Mum Wins Battle For Daughters To Wear Pants And Shorts At School

A mother has won the fight for her daughters to wear pants and shorts at school as the school changes its uniform policy to allow girls to wear pants and shorts instead of dresses.

Mother-of four Melissa Mibus, from Sydney, started her campaign after her daughters were bullied and teased when she allowed them to wear pants instead of the traditional tunic after students were required to switch to winter uniform at John Palmer Public School in The Ponds in Sydney’s north-west.

“I felt that all girls should at the very least have the choice to wear pants and shorts,” Ms Mibus told Daily Mail Australia.

Ms Mibus took her fight to the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board who introduced her to a not-for-profit law and policy organisation called the Public Interest Advocacy Group (PIAG).

PIAG and Ms Mibus then claimed that it was discriminatory for the school not to have a gender-neutral uniform option.

Finally, the school agreed to change their uniform policy, publishing the following statement on their website:

“Pants and shorts are now an available option for girls as part of the official standard school uniform at John Palmer Public School,” it stated.

“In the interim, girls are permitted to wear navy blue pants and white shirt (winter) and navy blue shorts and white shirt (summer) until the additional items to the standard uniform are available.”

The traditional options for girls and boys are still listed, but the school has now added gender-neutral options for both summer and winter. “I’m very pleased John Palmer has changed its uniform policy to include pants and shorts for girls, but I would like it to go further,” Ms Mibus told the Daily Telegraph, as she revealed that she has now written to the education minister urging him to introduce a gender-neutral policy for all NSW public school.

Education Minister Rob Stokes agrees girls schould be able to wear pants. “It’s bloody ridiculous. Girls should have the option to wear shorts or pants as uniform to schools if they want to. It’s just common sense,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

However, he had second thoughts about changing the public school uniform policy across NSW public schools. “I am advised there was no need to change the department’s policy for this issue as the school, John Palmer Public School, made changes to their uniform for girls under the existing departmental policy,” he said.

Source: Honey.nine.com.au and Dailymail.co.uk