Hearing directly from young girls about their frustration with outdated uniform policies is always powerful. We know that those school girls that speak out are hugely influential in creating change in their school community. Here’s another young uniform activist, Scarlett; we’re cheering her on in her campaign for girls to be able to have uniform choice. This is the speech that Scarlett gave to her class – she’s still waiting for the school to catch
St Dominic’s Catholic School is a small school in Western Australia, with 65 of the 146 students being girls. Olivia and Josie were two of the young uniform activists that petitioned their school principal and won the right for girls to have the choice of wearing shorts as their everyday uniform. They started back in 2017, when Josie was just 7 and Olivia, 8, and featured in our GUA Poster for International Day of the
Guest Blog from GUA Supporter, Alex Lee, ANU Student, Jasiri Trailblazer Fellow 2018 A Child’s Mind (and body) For me, primary school is synonymous with a feeling; that sensation of pure unbounded freedom, joy, and limitless possibility evoked by the ringing of the lunchtime bell and the running of six hundred feet in a kind of ritualised race across the oval and towards the Playground. I distinctly remember the sensation of a ball of energy and
Skorts are not shorts; culottes are not pants. Seems obvious, but some schools still resist offering the more practical, affordable and comfortable shorts and pants options for girls. The perfect uniform choices for boys are somehow unsuitable for girls. Let’s face it – the skort and culottes are often preferred by schools because they look like skirts. They often do look like a skirt, and are only slightly more functional. They can be flimsy, floppy
Radio Interview Transcript: Patricia Karvelas on RN Drive talking to Principal Elizabeth Rhodes, Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School Melbourne. School Uniform Shift Gives Girls the Freedom to Move Presenter: Haha, the playground where kids get to run around, play games, burn off all the excess energy at recess and lunchtime. That’s the idea anyway, but some schools are finding that’s not the case for every kid, especially girls feeling restricted by their uniforms. That’s why one
We often hear schools say no-one has ever raised the issue of girls wearing shorts or pants. Often we hear from parents who are pleased to hear about Girls Uniform Agenda; they had thought they were the only person who felt uniform choice was important. After all, the P&C, and the Principal, had said that nobody had ever asked if girls could wear shorts or pants. We know this can’t be true. This argument is
Last year I wrote a piece about boys in the UK controversially wearing skirts to school in defiance of a strict dress code. It was hot and they were told they could not wear shorts, only long pants. So, collectively, they took a stand and all wore skirts to school. They made international news. Lone Uniform Warriors Back then, I commented that rarely do we see girls standing together in solidarity in the same way. Particularly in the school
We’re a long way from achieving gender equality however you look at it. When we ask young girls what they think, they say they feel judged on their appearance and don’t feel equal to boys, not even at school. “More than half of Australian girls report that they are most often valued for their looks, not their brains and ability.” Schools give these reasons for dress and skirt only uniforms: “It’s tradition, it’s always been