Leggings have been banned from a school after a teacher claimed they are similar to bikinis and can prove distracting to male pupils, according to reports.
The unnamed teacher is said to have enraged parents when making the comparison in a student forum post, according to Australian news channel Seven – and media pundits have also slammed the ‘outdated’ view.
President of the Australian Parents Council Jenni Rickard was up in arms over the comments and even suggested the reasons given were false.
Speaking on 3AW Mornings, she said: “Can I just check what decade we are in? I thought it was 2019, not the 1980s.”
Read more: Pensioner rescued after getting stuck in her bath for eight days
“Saying that it’s because it distracts the boys is ridiculous, and I would say is not real.”
Media personality Gretel Killeen – pictured at the top of this article – also hit out at the idea of female students as passive objects – or victims.
Saying leggings distract the boys is ridiculous.
Speaking on TV, the comedian used humour about workers stripping off to make her point as she remarked: “It’s not even the notion that boys are unrestrainedly attracted and can’t control themselves but also this notion that girls would never be lured by boys or be looking at them.
“Quite frankly, what are we doing about men’s outfits, what are we doing about those tradies with no shirts on?”
Read more: Sleeping next to someone who snores ‘is bad for your mental and physical health’
The ban remains in place for the school, thought to be the first related to leggings Australia. But similar bans have been put in place across the world, including in the UK.
In 2017, parents of pupils at Witchford Village college in Cambridgeshire were told all uniforms would have to be purchased from the school shop, which did not permit tight-fitting threads. A petition appealing the ban was signed by 300 people.
“Boys don’t need a excuse for not concentrating,” one japester reacted to the news about the Aussie school on Twitter.
Someone else enquired: “Isn’t there a uniform…?”
And another person with an opinion freely expressed it by tweeting: “Hopefully all the parents of girls have removed them from the school and all parents of boys have explained to their sons that self control is their own responsibility and that what girls wear is no excuse for bad behaviour. I also hope the teacher has been disciplined.”
Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think of this story.