Middle School Girls Protest For Right To Wear Leggings

Dress codes will always be grounds for rebellion. In my day, it was ripped jeans. Now it seems the naughty garment du jour is leggings, after a bunch of middle-school girls in Illinois staged a revolution by turning up to class in comfy, skin-tight pants.

According to an article in Slate, school administrators at Haven Middle School had banned leggings because of the effect they have on guys.

Sophie Hasty, a 13-year-old involved in the peaceful protest, is disgruntled that girls are being punished for the reactions of the opposite sex. Sounds like a familiar argument, doesn't it?

"I asked a teacher to tell us about an incident where a girl was wearing leggings and a guy was getting distracted," said Hasty. "There hasn’t been one."

Cue a petition on social media, and a lot of seventh-graders fired up for change.

Previously, the girls had been told to wear gym shorts over their leggings. Persistent leggings-wearing could result in suspension.

Though school officials laughed off the campaign to save leggings, the girls are the ones laughing now, as their cause has been picked up by various media outlets.

As for the boys, they back the girls. "The boys were definitely into it," said Hasty. "They think the dress code is against them, too, because they don’t like having it blamed on them by teachers, being told that the dress code is their fault. They don’t think it’s fair to them or us."

The girls argue that leggings are the most comfortable thing to wear next to sweatpants.

What do you think—are leggings inappropriate for young girls to wear to school?

I swear, if meggings catch on, it'll be a game-changer.