Different opinions on the dress code
Nydia Kuo
Staff Writer
Having the responsibility of taking care of the students’ well being, schools set dress codes to protect students; however, there are times when people think the dress code discriminates against female students.
“I have [read the dress code], [and] the dress code is somewhat equal,” Juliana Yang (10) says, “but definitely harsher to girls.”
Many female students nod their heads in agreement with that statement as there are more restrictions towards what girls can and cannot wear. An example is that it mentions “Tank tops, off-the-shoulder or short blouses/shirts or [any] blouses/ shirts that show the torso, stomach, or midriff are not allowed.” When she explains the limitations of the school sets, she also thinks that there is a rule from the dress code that should be changed. Yes, breaking a rule will ultimately lead to a consequence. Still, in this case, the punishment is too severe for something as small as clothing. After all, dress up is one of the ways a student can express themselves.
“Girls shouldn’t have to leave campus if they break [the] dress code, and breaking the dress code shouldn’t lead to detention,” Yang said.
Students get the consequence when an adult sees them in the wrong clothing, but who gets called out for these mistakes more?
“I think girls are often called out more often for breaking the dress code than guys are,” according to Kavin Goyal (10), “there are still students who wear gang colors, and there are some guys that even sag their pants around the campus.” According to the dress code, those two factors are part of the dress code that students should not be wearing their clothes like that at school. However, teachers tend to point out female students that failed to follow the rules completely.
But even if the dress code seems like it was created to discriminate against female students, it was designed to prevent any distractions.
“Teenagers can be distracted by so many different things,” Mr. Reibenschuh (assistant principal) said, “and whether it’s seeing a girl’s shoulder or back of a young man’s pants sagging, it’s very distracting. We, as people, can be distracted very easily anyway.” By keeping that in mind, the school tries to keep these distractions to a minimum. After all, this is a place to learn; and the lesson here is to know how to dress properly for each situation.
The reason behind setting a dress code in the first-place anyway is to make sure everyone is appropriately dressed for a school setting.
“We want to make sure that they understand the difference [of clothing] between relaxing at their home,” Mr. Reibenschuh explains, “relaxing at their friend’s house, [and] going shopping in the mall from what they wear to school,”
In Mr. Reibenschuh’s mind, each situation calls for different clothing; one will not wear their best clothes when gardening or wear something revealing at work. So continuing the same concept, the clothes worn to school should be more conservative to fit the educational environment.
Without a doubt, there are reasons to dislike or like something. Every rule created at school has a reasonable idea, and that includes the dress code too.
Caption: “[It’s not fair] not being able to show shoulder or stomachs, the fingertip rule for shorts too,” said Yang. “I [can’t] even think of [any] rules the guys [as unfair], they are pretty decent.”
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