A boy protests a school policy that forbids boys from wearing shorts by donning a skirt.
A boy of 12 has gone to school dressed in a skirt to protest against ‘discriminatory’ rules which ban boys from wearing shorts. Chris Whitehead wore a girls’ knee-length skirt – which belongs to his 11-year-old sister – to classes at Impington Village College, near Cambridge.
He is protesting against a school uniform policy which bans boys from wearing shorts during the summer. Chris’s parents Brian Whitehead, 48, who manages and owns a publishing company, and mother Liz, 50, a secondary school maths teacher, support their son’s protest.
Mrs Whitehead praised her son for standing up for ‘what he believes in’. She said: ‘I am delighted that Chris is taking action on what he believes in, which the school actually encourages, so he is only doing what he is taught. ‘I am really proud he is brave enough to wear a skirt to school for what he believes in and back him all the way.’ At morning assembly he addressed 1,368 pupils wearing the black skirt, which boys are permitted to wear due to a loophole in the school’s policy. Chris believes that forcing boys to wear long trousers during the summer affects concentration and their ability to learn.
He said, ‘In the summer girl students are allowed to wear skirts but boys are not allowed to wear shorts. ‘We think that this discriminates against boys. I will march in a skirt with other boys waving banners and making a lot of noise. ‘I will be wearing the skirt at school all day in protest at the uniform policy and addressing the assembly with the student council, wearing a skirt.’ Teachers at Impington Village College imposed a ban on boys’ shorts two years ago following consultation with parents and teachers.
But when Chris, who hopes one day to be a politician, joined the school he was furious at the policy and pledged to overturn the ban. The Year 8 pupil marched to school through Impington today alongside half a dozen pupils waving banners. ‘Wearing a skirt is just like wearing shorts with a gap in the middle. I don’t feel silly at all, I don’t embarrass easily,’ he said. ‘Friends and teachers were a bit shocked to see me wearing a skirt at first but in a good way. It’s been quite a good laugh.’
Headteacher Robert Campbell said the ban on shorts was imposed following consultation with students, teachers and parents in 2009. He said: ‘Our uniform policy had a significant consultation and ours is typical of most schools in Cambridgeshire and the consensus was we were going to go for that. ‘The issue creeps up during the summer months. Ultimately the boys can wear a skirt to school because it doesn’t say they can’t in the uniform policy and we would be discriminating against them if we did not allow it.
‘Chris is a very bright and articulate student and we have got a very strong student council. He is one of only two Year 8 pupils on it. ‘I know he wants to go into politics and has got strong principles – so maybe Parliament is not the best place for him.’ The most recent Ofsted inspection in October 2006 classed the school as ‘good’ and inspectors are due to visit again later this yea
Source: Daily Mail
