By Taylor LaTray Posted October 12, 2011
It’s summer and hot outside, no one wants to dress for winter, so the school lets us wear less clothing, but they put a limit to just how little clothing we wear, which is only proper.
The problem is that a dress code not only deprives students of their ability to express themselves, it is also unfair. The dress code compliance is very unfair as it seems to be based more upon what the student looks like, rather than what they are wearing. Students who are far from disobeying the dress code have been getting reprimanded while other kids who are wearing highly inappropriate attire, don’t even get a disapproving look. It is unfair to the students who get in trouble and may have to serve Saturday school, lunch detention, etc when others do not have to do this.
In almost every class, a teacher or administrator checks how students are dressed. The amount of time spent checking the clothing of students builds up when it could have been time spent on learning. The students will then spend time in class telling others of their infractions and unfair punishments of how they got in trouble yet a fellow classmate did not. This decreases their learning time, and even parents are stressed by their child having to worry about their everyday clothing.
For every kid, the dress code varies. Girls are normally told mid-thigh length for clothing below the torso. Yet you see girls getting in trouble for knee-length attire while girls wearing much shorter bottoms do not get in trouble. These policies are not only for some kids that the teachers choose to pull aside, but they also apply to all girls.
For tops, the rule constantly changes. Is it three fingers, cut-off length, or should it be a long T-shirt length at all times? Girls have been punished for their sleeves slipping to the side due to heavy backpacks, while other girls can get away with strapless shirts. If teachers and anyone else enforcing the dress code plan to enforce it they need to do it fairly, while the students should also be cooperating with the dress code.
If we’re going to keep a dress code policy, the student should be able to express themselves and be treated fairly no matter who they are. When entering school, clothes should be the furthest thing from a student’s mind. We respect our dress code, but we don’t respect losing our freedom to express ourselves. Students, you also need to realize that there is a point where your clothing is too revealing, we also need to respect the dress code, and no one wants to see that much, it’s not appealing.
