Middle school dress code is ridiculous; let's get sensible

Middle school dress

code is ridiculous; let's get sensible

Today, my daughter, a seventh

grade Fayette Middle School student, was sent to the office because the

shirt she was wearing was supposedly not acceptable under the school dress

policy. A counselor gave her a jacket to wear for the rest of the day.

I really appreciate the kind

consideration that was shown to my daughter, instead of her being sent

to in-school suspension, which I understand is the usual "punishment"

for this, if you can't get in touch with a parent. I wasn't called, but

I wish I had been. I have been waiting all year for this opportunity to

occur because I feel our school dress policy is oppressive, unrealistic

and inhumane.

This shirt is a black sleeveless

shirt. It was purchased specifically because it met the school

dress policy. It is not only three fingers wide, it is four fingers wide

at the seam on the shoulder. It has come to the point that while shopping

for my daughters' school clothing (I also have a daughter in high school)

that we don't even look at the clothes; we merely ask what meets Fayette

County school dress policy. There are not many dresses, shorts or shirts

in the junior departments of most clothing stores that meet our school

dress policy for warm weather clothing for girls.

I agree that shorts cut up

to the groin, spaghetti strap shirts, low-cut tops, and short dresses

to the panty line are not acceptable, nor are offensive t-shirts and slashed

jeans. However, our dress code does not reflect the current "conservative"

styles available to parents and students in our local stores.

According to the dress code,

girls' shorts must be long enough to meet the child's fingertips and you

must slouch ("relax your shoulders") to insure no bare skin

can be touched. This is ridiculous! My daughter is a little taller than

average height. We tried on scores of shorts at Old Navy, Kohl's, Rich's,

Macy's, Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart, and JCPenney. How many shorts met the

school board's criteria? One. One pair. A single pair of shorts. So instead,

my daughters wear long, hot jeans on 85-degree days. This is inhumane!

If you are going to continue

down this path, let's just move on to school uniforms. It would be better

to have exact specifications than to have to shop for school clothes like

we do today. I want to be considered for the next parents/school board

member task force on the county's school dress code. I would like to meet

the people who are setting up these codes. I would like to have a voice,

as a parent of teenaged girls, on what is appropriate to wear to school.

We need more leeway than the children are receiving in our schools!

The atmosphere in our schools,

with militant assistant principals patrolling the halls, is oppressive

enough without having good students harassed because their clothing looks

to be not in the dress code.

Good students, with good behavior,

and wearing good, conservative clothing, are being stopped in the hall

and embarrassed in front of their peers, having their clothes checked

and being told to slouch so assistant principals can get their control

jollies for the day. This is oppressive and excessive and it is unnecessary.

I find it interesting that

I hear that staff's and teachers' kids are not being harassed, nor are

the rich, popular kids. Cheerleaders wear sleeveless shirts and skirts

up to the panty line and they don't get in trouble?

I am copying The Citizen newspaper

on this, because while we discuss it in the stores, in our neighborhoods,

and in our homes, obviously it is not getting enough publicity. Let's

change the dress code this summer to be more humane and less dictator-like

before we have to shop for school clothes for next year.

Sherri Greer

[email protected]