The dysfunction of dress code

Schools across the country are supposed to be preparing kids for “the real world”. So, my question is: how is putting restrictions on what we wear helping us in any way for life after high school? Schools should be teaching us valuable things, not lecturing us about what we wear. 

 Schools abuse their power over students by taking away their right to learn if they’re not wearing something that is socially “acceptable.” I have witnessed several occasions where girls are sent home or told to go change just because the holes in their jeans are too big or too much stomach is showing. Isn’t sending a student home or out of class more distracting than just leaving them be? Many people have different opinions, but how different should our opinions be when it comes to a student’s liberty? I understand school is a “professional setting” but it’s not a job, and how we dress should not measure up to how we succeed.

Students have stated on multiple occasions that they should be able to wear whatever they want, and teachers/the school district shouldn’t have a say on what they can and can’t wear. These statements are valid because our generation has evolved around clothing. The way people dress has become a huge thing in our society now, because that’s a way people choose to express themselves.

  Many girls, myself included, believe that boys need to learn how to control themselves better. Since we were little, it has been drilled into our heads to “cover up for the boys” or to “leave something to the imagination”. To an extent, this is totally ludicrous. It should be our choice how to dress, and we shouldn’t get any backlash for it.

The dress code has always been more strict and more targeted towards females. Males have it easier than females when it comes to dress code and can get away with wearing whatever they want. Females mainly get dress-coded for showing skin, more specifically the stomach and shoulders, because it’s supposedly “distracting” when in reality it shouldn’t be. Female clothing has evolved into shorter tops, which are purposely meant to show your stomach and skin, and is a normal thing to see in society now.

In the DHS student handbook, it states, “Wearing of items that expose underwear or an excessive amount of skin. (Examples: baggy pants, halter/backless tops, spaghetti straps, mid-drift shirts, shorts and skirts shorter than fingertip length, sleeveless underwear shirts, slippers, pajamas, etc.”

Most of the items listed in this dress code are targeted towards girls. Besides baggy pants and sleeveless underwear shirts, five of the ten items are directed towards girls, while there are only two directed towards guys, and two are gender-neutral. 

From the DHS student handbook: “No student will be allowed back into class until they are deemed appropriately dressed.” Is how students dress really worth trading their education for?