High school dress code does not respect students
We are writing in response to the Friday, July 4 Opposing Viewpoints column in which the new high school dress code was discussed. In the face of lax enforcement of the previous dress code, this revised edition is more akin to overkill than an effective, positive change. Perhaps the administration should be more concerned with seeing existing restrictions met before adding to them.
In James Clark’s article, he writes, “students have apparently lost the ability to dress in good taste,” adding the responsibility of monitoring what is or is not in good taste should be placed upon the shoulders of school officials, namely, the teachers.
This, of course, begs the question, “What is in good taste and according to whom?” Is forcing students to cater to the fashion whims of persons a generation, and often two generations, older than them the most advantageous way of promoting a more positive atmosphere?
With the new dress code, a T-shirt with a slogan such as, for instance, “Clothe the homeless” would not be permitted, being deemed a distraction to the educational setting. James Clark was correct in saying clothing should not be vulgar or laced with obscenities, but where is the vulgarity in empathy or the obscenity in humanitarianism?
A thousand points to Will Stewart for maturely recognizing the fact that students who thirst for knowledge will do so regardless of whether their fellow classmate is wearing a professional wrestling T-shirt or a Warren County wrestling T-shirt, while students who do not desire to learn will not receive a sudden educational inspiration if their neighbor no longer wears his/her favorite Celine Dion T-shirt.
So now, teachers who already struggle against the constraints of time and a too expansive curriculum will be forced to surrender even more valuable instruction time, harming those students who are passionate about learning, “distracting” those who already have trouble with it, and granting a reprieve to those entirely apathetic to it. Meanwhile, a 4.0 student is to be removed from class for 20 minutes for wearing a “Habitat for Humanity” T-shirt. Are we the only ones who see the absurdity in this?
Despite popular opinion, the majority of high school students who attend class do not do so in “bikinis ? laced with obscenities.” Ninety-five percent of students on any given day wear a T-shirt and jeans to class, which is appropriate enough to wear to Wednesday night service, but is wholly inappropriate under the new policy.
We also wonder what plans the administration has, if any, to accommodate those students whose families cannot afford to purchase new wardrobes that meet their standards of “good taste.”
We fear it is not the decency of the students’ apparel, but the attitude of the administration, that should be in question. To effectively “promote a more positive and respectful atmosphere,” the administration must stop viewing students as foes who need to be conquered, and start realizing them for what they are: individuals who will give respect only after they begin to receive it.
Jenee Northcutt
111 West End Ave.
and
Ashley Moser
104 Jefferson St.
McMinnville