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I suppose it is one of those normal parts of the British school year running late into June - boys get told they cannot wear shorts, start sweltering in the heat, and one or more get the idea to wear a skirt instead. Don't recall seeing any last year (probably thanks to COVID), but the boys (and schools) are right back at what almost feels like an annual game of chicken. BBC Link is below.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-57358762...
Comments
"more on this story"
the "more on this story"s are unrelated occurrences in other years
Hmmm, maybe this is indicative of a significant issue...
such as...
it being too hot for long pants in the UK in June?
Even in Scotland
When rooms are multiple occupied - and no aircon, just a bunch of sweaty kids. But yeah, seems an odd concept in these isles.
"Reach for the sun."
I did a story about this situation
a few years ago, here's the link: https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/49732/let-him-wear-sk...
Angharad
So did I
Actually I did two stories. One including many elements of a real story a couple of years ago. Everything pertaining to the students are taken from real life while everything regarding staff is pure fiction
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/68912/yet-another-dre...
and one taking place some time after a similar situation telling about consequences
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/69149/be-careful-what...
The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it...
The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it... I can resist everything but temptation.
In the spirit of Oscar Wilde I just HAD to write another (very short) story on this theme.
Lyrics
I wrote a set of lyrics to an old song.
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/76012/folded-pleated-...
-- Daphne Xu
That's the weird part - it really happens each year in the UK
Yeah, I've seen a bunch of these. That's why I used the whole bit about it being a recurring theme - it seems to routinely come up. And I'm American - I don't hear about these news stories in my regular day to day. I don't know if American schools are simply more permissive than British ones in terms of students wearing shorts (and to be fair, I haven't heard of a US school prohibiting them that I can recall off the top of my head - I'm sure they exist somewhere, though).
School uniforms
Just aren't that common in the US. While I don't see the average conservative school board permitting even the chance of males wearing skirts the normal/ordinary school attire for 6th/7th grade and older boys has been Levis. When I was growing up not wearing Levis-brand denim was a social faux pas. That, combined with the average summer break lasting from mid-May to about Labor Day (end of August) meant the hottest days of summer occurred outside of the school year. Also, many schools are airconditioned so the school attire had no driving need to accomedate the heat.
This of course would vary from region to region, but the southern tier of states pretty much reach the high 90s to low 100s farenheit (37/38 to 40+ celsius) so any summer classes had to have AC, you couldn't take off enough clothes to stay comfortable.
Now, my personal experience with school at those ages was 50+ years ago. But I don't recall hearing about any major changes in the situations since. I do know that when I was working in Norway I read a British newspaper that had the headline "SWELTERING SEVENTIES" as the UK was undergoing a heatwave that summer (1980). The US was undergoing a heatwave at the same time with the daily temps reaching 105-108 degrees F.
So, the point is that the summer temps in the UK aren't close to what we normally get in much of the US, and dress codes here are likely looser than in the UK.
Just for comparison, we are at the starting point for the summer heat so the average daily highs are still in the mid-to-high 80s. It will be a lot warmer by the start of July. By August we will be into the Dog Days of Summer; highs in the 80s will be naught but fond memories. :-)
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
you need to remember
that the UK is further north than Newfoundland, only part of the USA that is even as far north is Alaska! (check it out, we Brits live for weather!) Our usual temperature range is therefore much lower than the much more southerly Continental USA, only the Atlantic currents keep winter temps reasonable!
I was at secondary school in that extended heatwave of 1976/7, eventually they let us take off our blazers and whilst the girls could wear the light summer uniform dresses, the lads had to keep with the long trousers and ties throughout - apart from PE. It really was quite hellish at times, hitting 100 in the classrooms even with windows open and blinds drawn. We did actually go to Scotland for our hols, the mid 70's felt quite cool compared to the regular mid 80's we had in middle England - but 70+ in Scotland is unusual for more than a day or two.
It's over 70f here today which is okay but, as Pod says, i'm not in a classroom with a couple of dozen other hot and bothered teens and computers. Air con? in the UK thats reserved for expensive offices without opening windows, the rest of us go and stand by the chiller cabinets in the local supermarket!
I think the almost annual schoolboy/skirt story is almost self perpetuating - the kids see others do it on the TV etc so it doesn't become such a biggy to translate that to themselves. And even less so where boys/men wearing skirts - well kilts, doesn't warrant as much as a second glance.
Madeline Anafrid Bell
School uniforms
I really wonder if it is that hot in the school, or if this is actually a kind of cabin fever. That is, the boys get more and more restless and eager to be out of school for the summer as that last-day-of-school gets closer and closer. Either way, I don't think that this form of protest would be happening if the girls (and the protesting boys) had to wear floor length skirts with layers of petticoats as in the Victorian/Edwardian era. I doubt if the boys would do it if micro-miniskirts were in fashion today either.
This is also the exact opposite of the other strange British school uniform thing where younger boys have to wear shorts to school, even in the winter.
Oh well, what with COVID and all, I can use a giggle.
Old school ventilation
I know it has been a while, but boys at the secondary school I went to were allowed long trousers from the third form, about age 13. All did, not wanting to look like the younger year boys. However, none of the school was air conditioned (what on earth was "air conditioning"?) but had some opening windows and when the sun eventually shone everyone sweltered, and I have to say, started to smell a bit.
"Reach for the sun."
I was the last one
in my school to wear short trousers and in the1963 winter got chilblains on the backs of my thighs, the same as the girls wearing short skirts.
Angharad
Tiresome Narrow mindedness.
Most of Western culture has its head in a very dark place. In just lots of places in the East, Middle East, and Far East men wear non bifurcated garments as if they are completely normal. The Scots have their Kilts and they should wear them. In Arab countries, men wear Thobes. In Mongolia I've seen several YouTube Videos where men are wearing something like a skirt while it is snowing. We need to get on with it.
Wearing shorts to school ...
... was perfectly normal when I attended a UK grammar school in the early 1950s. In fact, I didn't have any long trousers until I was 15 (from choice). It's warmed up a bit in winter since then but I, and most of my friends, would happily go sledging in shorts. The only extra precaution was turning over the tops of our wellies and folding our long socks over to avoid chafing our calves.
We were tough in them days - no central heating and just a coal fire in the kitchen ... and it was very big, draughty house :)
R
I've always thought...
I've always thought the best way to protest is by following the rules to the letter but in such a way as they were not intended. And this is a perfect example of following the rules in an unintended way. School dress code, black trousers and skirts... No mention of which gender should wear which.
Although I'm not sure why the authorities are complaining, I mean, don't men in Scotland wear Kilts to begin with? Seriously, the difference between a Kilt and a skirt is mostly nomenclature :)
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.