Flip Shirts

Kids love these shirts but I would love to know, who thought these shirts were a great idea especially for girls to wear?  Here is what I see as I stand and teach a lesson; I see little girls rubbing their chest up and down. It almost can be considered “stimming behavior” . The child with the flip shirt is often not looking at me either and likely not listening to me but focusing on the changing sequin design. Wearing the shirt also often affects their friend’s behaviour . Those sitting around them are likely watching the shirt flipping and thus these classmates are not looking or listening to me either . Then most importantly , friends,boys and girls are going to want to try out the shirt and rub the shirt at some point . The design ‘s location is not in an appropriate touching area being on the girl’s chest. It does not matter if this touching happens during a lesson or not during a lesson, in my opinion , it is not appropriate touching. If you don’t think this shirt will be a distraction all day long , for the child wearing it and the many other kids in the class, you have not spent any time with a class of 5 year olds. The newer the shirt design the more of a distraction it is .Companies have now increased the amount of flip shirts available for boys. I believe that you as parents should also make some kind of “rule “ about how others are allowed to interact with your child when they wear their shirt. Parents you decide if having others , many times random people of all ages and not close friends rubbing your child on the chest is OK with you. In my classroom ,I have made a rule that if you do wear one of those shirts and you cannot keep your hands in your lap like all the other kids, or you are consistently distracted by the shirt, you are not allowed to wear the shirt again . I’ve also let kids know that they must ask the person wearing the shirt to demonstrate what the shirt does .( at an appropriate time that does not disrupt lesson) . I’ve made it a rule that others cannot touch the shirt. I am fine if you want these flip sequins on a backpack, a pillow at home, a lunchbox but designs on shirts especially girl’s shirts  can interfere with learning.