Are Dress Codes Necessary?
Schools have always had dress codes. Some rules were made for safety precautions, others simply to regulate indecent attire. But are public schools taking it too far? Area students have conflicting opinions.
Brittany Packard, a senior at Lackawanna High School, says that there is nothing wrong with her school’s regulations on attire. “I think our current dress code is fine, it gets the job done without being really strict,” Brittany said.
Mike Lepkowski, a senior at Orchard Park High School, has a similar opinion.“I think dress codes are good and needed, but flawed in a few places,” Mike said.
However, students from Frontier and West Seneca West high schools see things very differently.“ I think it’s a major subtract from freedom of speech but a necessary point of contention,” says Trek Fulater, a senior from West Seneca West. “While I believe fully [in] the ability to remove profanity and sexually charged comments, some of the things like cheer clothing and chains are just forms of self-expression.”
Trek also mentioned that enforcing the dress code is an obstacle that gets in the way of class time. “I think that the rules forcing teachers to go after violators interrupts the learning process and is ultimately a doomed endeavor. It doesn’t change anything,” he said.
Jillian Pappagallo, a senior at West Seneca West, has a different bone to pick with the school’s dress code. “It doesn’t handle the girls who wear short shorts and pencil skirts with revealing shirts,” Jillian says. “I would love to make a specific rule that stated that girls can’t wear the least amount of clothing possible.”
Courtney Browning, a senior at Frontier, disagrees, saying that it’s the students’ responsibility and dress codes aren’t necessary. “I think that schools definitely go overboard on the dress codes,” Courtney said. “Some of them I understand are put in effect because they think students’ clothes are too revealing or distracting to other students. But in all other cases I don’t think they are needed. By high school you should be mature enough to handle the way people dress and mature enough to know what is school-appropriate and what isn’t.”
However, Frontier Principal Jeffrey Sortisio believes that Frontier’s dress code is necessary. “We are very clear that we are not the fashion police,” Sortisio said. “Our goal is not to judge students’ attire in terms of aesthetic acceptability. As a large suburban high school, we have all genre of students represented. They are free to express themselves within reason and within the tenets of the code of conduct. Dress that is deemed distracting to the school environment is prohibited. Basically, one student’s idea of fashion cannot interfere with another’s opportunity to learn. As with all areas of the code of conduct, we strive to be fair and consistent. I do think we meet that mark more often than not.”
But what about those students who don’t care what is school-appropriate and what isn’t? Perhaps if dress codes were more lenient, the only students affected would be the ones truly dressing indecently.
“As long as nothing is showing completely or see-through then I think it’s fine,” Courtney said. “As hot as the school gets, if I wore shorts down to my fingertips, I would be sweating all day.”
Brittany mentioned the heat as well. “The only thing I’d change is for it to allow us to wear modest tank tops (two-finger width straps) because it gets pretty warm toward the end of the year.”
Schools have always had dress codes. Some rules were made for safety precautions, others simply to regulate indecent attire. But are public schools taking it too far? Area students have conflicting opinions.
Brittany Packard, a senior at Lackawanna High School, says that there is nothing wrong with her school’s regulations on attire. “I think our current dress code is fine, it gets the job done without being really strict,” Brittany said.
Mike Lepkowski, a senior at Orchard Park High School, has a similar opinion.“I think dress codes are good and needed, but flawed in a few places,” Mike said.
However, students from Frontier and West Seneca West high schools see things very differently.“ I think it’s a major subtract from freedom of speech but a necessary point of contention,” says Trek Fulater, a senior from West Seneca West. “While I believe fully [in] the ability to remove profanity and sexually charged comments, some of the things like cheer clothing and chains are just forms of self-expression.”
Trek also mentioned that enforcing the dress code is an obstacle that gets in the way of class time. “I think that the rules forcing teachers to go after violators interrupts the learning process and is ultimately a doomed endeavor. It doesn’t change anything,” he said.
Jillian Pappagallo, a senior at West Seneca West, has a different bone to pick with the school’s dress code. “It doesn’t handle the girls who wear short shorts and pencil skirts with revealing shirts,” Jillian says. “I would love to make a specific rule that stated that girls can’t wear the least amount of clothing possible.”
Courtney Browning, a senior at Frontier, disagrees, saying that it’s the students’ responsibility and dress codes aren’t necessary. “I think that schools definitely go overboard on the dress codes,” Courtney said. “Some of them I understand are put in effect because they think students’ clothes are too revealing or distracting to other students. But in all other cases I don’t think they are needed. By high school you should be mature enough to handle the way people dress and mature enough to know what is school-appropriate and what isn’t.”
However, Frontier Principal Jeffrey Sortisio believes that Frontier’s dress code is necessary. “We are very clear that we are not the fashion police,” Sortisio said. “Our goal is not to judge students’ attire in terms of aesthetic acceptability. As a large suburban high school, we have all genre of students represented. They are free to express themselves within reason and within the tenets of the code of conduct. Dress that is deemed distracting to the school environment is prohibited. Basically, one student’s idea of fashion cannot interfere with another’s opportunity to learn. As with all areas of the code of conduct, we strive to be fair and consistent. I do think we meet that mark more often than not.”
But what about those students who don’t care what is school-appropriate and what isn’t? Perhaps if dress codes were more lenient, the only students affected would be the ones truly dressing indecently.
“As long as nothing is showing completely or see-through then I think it’s fine,” Courtney said. “As hot as the school gets, if I wore shorts down to my fingertips, I would be sweating all day.”
Brittany mentioned the heat as well. “The only thing I’d change is for it to allow us to wear modest tank tops (two-finger width straps) because it gets pretty warm toward the end of the year.”