With warm weather, students are beginning to dress to accommodate for it; however, with warm weather also comes violations of the dress code. Dress codes are a traditional subject of every high school debate. An example of this is high school students protesting their school dress code at Tottenville in Staten Island where  female students were upset because they believed their school’s policy was sexist towards females. Some say that the rules of the code are too strict and sexist towards females, who often get in more trouble than males. Others say this is simply because female students wear more revealing clothes than male students. Perhaps the code itself is to blame for the high frequency of female violations.

“Maybe they [girls] want to dress for an occasion or for the weather outside. If that’s what they want, then who are we to stop them,” said junior Hunter Killebrew.

This was my mindset when I first began writing this story. I looked at the rules. I interviewed students. I looked at poll results. I read similar articles, and I was truly convinced that I was correct and that the dress code is bad and needs to be changed.

I saw no reason why female students shouldn’t be able to wear clothes that they like even though they were a bit short or showed shoulders. But after a lot of thinking I realized I was incorrect in my first judgement. The code itself isn’t to blame. Like practice in math or Spanish, the dress code sets expectations for a for a learning environment and future careers and jobs. It’s simply the dress code for almost any future opportunities the students will encounter. And that stands true for both genders.

The LHS policy states that  “Chests, backs, shoulders, midriffs and thighs must be covered at all times.” According to a Lancer Media poll, females get cited more often for this rule. Why is that? Male students can walk around wearing tank tops, sometimes even muscle shirts, without appearing to get any punishments for it, but teachers and administrators are quick to send female students to the office for violating the same rule.

Sophomore Chloe Cline says that she thinks boys get away with violating the dress code because “they see it as the girls trying to impress the boys and showing off for the boys, but boys are just wearing the clothes.”

Principal Dave Kehne said,  “Our policy is very similar to what employers tell us they are looking for in an interview, whether it be for a part time job or a full time job.”

Another rule that’s often violated is “Hem line should be at or below the ends of finger tips when hands are held naturally at one’s side.” This is one rule that specifically applies to girls, especially because the popular fashion right now for girls is short shorts and skirts.

Kehne said, “We absolutely want to make that clear to students. One thing we definitely don’t want to do is have a policy that in any way appears aimed at either gender. Many of the rules may appear to be for one gender because, for example, we talk about the length of shorts and some people just assume we’re only talking about girls but the same could apply to boys. And I think right now probably fashions for our young ladies tend to be a little shorter in terms of shorts than for guys. Guys probably aren’t as likely to wear shorter things, mostly because those things aren’t available.”

Ninth grade school counselor Ilana Blum agreed. In terms of the dress code, she talks to girls about their attire more than boys. “But take into account, girls have more options than boys in terms of attire.”

She also said, “It’s hard enough to keep students engaged in learning.  It’s that much harder when you add in additional distractions like clothing, or lack there of, and/or phones.”

In a Lancer Media survey the most common dress code violation by male students was face coverings and clothing containing sexually suggestive, racially divisive, or otherwise offensive graphics or slogans.

For female students it was “Chests, backs, shoulders, midriffs or thighs were exposed” (Spaghetti straps/low cut shirts). Males were most commonly given a warning and females were most commonly asked to change.

 Also, if a student is asked to change, and the student doesn’t have clothes, the office offers clothes are commonly large and baggy. I think it could help if there was some diversity in the clothes. But since it’s a punishment I understand that no one gets a fashion choice. I guess the message of the clothes is to make wise clothing decisions before going to school.

Kehne said, “Nine out of ten times a student has something, but if they don’t, we have fresh, clean, clothes. We never give a student anything that isn’t, and they can pick which one they want. I don’t necessarily call a parent. I want to treat our students like young adults, and it’s very rare that we visit the same student twice.”

“I think we have to reflect the standards of our school community and what’s challenging for all is to recognize we are each a piece one of the voices in our school community, so while I may think there should be a certain standard, my particular opinion is just one of many and I have to consider the opinions of all in developing the school policy,” said Kehne.