Mom Fights School Policy That Says Girls “Must” Wear T-Shirts at Pool

[gollygee]

141. It isn't the job of kids to make grown men comfortable

Yes girls' bodies develop around this age, but that isn't a bad thing. It's biologically normal. Although this was a 6th grade party so they would be 12, not 13 yet, and there's a lot of physical maturity for girls between 12 and 13, but they'd still be in the process of maturing, and some might be pretty physically mature.

It's the job of adults to be appropriate around kids regardless of what they're wearing. My husband was around our then 12-year-old daughter and her friends at the lake all last summer and he didn't seem disturbed or upset by it. They're kids regardless of what they're wearing. He didn't treat them any differently than when they were 9 and at the lake.

I don't honestly care what bathing suits they were wearing, but schools do pretty routinely say "one piece suits." That would have made more sense than telling them to put a shirt over their suits, which is weird, and was so clearly different from what boys were to wear.

The main issue here is that it isn't the job of girls or women to keep men from sexualizing them. Girls' bodies should not be policed to make men more comfortable. Especially adult men should be expected to be able to control themselves. Kids should wear the suits they find most comfortable, and the swimsuits I've seen for tweens are not that mature. At 12, my daughter wouldn't have fit in an adult bikini top. At 13 they are a bit more developed and this year I have to go to the junior's department to find clothes for my daughter, and we are having to work harder to find a suit she will be comfortable in. But I'm shopping to find a suit she'll be comfortable and be able to move around and play comfortably in. I am not shopping out of concern for the eyes of men or boys.

The mindset of this note in the OP is the same mindset that puts women in burqas or says women's arms and legs should be covered at all times regardless of the heat. Men who find girls in bathing suits attractive will also find girls in shorts and a t-shirt, or jeans, or whatever else attractive. How far should they go to keep men comfortable? That isn't the girls' responsibility. And bathing suits are perfectly appropriate for swimming pools, whether girls' bodies are developed or not.