Lakes Dress Code
February 14, 2022
As I’m sure most of you know, our school’s dress code is pretty lenient, seeing as hats, beanies, durags and more are no longer prohibited. However females students still feel that they are being disproportionally called out for dress code violations . Too often it seems that girls are inappropriately dress coded by male staff members. Have you ever heard a staff member say “find a shirt or zip it up.” It has happened, even if they weren’t revealing anything besides her stomach and her collar bones. Does it really “disrupt the learning environment.” If this really needed to be addressed, staff could talk to a student one on one or ask a female teacher to talk to the student, but not in front of the class like it is in a lot of cases. I can assure you that almost nobody is distracted by a female’s collar bones . I’m sure none of you have seen a male student get dress coded, I can say for sure that I haven’t. This “dress code” revolves around the sexualization of children and their bodies but more specifically underage females. There is nothing distracting about a shoulder or a stomach that would negatively impact students’ learning and it seems that teachers (usually the male ones) are the only ones that have a problem with how we dress. School should be a place where students are able to feel comfortable and express themselves and we can’t do that if our teachers and administration are calling our underage bodies “distracting and disruptive.” Underage females are already so cautious about older men to the point where majority of the female students I know feel the need to cover themselves around our male staff, and being called out for dress code incidents make it so much worse for us. Having a school dress code that is heavily aimed at female students can unfairly sexualize us and our clothing and take away our freedom to feel comfortable. In one scenario a female student felt so uncomfortable by the inappropriate dress coding that she felt the need to leave class to go talk to a trusted female staff member so that this could be addressed. There are many stories where staff made females students feel uncomfortable at our school. Being that Lakes is a public school, students are expecting the freedom to express themselves and feel safe and that is not happening. Some of our staff need to change their outdated ways of thinking, because it is not okay for girls to come to school and feel sexualized because of the way they are dressed. Do better.
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Joe Mama • Mar 30, 2022 at 11:01 am
Wow so valid.
amber petty • Mar 30, 2022 at 10:42 am
I love this as a student who’s had issues about the way male staff approaches me! If my parents are ok with it I believe the school should be to! Well said!!
Shawn Pederson • Mar 5, 2022 at 12:53 am
Although I respect your opinion, I disagree with it. School is not a place to dress as you please. You are preparing yourselves for adulthood and employment. The way that a person dresses can be a distraction and the dress code is in place for a reason. All students should be expected to follow it.
This is not about anything being “outdated”, it is about conducting yourselves in a respectful manner. I feel that Lakes is too lenient on its students. I’ve seen some of the attire on students and I was shocked. This would have never been allowed when I was a teen. The way that a person dresses says alot about who they are and how far they’re going to go in life. In schools, there are rules. When you become adults, you can do as you please.
Alex Melvin • Mar 10, 2022 at 10:58 am
The entire point of it being a “distraction” is that its implied sexualization of children. Babies can wear crop tops and skirts, tank tops, but young women can’t because their developing like the their bodies are supposed to. Telling a girl and/or woman to cover up because you find them distracting just admits the fact you have no self control around people of the opposite sex. If that’s the case, it should be implied towards males for wearing loose muscle tees, shorts, baggy jeans, etc. so while I respect your opinion, I disagree because your scope is too narrow and lacks inclusion.
Claire Dobbins • Mar 10, 2022 at 11:10 am
While this comment is valid, I find the sentence “The way a person dresses says alot about who they are and how far they’re going to go in life.” Is often rooted in sexism and victim blaming. How many women and girls SA cases have been thrown out because they were “asking for it.” based on what they were wearing? This broad statement seems like it could be interpreted as saying that students who choose to dress revealingly are somehow lesser than other students. We should all be accepting and treat people the same regardless of what they choose to wear. Personality is reflected in but not always dictated by what someone is wearing.
Ms. K • Feb 16, 2022 at 6:33 pm
Thank you for speaking this. The comfort of the students should always weigh more than the comfort of the staff.
Journey S • Mar 9, 2022 at 1:00 pm
The problem is that staff might get comfortable.