Approximately 250 girls at Ryde Academy were sent home due to their skirts being too short, inches under the length requirement. Dr. Rory Fox, head master of the school, was at his wits end with the skirts being inches under the length requirement. He decided to make consequences for those that chose to break the dress code – consequences that stirred up controversy among parents and students.
Helen Smith, who has two children at Ryde Academy, had her daughter sent home twice in the same day for an unsuitable skirt length. “It was the perfect size, it was not ‘too short’ – I would not have bought it otherwise… I can’t believe their education is suffering because of this.” Smith continued, as quoted by the Daily Mail, “(There is) A number of girls do wear short skirts to school, so I understand why the school had to make a change. But this is not the way to do it – too many people have suffered because of this.” The decision to act out against these students undoubtedly resulted in frustrated students and heated parents. Regardless of the controversy, Fox felt that he had to put his foot down in order to better the students’ current education and their future endeavors. “Our role as a school is to talk to the girls about this and the boys as well where appropriate – we don’t want to be sexist about it. We have to teach them Maths and English, but we have to get them ready for working life. We have a responsibility to get people ready for the workplace,” Fox told The Telegraph. The new policy requires that girls wear skirts to their knees and boys wear trousers that give an inch of leeway upon sitting. Fox was informed that many of the short skirts were a result of peer pressure, so this was his attempt to remove this issue. Fox commented on the skirt length, stating that the knee was a needed reference point in order to apply the rule fairly. “The only convenient body part you can reference it to is the knee. We’re not trying to be awkward or old-fashioned. If anyone can give us a better rule, then hallelujah,” said Fox, as stated in The Telegraph. Until then, however, it appears that no student will receive a lesson until he or she is dressed properly from head to toe – no exceptions.
