, so all staff can help to reinforce the uniform guidelines together.”

One parent described the request to measure her daughter’s skirt as humiliating.

“The idea of asking your daughter to kneel down to check a skirt length feels like an act of humiliation. It has essence of Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale,” she wrote.

Another thought it marked a return to old-fashioned rules and regulations aimed at the female sex. “Is this a joke? I came here really hoping this was an ironic post as an example of what women had to put up with a century ago. A kind of “how ridiculous we were back then” thing. No?,” she asked.

But other parents were in support of the school’s plea.

“I’m very glad the school are enforcing this policy. I have sat waiting to collect at the end of the day and not seen a single female student in a skirt of an appropriate length,” one woman wrote.

“I am so happy to hear this it is awful seeing some of the girls with the skirts so short! I am constantly telling my daughter to not roll it up,” added another parent.

Another parent asked if it might be better for the school to have a gender-neutral uniform? “Is there any way that RAS could have a set of uniform for EVERYONE – eg kilts/trousers/jackets and shirts. Is there a good reason to gender the children in their clothes?” she wrote.

Commenting on its uniform policy the Ralph Allen website adds: “Ralph Allen requires students to wear uniform at all times. The uniform promotes a distinctive and appropriate appearance inside and outside Ralph Allen. The uniform requirements are intended to be clear and unambiguous.”

The news comes after it was announced by a charity that develops LGBT training in schools that a gender-neutral school uniform policy, including allowing boys to wear skirts, has now been adopted in 120 schools across the UK.

Ralph Allen School aren’t the only school to try and introduce a skirt-length ruling. Earlier this year a number of students at Ebbsfleet Academy in Kent, England were refused entry to their first day of the new term because their skirts were deemed too short.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for non-stop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyleUK.

Read more from Yahoo Style UK:

“It’s draconian”: School under fire for telling children to walk with their hands behind their backs

Children at nursery school could soon be taught about same-sex relationships and transgender issues

Transgender children will now be able to join the Girl Guides