Six grade girls in a Jerusalem state religious public school, girls 11 and 12-years-old, were told by their school officials’ that anyone participating in the annual school trip must wear a skirt. That has a number of the parents irked.
One parent said “We are dealing with 11 and 12-year-olds. Let’s keep things in proportion. This is a bit extreme”. The Mynet report adds “For years students and children wore pants on trips so what has changed today?”
The parents adds “Anyone understands that on a school trip with climbing pants are far more modest than skirts”.
The school is one of the larger state religious schools in the city. It is added that in this school, girls and boys attend mixed classes and for years the school’s hashkafa was pluralistic. Families whose children attend the school are from various streams of the dati leumi community including light/liberal.
A number of parents have turned to the school requesting to amend the regulation and to permit those girls who wish to wear pants, not skirts. A protest against the principal was held as well, but at the time of this article the school has not backed down. The parents who object report that despite the regulation they will be sending their daughters in pants, not dresses or skirts.
Those parents add “The school is shifting to chardal (Chareidi-dati leumi) and this was not the path in the past. As a result many of us will not be sending our children to the school next year because of this incident”.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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12 Responses
Just wear pants/leggings/jeggings underneath your skirt, like in “sport” class. That’s what we always did. When the students go out on a school-organized trip, they are representing their school. They should continue to observe the dress code in this situation.
The dress code is new, so they can’t “continue to follow it”. And they object to skirts representing their school.
Agreed with Bookworm. As long as the subject exists for a time, which it became the instant after the dress code’s installment, “continue” has been used properly, DracoDormiens.
The school in question is Efrata, which is very much not a charda”l school. It is a shame that the principal is forcing charda”l norms on the children against the wishes and norms of the families. The result will be heightened suspicion of charda”l candidates applying for positions in D”L schools.
How does YWN not know what is “religious”-the public schools are NOT religious. The article also doesn’t say any reason for the change in dress code.
The picture is of Bais Yaakov girls who never were in a mixed school nor in a mixed class, neither do they wear pants to school at any time. There would be no point to make a “change” to something everybody already does.
The dress code is not new. Just the fact that they have to keep to the dress code on the trip too.
#5- So you’re saying that a chiloni school is requiring that the girls wear skirts on tiyulim? Anyway, it is a mamlachti-dati school, i.e., a public religious school.
What’s next a veil and a burka?
For all those who don’t know, pants are not more modesty than skirts, especially since they will wear leggings/yoga pants. Pants don’t become more modest because you are doing climbing. To stay more modest girls should where pants under their skirts.
#10- “they will wear leggings/yoga pants” – Really? Is there any lie, no matter how ridiculous, that you will not fabricate in order to slander?
My daughter goes to that school :-)! Of course, she’s only in 2nd grade and always wears a skirt to school, with pant underneath. The character of the school is not one requiring skirts, and I can see why many parents are in an uproar. If the trip were to a holy site, I can understand the requirement. If they’re going mountain climbing or hiking, there’s no need for the change, and it may be dangerous. The school is one of the best academically in the country (both in limudei kodesh and secular studies). The Jewish education my daughter gets here for (essentially) free is far better than the one she got at a Bais Yaakov-type school in the US for $15,000 a year. Families from all over the country pay exorbitant rent to move into the “zone” of this school. And there’s a huge variety of families from black hat to chilonim. And we all get along together fairly well.