Middle school is the time that has the power to make or break your confidence. For many, having a negative body image can really bring down one’s self esteem. A dress code teaches adolescents to feel ashamed of their bodies and cover it up. It teaches us not to feel pride in our bodies because our confidence makes others uncomfortable. Many students across the middle school felt restricted and disrespected by this dress code, especially girls.
After much deliberation, a new policy was compiled and has been in action since the start of the 2016-17 school year. The Attire Policy is a set of questions designed to guide a positive conversation in which a student can reflect on their choice of attire without being forced to change or being dress coded. I believe that it is a better approach to helping students learn how to dress for school.
I believe that this solution has the power to promote a positive dialogue surrounding choices of attire because it is gender neutral. We are no longer feeling targeted by a dress code that seeks to shame our bodies. This policy is a dialogue between students and teachers. This allows for students to stand up for themselves when they feel like a teacher is making an unjust judgement of their choice of clothing.
Lily Fousse, eighth grader, recounts the time she was dress coded a few years ago: “The teacher came up to me and she said, ‘I don’t think your outfit is appropriate for the school rules.’ That made me feel uncomfortable because it was during lunch and everyone started to look at me and I felt a loss of pride in what I wear.”
This is not the way to teach girls a lesson, it is the way to break any self-esteem girls have left over from the cruel years we call middle school. On the grounds that this conversation is had in private, there will be no embarrassment on the student’s behalf whereas the dress code had no such consideration.
Conversations had regarding the Attire Policy will resonate more with students than being dress coded. A certain enemy-mindset is formed in a student’s mind when they have been dress coded. However, a two-sided conversation can lead to positive decisions being made by students in the future rather than a resentful relationship being formed.
Ms. Thompson, a MS health and electives teacher explains her position. “I strongly believe that the vast majority of our middle school students understand what it means to choose clothing representative of an educational environment. However, there may be a case where a student’s pattern of clothing choice prompts several attire conversations. If this were to happen, my stance would be to explore whether this could be an indicator of underlying issues about attention, self-worth or identity. If so, we have counselling support in place to help the individual.”
The only way to get to the issue behind poor choices in attire is by asking questions and addressing the issue instead of telling a student off for not following a list of rules.
Some say that having a dress code is more realistic for the future. I believe that the Attire Policy completely addresses this need because it teaches us critical thinking instead of teaching us to follow rules. Critical thinking skills are developed when we ask ourselves as we are getting dressed if what we are wearing is appropriate for the occasion.
Mr. Lutkoski, our middle school principal said that “we want to move away from just having a dress code which is a list of rules and towards an approach to making choices which still is clear for people but also is an opportunity for all of us to be thinking about what impressions our clothing choices have on other people.”
To me, rules are a crutch. We will never learn to make decisions on our own if we grow up relying on rules. Having a self-developed awareness of social norms is much more valuable than a memorized list of rules.
My favorite part of this Attire Policy is that it does not police bodies but rather encourages students to realize their own boundaries and the boundaries of our community and find a common ground. The Attire Policy is a great solution to the issues students faced with the dress code and will foster a learning environment in which students feel confident in their bodies and are prepared for the attire norms they will face in the future.
