Leggings as Pants Debate for Middle School

I don't see a problem with this. I will admit to doing it it quite a bit because jeans simply are not as comfortable. These kids are what 11-13? I think as long as they are feeling comfortable and confident with there body it is fine!

I personally feel that unless the shirt is tunic length and covers the girl's butt then they should not wear leggings.

I see it all the time at my daughter's elementary school and I think it looks horrible. I would rather see pajama pants than skin tight leggings worn as pants.

It is tacky and even worse when they are white or light colored and you can see their underwear through them..ugh!!

I would vote for banning them. There my two cents!!

I would want to ban them too but it's kind of ironic given I see plenty of overweight women in them too. Wish I could ban that. I don't get it. Why would you want to emphasize buldges? There are likely some teen girls who can rock leggings but even most teen girls can't. Such a shame some people think they look good. So I hope you can ban them but in a way it's a fashion statement.

leggings are pretty much thicker tights without feet. So no, I wouldn't think they'd allow tights without a shirt covering the bum.

JB's answer made me think a bit more about it.

In my mind it's not about "slut shaming".
I think teenage girls are constantly inundated with imagery and conduct through media that encourages them to sexualize their bodies as much as possible for attention, acceptance, and love.
School should be one place where the rules of dress remove a bit of the constant pressure to be attractive and sexy at all times.

Basically, banning crop tops and tiny shorts isn't about "men being animals" and girls needing to be on guard, it's about forcing teenagers to take a break from focusing so much on sex/body consciousness in their appearance, and letting them be kids for at least a couple more years.

All the girls around here wear leggings and yoga pants to school (usually with t shirts, flannel shirts or hoodies) and I've never heard anyone complain about it.
What's the debate?
We wore tight jeans in middle/high school back in the 70s and 80s and our butts were never covered. On the contrary LOL!
ETA: after reading some of the answers I think people are confused on what leggings actually are.
They are NOT tights. Unless you are buying really cheap ones the material should be as thick and stretchy as a pair of skinny jeans, or "jeggings"

I *personally* hate it and thinks it looks awful, so I would never wear that style myself. I also wouldn't wear short shorts, over the knee boots, bell bottoms or overalls. I wouldn't hold it against anyone else, though, if THEY chose to wear those items. My girls' middle school doesn't ban that look and it seems to be the uniform amongst the middle school girls. My girls certainly wear leggings as pants as do all of their friends. As long as the school says it's ok, I'm fine with it, though I don't *encourage* it. The girls say it's comfortable and I bet it is.

As far as "covering their butts", skinny jeans and pants have been in style for years now. The shape of a girl's behind can be seen pretty much everywhere. It's a human shape and I don't see why we need to be so ashamed of it. Panty lines? If you're noticing my child's panty lines, I would suggest you remove your eyes from my child's rear end. It would be nice if educators and administrators took their eyes OFF the girls' behinds (and skirt lengths and exposed shoulders and midriffs) and concentrated on educating them.

I've said this before (and it goes back to "it's distracting to the boys"), it is NOT my daughters' responsibility to ensure that boys behave appropriately. If a boy can't look at a female shape without turning into a slobbering, distracted hormonal male mess, then that's HIS problem. We really gotta stop blaming the girls, and this whole leggings as pants issue is a part of that.

shirts must be fingertip length covering leggings.. and the kids bum too.

Our school has also banned them unless the item they are wearing over it is fingertip length.

(Our basic school dress code is that all shorts or dresses/skirts must be fingertip length.)

They can wear the leggings under shorts or a skirt, or the top they are wearing with it must be fingertip length.

Leggings aren't replacements for pants. Ever.

Should not be allowed. Disgusting but some schools allow. My kid would have never gotten out the front door dressed like that.

Personally, I have always dressed my daughter in leggings WITH a long shirt or skirt covering her bum. I just find it more appropriate even though she's only 8. No one needs to be seeing her panty lines, it's no problem now, but it's a habit I don't want to encourage.

As for under skirts, it's mostly a precaution again panty flashing on my girl's part. She's not the most demure creature and forgets that dresses and skirts require a different sort of behavior. If the skirt or dress doesn't have built in shorts, I usually get her to slip on a pair of shorty shorts, just in case.

EDIT: How to explain it...simple. You tell them that leggings without long shirts or skirts are inappropriate because people can see the outlines of their panties.

My daughter is in 7th grade and wears leggings to school with t-shirts most days. I buy them so I make sure they are not too tight, cover her body, and are substantially heavy. The same with her tops. The ones from Old Navy work well.

I agree with following any school dress code rules. Ours doesn't allow camisole tops or tank tops, or shorts or skirts shorter than fingertip length. They have not gotten into the leggings debate and I'm glad. They are comfortable, and they look fine as long as they are the correct size and weight.

I agree with Kristin C. that people shouldn't be staring at my 12 year-old's butt, and boys can be held responsible for their actions as well.

Their butts need to be covered with a shirt if they are wearing leggings.

I do not like certain stayed inches because everybody has a different body shape.

They should be only allowed in elementary school. Middle school bodies are too developed for that trend.

I hate this trend!! My daughter just started high school and so many of the girls wear these. My daughter has to have something covering her bum. It gets tricky, she does not like a long tunic, that's apparently not cool. So we just compromise on a shirt or sweatshirt that is probably longer than she wants but is almost shorter than I want!!

I just tell her it is not modest to have your butt 'outlined'. I would explain it in general that leggings are not much thicker than tights, and you wouldn't wear tights without something covering the butt. Inappropriate is the word around here, it's just that simple.

By the way, I much prefer the leggings to the freaking short shorts where their ACTUAL butts hang out!!!

A debate? I hope it's not parents debating the school rules.

If that's the rule, then that's the rule. How do I explain it? I say, "You can't wear leggings." What's to explain?

If parents can't enforce something this simple with middle school girls, you are going to have a REALLY hard time when it comes to rules surrounding things that are really important, such as driving, drinking, drugs, etc. I assume these aren't your girls since you are a M..

It is ugly but what is the big deal?

Looking at the other answers it get they are ugly but when did the schools become the fashion police? If you can see through them address that just as my daughter has tops she cannot wear without a cami under it.

I would never let my daughter go to school with leggings and a short shirt because it is ugly but to say she can't seems silly.

Would you walk around wearing opaque panty hose as pants?
Or a dance leotard and tights as pants?
And let's be fair about this but if it's ok for a girl to wear would you be ok for a boy to wear it too?
I think tights are fine to wear under a dress or skirt or under a nice long tunic top but I don't like them worn as pants.
I agree with the schools that ban them.
It's easier for a school to have a uniform policy so they can state what is acceptable rather than having to develop policies for what ever new clothing fad that pops up.

The schools here have uniforms but they do have casual days for special occasions and that the kids can earn. This year the elementary and the high school have sent letters home indicating leggings are not allowed at all. Honestly, I think that is great. I was unemployed for 11 months and took my kids to school, For the high schoolers, some girls just did not seem to know that the leggings did not fit. It looked like they were wearing pantyhose. Seriously. I wish they would ban jeggings too. Yes, our girls should not have to worry about someone (boy or girl) calling them names or thinking they are "easy" but that is not how it is. I think the ban on leggings should hold just because some do not know how to wear them.

As my college freshman daughter has alwasy said "Leggings are NOT pants!"

Yesterday I dropped my son at high school and a slightly chubby girl walked by my car to the front door. She had on leggings as her pants. Unfortuatnely, the leggings were pulled a little too tight and the fabric was loosely woven. So intsed of leggings it looked like she was wearing patterned tights. I assume she had no idea what her butt and thighs looked like from behind in the day light. I felt bad for her that her mom was either already at work or just not paying attention when she left the house.

My suggestions is to always go more conservative. It's not easy to find shirts to fully cover your butt - particularly for the tall girls (my daughter's 5'10" and almost never finds a tunic top that's long enough). If you allow leggings there will be many girls whose butts will be hanging out there for all to see.

I'm sure you can find some meme's online or some snarky videos on YOutube - even some fashion magazines do's & don'ts about leggings that parents can recommend for their girls to see.

Good luck mama. It's tough to expect the girls to dress modestly when you see how some of the moms dress...

Leggings (to me) are not much different than tights. I think shirts should cover the bum.

Good for the schools that ban inappropriate clothes.

Please explain the idea of "we are having the debate at our school." Who is debating? Is this more a case of parents (and kids too) discussing a policy that's already in place, or has the school announced that it is considering adding a ban on leggings to its dress code? If the latter -- is the school asking for families' input, or is the "debate" just a matter of kids protesting and grousing to their parents, and this is going to happen no matter what? I'm curious about the context here. I'd like to know what your school does.

I have a daughter in 8th grade. I asked her if leggings were specifically mentioned in their dress code at school. She said she didn't think so, but added that anyone in leggings "should probably have their butt covered since they're like tights." So at least one middle schooler sees leggings as basically thicker tights.

As for who polices it -- nobody's going to get any jollies by making middle school girls bend over to show how tight their leggings are or aren't. In our school, it probably would be enforced the same way the whole dress code is: If a teacher or administrator sees something that is amiss or on the line, that adult would take the kid aside and quietly have the kid change into gym clothes for the rest of that day. In the case of leggings, I would wager that a kid might just be told, the first time, not to wear them again, and might not have to put on gym clothes -- the first time. And no, the gym clothes thing is not for "shaming." Sometimes kids just wear (clean) gym clothes to school, or wear their second pair of gym shorts because they want to, or wear their gym t-shirt on a non-gym day, etc., so it's not a big deal if a kid turns up in class in a gym shirt or shorts, my daughter says. No one would even notice the change much, in her estimation, so it wouldn't be the kind of shaming that has gone on in a few schools where administrators force kids into "shame suits" that have "dress code violator" written on them. (See earlier posts about that example!)

Tacky. They are banned at our school.

If it's the rule at the school, then that's the rule. If it is not yet the rule, I personally think it goes in the same category as things like no exposed underwear. This is why many schools around here went to uniforms.

I think the problem is in part what fashion calls leggings I call footless tights. There is a difference. When we wore stirrup pants back when, they were looser and worn with a big shirt. Reality TV Celebrities do not help this trend. Girls think they are cool when they are tasteless. If I can see every dimple and the shape and color of your underwear, you are not wearing pants.

I have seen my SD wear what I would call tights with a tshirt and I find it to be really tacky. She is 20, though, so she can be tacky on her own time. She knows she cannot go out in public with us in certain clothing choices.

So if I were dealing with this for my DD, I would require them to be cotton vs spandex and if they were too sheer, they would need to be covered with a pair of shorts, skirt, dress or very long shirt. Most of the time, her leggings are for modesty under a skirt because little girls like to stand on their heads.

If the school has a lot of problems with girls not understanding the difference between tights and leggings, then they need to be verbotten.

As for explaining them, perhaps get some examples and put them over the leg of a mannequin and show them the sheerness. Give them specific fabrics that are OK. My DD wears cotton pants that some would call leggings because they are slim. I think part of the appeal for these girls is it's a way to show off newly curvy bodies and they aren't mature enough to really think through not only how they look but the message they are sending. Would the counselor be willing to go class to class and talk about respectful attire for both genders? I'm not a fan of saggy pants, either.

I think they should be allowed. No difference between them and skinny jeans but I'd assume leggings are much more comfortable. Most cheer-leading and volleyball uniforms are much revealing. If a parent has a problem with it then don't let your child wear it, but nothing wrong with leggings in my opinion.

A lot of girls wear knit garments on the lower half of their body.

Who is going to police this issue? Are they going to hire a specific person to sit and look at a girls hiney to determine if this garment is leggings? Jazz pants? Knit pants? Tights? Leggings?

I'd be very uncomfortable with a man having that job for sure.

I think if a girl has on garments that cover her body and are no so tight they can't bend over or do a deep knee bend then that's not acceptable. I went to high school with other girls who had on jeans so tight they couldn't bend at the hip...that's too tight.

So no, I don't think wearing knit garments on the lower half of their body is wrong. It's the tightness and sheerness and sheen that is the issue.