Health & Fitness
In Response: School Dance Dress Codes
This article examines the school dance dress codes and why they are so heavily criticized, in opposition to comments seen in another Patch article.
A poll was conducted on the Highland Park Patch in an article published today, April 28th, questioning recent dress codes put into play by public high schools in this area for school dances. As a student, I have seen quite a few inappropriately dressed students, however, I believe that should be up to their parents to determine. When I go dress shopping, I go with my mom, like many other girls my age. When we try on dresses, my mom will tell me if she thinks something is inappropriate for me to wear, and I know many other parents do the same thing. It should not be up to the school to determine what its students wear, unless it is making another student feel uncomfortable or fear for some sort of safety.
People aren't going to change what they do after school dances, nor are they going to change what they do on the weekends. The type of dress a girl wears isn't going to change their behavior, and unless it is completely improper, other people will still treat them the same and think of them the same way. Whoever says that a girl's dress is "distracting" to boys needs to go look at their own values and examine them a bit. If you don't want to be distracting to members of the opposite gender, don't wear a dress that will be distracting. So many girls wear outfits based on what they like and think is pretty, with very little consideration of what boys would think. It is a form of artistic expression, not something to be looked at only from a parental point of view.
In addition, the way these outfits are looked at is in a very sexist way. If you want to tighten up the standards on how students can dress, you must enforce your rules across the board. What about making boys wear their pants actually covering themselves? That would be a start. By focusing on only girls and their dresses, it takes away a woman's right to express herself through clothing, something a man could do by riding his pants low or taking off his shirt. If a girl wants to have a dress that cuts maybe 5 inches above her knee, let her! It's her choice and nobody, especially males, should have the right to criticize that. It should be up to her and her parents, not some man in an office typing up outfit rules.
