Fifty years on from the introduction of the miniskirt in the 1960s, the miniskirt is still causing controversy. The item of clothing now faces a potential ban in schools in the UK.
A number of schools in the UK have banned skirts altogether for the new term this month and have insisted that girls wear trousers. In others, letters have been sent to parents to say that the current fashion for wearing skirts as short and tight as possible is causing problems in school and that teachers having to deal with the issues is distracting from teaching. The Guardian this week reported that at Kinross High School in Perthshire, some parents received a ‘stinging’ note telling them:
‘The length of your daughter’s skirt is such that she spends a great deal of time pulling it down. It detracts her attention from the learning process.’
And just last week a Scottish head teacher, Robert Kelly, caused outrage by suggesting that short skirts were encouraging ‘inappropriate thoughts’ among boys. Kelly referred to a recent anti-rape advert in his statement, which caused anger with Rape Crisis Scotland, who said that his comments sent the wrong message to teenage girls. Eileen Maitland, of RCS, said that: