Addressing the Dress Code by Nathalie Fortier

The dress code states that it prohibits clothing that could “distract other students or teachers” or “disrupt the educational process”. Many of the items prohibited, such as too-short shorts or shirts with spaghetti straps, do not seem terribly distracting or disruptive. They do, however, seem directed toward girls. As a society, should we really be teaching impressionable young women that their bodies are distractions?

Let’s face the facts: a female student is much more likely to be reprimanded for the attire she wears to school than her male classmate. The issue is not necessarily to be solely blamed on the teacher who does the reprimanding; they’re simply enforcing a school policy. Yes, we do have a school policy encouraging girls to cover up their bodies – it’s called the dress code.

You are definitely familiar with the dress code, and I can almost guarantee that you have complained about it at one point or another. But the issue runs deeper than not being able to wear a favorite top, it’s the rationale behind it.

The dress code states that it prohibits clothing that could “distract other students or teachers” or “disrupt the educational process”. Many of the items prohibited, such as too-short shorts or shirts with spaghetti straps, do not seem terribly distracting or disruptive. They do, however, seem directed toward girls. As a society, should we really be teaching impressionable young women that their bodies are distractions?

I was able to speak with assistant principal Mr. Chace on the matter, and he said, “Frankly, the idea that the sight of a stray bra strap peeking out on a girl’s shoulder will render other students unable to concentrate on anything else in class is a bit out of date… And if we find that this is the case, the focus should be on the distracted student and their learning or social/emotional needs, not the girl in the 95 degree classroom who’s trying to learn math.”

Across the country, many others share the same distaste for school dress codes. You may have seen the viral blog post by mother Catherine Pearlman. In the post, Pearlman writes a rather snarky letter to her daughter’s middle school principal, thanking him for “making it clear to [her] daughter that her body is somehow a distraction, either to herself or to the boys” and extending to him an invitation to take her daughter shopping himself in order to find clothing that meets his dress code.

At California’s Burroughs High School, students took action against their dress code, seemingly similar to CHS’, by voicing their concerns with the board of education. The school’s student body president held a meeting with one hundred students to discuss the changes they wanted to see in their dress code, and then presented the information to the school board.

Another opposer of the dress code is student Maggie Sunseri. In the summer of 2015, she created Shame: A Documentary on School Dress Code, which has since been viewed almost half a million times on YouTube.

Action has been taken in our own school as well. Earlier this year, the school committee asked the administration for their thoughts and opinions on our dress code, wanting to make sure it appeared “fair and ‘gender-free’ in its language.” In his response, Mr. Chace expressed a desire to include students in the process of reevaluation. He and school committee member Ann Dickson met with members of student council and senior class representatives to discuss possible revisions to the dress code. They plan on meeting with other students later this year. Will you be one of them?