Divided

Boys at San Benito High School in California showed up at school one day in off-the-shoulder shirts to protest their school’s sexist dress code. Dress code policies are a highly debated topic, with new stories and posts online about questionable decisions appearing almost every day. Seventeen put together a list of the Top 10 most outrageous dress code scandals, which included violations for spaghetti straps, knee length skirts, and even collarbones.

“I was dress coded once in junior high,” Audrey Friestad ‘18 said. “I went into math class first period and I was wearing a tank top with straps two inches thick. At the start of class, there was an announcement that said you can’t wear your tank top if the straps aren’t a certain width, and then my teacher called me out as well. I was allowed to wear the shirt for the rest of the day, but I was pretty upset. At City, I’ve worn clothing that possibly could have been dress coded but it’s never happened.”

Although many schools have strict dress codes, some schools are reconsidering their policies. A recent KWWL story described an Iowa teen who was recently dress coded for wearing an off the shoulder top. The Nevada High School teen said she wore the shirt because it made her feel confident, and that she didn’t know it was against the dress code. Instead of punishing her, the principal is considering revising the dress code. He wants each student to feel comfortable in their own skin and does not want a dress code policy to get in the way of student confidence.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2009, 19 percent of public schools require uniforms, and 60 percent of schools enforce a strict dress code. As for City’s current dress code, students and teachers agree it is fairly lenient. Many were not even aware there was a dress code, as it is not widely enforced.

“Our current dress code has certain extremes [showing too much skin, or having offensive words or images on shirts] that are enforced to try and make sure that students have appropriate dress,” Steve Dodge, an economics teacher said. “But other than that, students are given a lot of latitude in what they can wear to school.”

English teacher Anna Basile was not even aware of a specific dress code.

“I think the current dress code is fairly lenient and creates an environment where kids can show their individuality with what they wear,” Basile said. “I think that we’re certainly not as strict as other schools in the area.”