Who cares about the dress code?

An opinion on the dress code at Peninsula High School.

Janelle Spear, Reporter

The bell rings and it is time for lunch. As I am on my way to the lunchroom, I see one girl wearing a pair of high waisted shorts, with her bottom hanging out the end of them. I feel uncomfortable and it makes me wonder why no one is doing anything about it.

In the student handbook, there is a section that discusses the dress code rules for the school. It states that the torso, upper legs, cleavage and undergarments need to be covered. Bandannas and sunglasses are not to be worn indoors. Also, clothing and jewelry displaying alcohol, tobacco, drugs, weapons or obscene and vulgar messages are not permitted. But when walking around the halls one may see students with marijuana leaves on t-shirts, as well as girls with inappropriately low cut shirts.

Boys are looking and girls are gossiping and nothing positive comes from it. People may say that they are using clothing as a way to express themselves, but I believe that they can accomplish that while still following the dress code. With that being said, one almost never sees staff enforcing the dress code that is so plainly stated in our student planners.

There is a possibility that the staff has tried to talk to students, but students have ignored their commands to change. I think students should have some sort of punishment and the staff needs to be more strict.

When I asked some of my teachers what they would do if they saw a student inappropriately dressed, they all gave me the same answer: first they would pull the student aside and inform them they are not dressed accordingly then ask them to cover up. If the student refuses to do so or it continues to happen, the teacher would send the student to the office. They also said that it hasn’t gotten farther than that.

When sitting in class, I see a girl wearing a low cut shirt, which causes boys to not pay attention to the teacher but to the girl and the teacher has to stop their lesson to address the boys. It is not fair to the class and it is really frustrating. It takes away from everyone else’s class time. If a boy is wearing a shirt with vulgar language and another student sees it and starts a conversation about the t-shirt and it’s message, it begins to become a problem. The conversation between them turns into a really big distraction.

The dress code was designed for a purpose and it should be in effect at all times. Our students are representing our school and if they are half naked or wearing vulgar clothing, that might give others the wrong impression about our school.