As the temperature rises, so do hemlines and the suspension rate. Students are suspended for violating school dress codes by wearing outfits that are deemed ‘showing too much skin’. It is argued that revealing clothing is distracting, but some families agree that dress code implementations end up just shaming girls. They teach girls to be ashamed, not modest.
According to educators and some parents, the outfits’ young women wear are too distracting for men to be able to view women with dignity and respect. Everyday school dress codes target girls-especially girls that are more developed. In 2012, a student at Stuyvesant High School in New York noticed that curvier girls were shamed for what they wore. A t-shirt worn on one student was acceptable whereas when it was worn on a curvy girl, it was disgraceful. In April 2014, leggings were banned from a junior high school in Illinois because they were “distracting to boys”.
On May 21, the temperature in Montreal reached 24 degrees Celsius. 2 Vice-Principals at Beaconsfield High asked Grade 11’s to stand up with their arms at their sides and if their shorts hemline was higher than their fingertips, they were too short and went against the school dress code. Lindsey was singled out for having too short shorts. They asked her to change and when she said no, they said she was making a bad decision and began to shake their heads, shaming her in front of her peers and teacher. Lindsey decided to post papers around the school that said, “Don’t humiliate her because she is wearing shorts. It’s hot outside. Instead of shaming girls for their bodies, teach boys that girls are not sexual objects.” The papers were taken down but became noticed on Facebook and Twitter.
In Nova Scotia’s Truro Junior High School, another girl was shamed for her shorts that were slightly higher than her fingertips. She was told that if she continued to wear shorts above her fingertips she would face suspension and then, possibly expulsion. The mother argued with the principal and education minister to change their policies that stated shorts were distracting to the boys and staff and started a petition.
The mother also spoke on behalf of another student who was told she had to wear shorts down to her knees because the scars on her legs were distracting to other students.
“These scars are the result of a hard time in this child’s life. … She was told that her scars were inappropriate for the learning environment. This makes me sick.”
The petition to change their policies was signed by more than 7,500 people.
As a teenage girl heading into high school, I don’t want to be ashamed of what I wear. I have my standards of what is right to wear to school and I know when something looks like it shows too much skin. I will not let myself feel self-conscious of how my body looks because boys shouldn’t be looking at me like that. I want to learn in school, not face suspension for wearing shorts when it’s hot outside.
Instead of forcing girls to be ashamed of who they are and what they wear, we should be teaching boys to be more respectful and see girls as people, not objects. There is a point where some clothes are too short, but wearing shorts that are slightly higher than a girl’s fingertips should not give a school a reason to suspend them. Boys are able to learn and grow up just fine despite all the things girls wear. Girls clothes being distracting to boys is turning out to be more of an excuse to say to annoyed parents. In 10 years, who knows how much crazier school dress codes could be and hopefully the young children are prepared for what they will have to face.