To what age should girls wear white socks?

[Sorbita]

There was a case some years ago (in the late 1990s I think) which received a great deal of publicity where inmates in a UK home for people with learning or mental difficulties were kept in nappies. They had to stand in the corner facing the wall with their hands on their heads when they misbehaved and were subject to other childish punishments. These were young women in their late twenties and thirties. I cannot recall if male inmates were treated this way but the "carers" were male (I think).

I have been unable to locate the details on the internet but it definitely happened. The inmates were treated like little children and, aside from being made to wear nappies, they may have been dressed childishly as well. Not surprisingly, there was a great fuss when it all came out.

[Sorbita]

There was a case some years ago (in the late 1990s I think) which received a great deal of publicity where inmates in a UK home for people with learning or mental difficulties were kept in nappies. They had to stand in the corner facing the wall with their hands on their heads when they misbehaved and were subject to other childish punishments. These were young women in their late twenties and thirties. I cannot recall if male inmates were treated this way but the "carers" were male (I think).

I have been unable to locate the details on the internet but it definitely happened. The inmates were treated like little children and, aside from being made to wear nappies, they may have been dressed childishly as well. Not surprisingly, there was a great fuss when it all came out.

[Sorbita]

There was a case some years ago (in the late 1990s I think) which received a great deal of publicity where inmates in a UK home for people with learning or mental difficulties were kept in nappies. They had to stand in the corner facing the wall with their hands on their heads when they misbehaved and were subject to other childish punishments. These were young women in their late twenties and thirties. I cannot recall if male inmates were treated this way but the "carers" were male (I think).

I have been unable to locate the details on the internet but it definitely happened. The inmates were treated like little children and, aside from being made to wear nappies, they may have been dressed childishly as well. Not surprisingly, there was a great fuss when it all came out.

[Lauren-in-socks]

I wore white socks for school til I was 17 in the eighties and never had a problem. I liked socks better than tights not just to look at but tights felt constricting. I worked in a dress shop in Covent Garden in my twenties and wore white ankle socks and white knee socks with ballet flats nearly every day and got lots of compliments from customers. Im too old now to wear them but girls under 30 can look good and it makes it a fashion statement.

[1970's kid]

Humiliating mentally handicapped patients is wrong, but going back to the main subject of the thread, it has been the case that some girls with learning difficulties have worn socks at an older age than those of normal intelligence. In one district in Northern Ireland they operate an education system with selection at 14 as opposed to 11, and students going on to attend either a grammar or a senior high school depending on their abilities. From the ages of 10 to 14 all pupils attend a junior high school. For those identified as having “moderate learning difficulties” they do not leave their junior high at 14, but stay on and are taught in special classes that cover a curriculum more suited to their needs. Although the system from an educational point of view works well, for those pupils who have to stay on they are stigmatised by having to go to a school designated for younger pupils and are identifiable within their communities as they must wear that school’s uniform. At least one of the junior high schools has a girls’ uniform comprising a tunic with socks (no tights allowed), so these girls must wear a childish uniform until they leave school (which can be as old as 18) whilst those in mainstream post 14 education can wear skirts with tights.

[1970's kid]

Correction: The smiley supposed to an 8, so it reads 18.

[Ex Teacher]

Personally I think a girl of 18 is too old to be wearing white socks. But if this is part of the uniform for her class then she should wear what her classmates wear despite her age. I am not familiar with the education system in Northern Ireland but if a girl is kept back at a junior school because she is academically backward she should continue to wear the school uniform appropriate to her year and not her age. Schools should not make uniform exceptions just because a pupil is older or bigger. In fact, to do so would make the girl stand out which would could make matters worse.

The fault lies with the practice of keeping such girls in a junior school rather than having a special needs facility where they are allowed to dress their chronological age. It harps back to the 50s and 60s when some backward children were kept in Primary school until they left school at 15 with the boys staying in short trousers and girls in white socks and childish dresses.

[1970's Kid]

At least one of these Junior High Schools (10-14) have Special Education Units for the pupils with moderate learning difficulties, and have a Senior Class for post 14 pupils. At a typical school there are around 15 to 20 pupils in the Senior Class and the majority are boys. There are about 6 girls, with probably only 1 or 2 post 16 so we are talking a very small number. Ironically those with more severe special needs will go to a Special School where no uniform is worn. Perhaps the Senior Class could modify their uniform slightly so the dress is replaced with a skirt and the eldest girls are given the option of tights. These are pupils, who although have difficulties with maths and literacy, will be able to hold down a manual semi-skilled job in their adult life and may achieve acceptable reading and numeracy standards in their adult life.

[Elenwhit]

There seems quite a variation in the age to which girls wear white socks - at least for school. Some girls are in tights by the age of ten or eleven while others - especially. I understand, at schools in Northern Ireland - wear white socks until they are fifteen or sixteen.

When I was growing up in the late 1960s and 1970s girls often wore white socks for school and outside until they were fifteen or sixteen and my own all girls' school only allowed sixth formers to wear tights. We wore white knee socks in winter and white ankle socks in summer.

To what age do readers think girls should remain in socks? And should they wear them all the time whether at school or not?

My daughter starts back at school next week and will be wearing white knee socks as part of her uniform. It is her 16th birthday the week after the start of term and I intend that she will wear white socks for the whole academic year to next July.

[Mature Student]

My daughter starts back at school next week and will be wearing white knee socks as part of her uniform. It is her 16th birthday the week after the start of term and I intend that she will wear white socks for the whole academic year to next July.[/quote]

Elenwhit, this means your daughter will be in white socks until she is almost
17. How does she feel about this and are there other girls in her year still in socks. Do you make her wear white away from school?

[Elenwhit]

Elenwhit, this means your daughter will be in white socks until she is almost
17. How does she feel about this and are there other girls in her year still in socks. Do you make her wear white away from school?

Since she will in white socks to the end of the summer term she will indeed be almost 17. She accepts it as she respects my authority and does as she is told. There are usually several girls who stay in socks in year 11 so she will not be the only one. If she was I would think again about letting her wear tights.

[Ex Teacher]

Elenwhit, this means your daughter will be in white socks until she is almost
17. How does she feel about this and are there other girls in her year still in socks. Do you make her wear white away from school?

Since she will in white socks to the end of the summer term she will indeed be almost 17. She accepts it as she respects my authority and does as she is told. There are usually several girls who stay in socks in year 11 so she will not be the only one. If she was I would think again about letting her wear tights.

Elenwhit

If your daughter is the only girl in her class still in socks you should definitely let her wear tights for school otherwise it could be awful for her. Keep her in white socks at home by all means but dont make her wear them for school if she is going to stand out. She will be teased rotten.

[Sally Dally]

Elenwhit

Im all in favour of girls staying in socks til 14 or 15 but 17 seems too old to me particularly if you are making your daughter wear them out of school as well as in. You daughter may be obedient and does what you tell her but how does she feel about still having to wear white socks at her age. I wore white socks til I was 15½ and was more than ready for tights by then. I would have hated being kept in socks beyond this age. Seems cruel to me.

[Supporter]

Ex Teacher

“If your daughter is the only girl in her class still in socks you should definitely let her wear tights for school otherwise it could be awful for her. Keep her in white socks at home by all means but dont make her wear them for school if she is going to stand out. She will be teased rotten.”

Sally Dally

“Im all in favour of girls staying in socks til 14 or 15 but 17 seems too old to me particularly if you are making your daughter wear them out of school as well as in. You daughter may be obedient and does what you tell her but how does she feel about still having to wear white socks at her age. I wore white socks til I was 15½ and was more than ready for tights by then. I would have hated being kept in socks beyond this age. Seems cruel to me.”

Elenwhit

I support your decision to keep your year 11 daughter in socks until she’s completed her GCSE’s next spring. As I understand she will still be 16 when she is able to wear tights at all times, not 17 as Sally Dally states, and although she may start to feel increasingly dissatisfied about wearing socks and may think she is “more than ready for tights”, she has not yet completed her final year of compulsory school education which is a perfectly reasonable demarcation line to cease to wearing socks.

If you find your daughter is the only girl in her class, or year, wearing socks this should not stop you insisting she must continue to wear socks, contrary to what as Ex Teacher states. From what you say she is in an increasing minority of sock wearing girls, so she is used to being around girls of her age or younger who wear tights, and she has probably already had her leg pulled over it (no pun intended!). She’s accepting your ruling, so things cannot be that bad for her. You probably also find that not being allowed to look particularly fashionable at school means she doesn’t attract the “friendship” of disruptive pupils and therefore her grades are much better than they otherwise would be.

[Melanie_D]

It is for the parents to decide what age their daughters wear white socks but I agree with the other posts here that its unfair to keep a teenage girl in socks for school if all the other girls wear tights. She will be laughed at and teased and thats not right. When this is the case then let her wear tights for school and make her wear white socks 24/7 outside of school. I wore tights for school from 14 but my parents kept me in white socks at home to 16.