So I've decided that I want to talk to whoever I can (possibly my head of campus or school principal) about why the uniform is the way it is and possibly making changes to make it more gender inclusive, or at the very least make it so "girls" are allowed to wear pants. I don't want to finish high school and think 'I wish I had done that so I didn't have to suffer, as well as other current and future students', but I have no idea how to actually go about it or what to say to them. What do?
I admire the desire to do this, and to make things better for others. One thing to check is whether your school is independent, or part of a larger network/group/affiliation. If, for example, it's a religious school, the uniform policy may come from the very top, and the likelihood of changing it may be near zero. But it never hurts to ask. I'd probably start with the school principal and work from there.
Hello. I want to do something kinda similar on what you are doing for my school, but it's not related to gender. I suffer from panic attacks (waiting for a panic disorder diagnosis) and every time I have one, the staff at my school have no idea what to do. So I want to talk to the principal, hoping they will include panic attack training for the staff because I know im not the only one who gets panic attacks out there. But I don't know if anyone is going to listen or care or do something about it. It gets me upset when I have to basically deal with it myself. I talk to two teachers in the school. One of them I printed off a list on what to do if someone is having a panic attack (it's mainly for me, but). The other teacher has had panic attacks in the past so she has some experience on what to do. Anyways, I would talk to the principal about it. It seems like a good idea. Hope you can get this changed .
My school is a Catholic school, but it's more laid-back than I expected. Even if you say the chance is near zero, I still believe that it's not zero, so it could still happen. There are other schools that allow "girls" to wear pants, after all, and allow students to wear whatever uniform they feel comfortable with. (I feel I should add that in Australia, all schools wear uniforms, weather public or independent.) I just don't know how I should go to the principal or head of campus and say 'hey, this might be a good idea'.
What you're doing is awesome!! :icon_bigg Maybe reading up on school's in Oz who have changed their policy would be a good start? I remember Newtown High was in the news a while back because the students had gotten the school to change it. You could make up a petition and get people to sign it, giving them some information about why it should be more inclusive and show it to the principle/head of campus? I guess you could also look into making a Facebook page? It might be a gateway to getting parents/community/media involved?
A bit of an update: I managed to ask my head of campus today!!! He didn't have an answer, but he told me who might have an answer that I can ask, but she only comes to my campus once a week, so I have to wait until next week. But still, progress!
A little while ago my school tried to make so skirts were banned and everyone was to wear trousers. It got nowhere, as everyone disagreed (I signed a petition but didn't exactly take a lead role). I suppose at your school it's the other way around. The difference would be that at our school the uniform isn't gender-specific, it just says things like "skirt or trousers". If your school has issues with girls wearing skirts too short or practical issues like "it's difficult to bike to school wearing a skirt": that might help if you think your school will respond better to that type of argument.
Today is the day! I'm going to try to talk to the head of uniform and see what can be worked out. Hope it goes well!
Ughhhhhhhh, back to square one -.- So I asked my head of campus who the head of uniform was because I'd forgotten, and he said 'oh, actually the best thing to to go to your SRC rep' and I'm like '...I WAITED ALL WEEK FOR THIS!' Ahem, anyway, hopefuly my SRC rep will actually do it and not forget, this is one of the reasons I want to be on the SRC, so I don't have to rely on other people, but unfortunately nobody likes me enough to vote for me
