Does Attire Really Affect The Way We Learn?
Undressing gender discrimination in school dress codes
By Avril Rodriguez
“While a dress code is supposed to make the school environment more conductive to learning, it frequently does the opposite,” says Kira Barrett investigating the subject for the National Education Association News. As a middle school student, I know that most students feel the same.
In the majority of public schools, there are dress codes to ensure that the clothing of every student is appropriate for a proper learning environment. Rules ban everything from leggings, tank tops, short skirts to shorts and off-shoulder shirts. But does our attire really affect the way we learn? Do these rules really apply to everyone? I believe that dress codes are unfair, unnecessary, and sexist in the education system.
At my school, there’s a strict dress code that undeniably targets the female gender. My student handbook states that unacceptable clothing would be things such as “tops with shoulder straps”, “jerseys or tank tops [not] worn with a sleeved undershirt”, “shorts or skirts higher than 2 1⁄2 inches above the knee”, and “holes in clothing exposing skin” (School, Leestown Middle. Student Handbook / Dress Code, www.fcps.net/Page/8536.). While boys wear their fair share of tank tops and occasional rips in their clothing, these rules do not apply to them as heavily as they do to girls.
“I believe that dress codes are unfair, unnecessary, and sexist in the education system.”
This seems to be a problem for many girls at my school, including myself and a friend whom I won’t identify. When asked exactly what happened when she was cited for a violation, my friend explained: “I got dress-coded for having holes in my jeans, and you couldn’t even see my skin. I was late to class because of it, and I told [one of my teachers] what happened. She said, ‘You know that’s how babies are made, right?’ She was just kidding, but it was weird.” Statements like these to a middle schooler are inappropriate, regardless whether or not it’s a joke. Why are our outfits so overly sexualized?
Usually, when someone is dress coded, it’s because an adult noticed, not the other students. Middle school students like me couldn’t care less about exposed skin. It is not distracting or relevant to class and it does not stop anyone from learning. What does stop learning, however, are the regulations themselves. In a survey conducted by The Cougar Chronicle , 79% of respondents who said they did know a peer who had been dress coded answered that the peer was female. This suggests that more commonly, girls are the ones who are pulled out of classrooms and punished, stopping them from actually learning and interrupting the whole class.
Not only are these dress codes absurd, but they’re also demanding. When back to school shopping with my mom and dad, we had to go to multiple stores because most women’s apparel these days are exactly what the dress code prohibits. It’s a constant hassle to have to measure each skirt or short, find a t-shirt that doesn’t have a collar that’s too big, or to find jeans with no rips since they’re so popular. Imagine young girls in school from a low income household, having to waste so much money on gas to go to different places in search of clothes just because they have to cover up parts of their body that they can’t control.
“ This suggests that more commonly, girls are the ones who are pulled out of classrooms and punished, stopping them from actually learning and interrupting the whole class.”
While some may argue that it’s fine to have a dress code so that everyone looks suitable and proper, I do not disagree. But clothing that is deemed “inappropriate” such as what is named in my student handbook is harmless. This attire is not in any way shape or form obscene, vulgar, or crude. It is not our fault that we have bodies just like every other human on earth that are seen in ways that are entirely unreasonable. We do not have control over how we grow or how we appear.
So what can we do to stop these ridiculous rules from limiting what girls wear at school?
In September, Paducah Middle School seventh grade student, Griffin Holland, created a petition to relax his dress code and stop making the students feel objectified after noticing that his female friends repeatedly were sent to the office. It worked. He got over 500 signatures, and his principal, Geco Ross, began working with the other school leaders to address the issue. That was a major accomplishment, and anyone else could do the same! A petition is a great way to get things to change for the better, especially unfair rules that deserve justice.
Let’s stop making students feel uncomfortable in their own skin. We should encourage them to love their bodies instead of making them cover up like they’re a bad thing. People are changing; society itself is changing. So it’s only logical that we update our dress code rules as well.
Avril Rodriguez is a part of the Kentucky Student Voice Team and Young Authors Greenhouse’s Education Justice Writing Cohort. She is an 8th grader at Leestown Middle School in Lexington, Kentucky.
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