By Brynna Owen
A lot of students feel like the school dress code is outdated and doesn’t really match how students dress today. One of the biggest complaints is the rule against shoulders and crop tops, which are often called “distracting” or “inappropriate.”
Many students disagree with that. Shoulders and stomachs are just normal parts of the body, and most people don’t find them distracting in class. While most students understand that super revealing clothes, like extremely short shorts, might not be school-appropriate, they don’t get why things like tank tops or slightly cropped shirts are treated the same way.
Another issue students talk about is fairness. Some feel like dress code rules are not enforced the same for everyone. For example, students with a bigger chest might get dress coded for wearing something like a spaghetti strap top, while someone else wearing the exact same thing doesn’t get in trouble. That doesn’t seem fair to a lot of people, especially since body type isn’t something you can control.
There’s also real research backing up some of these concerns. Groups like the National Women’s Law Center have found that dress codes are often enforced more on girls, which can make students feel embarrassed or uncomfortable about their bodies. In some cases, students even miss class time because they get dress-coded.
A lot of students also say that, realistically, most people at school aren’t paying attention to what others are wearing anyway. Most just want to get through the day, finish their work, and go home. And if someone is judging outfits, that says more about them than anything else.
In the end, students understand that dress codes are supposed to keep things appropriate at school. But many feel like some of the rules just don’t make sense anymore and can actually make people feel worse about themselves. Because of that, some students think it might be time to update the dress code to be more fair and more in line with how students actually live today.
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