Tubbs 1

Onnalee Tubbs

Ms.Gardner

ENGL1010

17 January 2017

Problem Solution Essay Rough Draft

The Dress Code

In the real world, everyone is unique. Everyone does different things including wearing assorted clothing. In school, students do not get to see much of different people. Most schools have a dress code. The dress code tells us what students cannot wear to school. Some are enforcedmore than others at Whitesville Central. When we all go off to college and into the real world, we are going to experience and see what people outside little Whiteville wear. The dress code takes away our freedom of expression. The school is sheltering us from seeing what the real world looks like. Some of us are going to go off to college and its going to be like a culture shock. We should be able to wear the clothes that we want to wear. If they are not harming anyone, then we should be able to express ourselves.

Students have a hard time following the dress code at our school. Mostly because we are not allowed to wear the clothes that we paid for. We all have the newest styles, but the school dress code is not up to date with the newest trends and styles. When the weather is nice, girls want to wear shorts or dresses. According to Whitesville Central School’s Board of Education, “Skirts, dresses or shorts should extend beyond the fingertips with arms at your side. Bottom of shirt should meet the top of pants” (WCS Board of Education). It is very difficult to find shorts that are long enough to meet this statement. Some girls are asked to change out of leggings or jeans with tears because it is distracting. Some teachers will say that it distracts the boys and that they do not pay attention in class. For example, a senior a Whitesville walks around with holes in the butt area of his jeans that reveal the clothing underneath. How is that okay? The code needs to be enforced to the boys as well. According to Noelle Swan,Dr.Kibourne says “It can’t be a situation where the girls are blamed for being provocative and distracting the boys” (Swan). This cannot be an excuse. When boys have their pants hanging down, or if they a ripped, they are not asked to change. It simply is not fair. Everyone is unique in his or her own way. Some express it in their clothing. The way in which we express ourselves should not be controlled by the school. They encourage us to be unique, but they are constantly judging the clothing we wear and telling us women to change.

Obviously style has changed over the years. The latest style does not consist of a lot of loose clothing, and long shorts. One student responded to question 2 in the survey,” No, I have long enough arms I would have to wear capris anyway”. Girls do not have the same length arms, therefore some girls can wear shorter shorts, and that isn’t fair. If the dress code was evaluated considering the newest styles, some changes can be made. For example, if it were to updated to something in lines of; shorts, skirts, and dresses, should not reveal any inappropriate areas, the girls would be able to wear shorts, and not have to worry about them being past their fingertips. The Whitesville Central School’s Board of Education says, “Pants, shorts, skirts, or dresses should not be revealing or suggestive in nature (example: skin tight clothing)” (WCS Board of Education). Leggings have grown to be quite popular as well. They are quite popular in our school. I personally wear them because they are comfortable and I don’t like to wear jeans. Some girls are asked to wear shirts that cover their butts. But what is the difference between skinny jeans and leggings?

Many teachers seem to say that some of the girls’ clothes are distracting the boys. This is not an excuse. The boys need to be taught how to show respect. If the school would teach the boys some decent respect they wouldn’t look at a girl that has leggings on and not be distracted. What’s distracting is seeing a boy walk by and have huge holes in the butt of his jeans and seeing their boxers. The boys need to be yelled at and told to change like us girls. It is not fair. If the girls and boys were treated equally the dress code wouldn’t be as big of a problem. The fact that girls’ clothing is a distraction is quite absurd. Swan says, “teens are not always wrong when they say that others get way with flouting the rules” (Swan). This is so true, it doesn’t even necessarily have to portray to the guys, many girls can walk around in shorts or leggings or inappropriate clothing and not have one word said to them.

In the real world there are people that are not like those in the little town of Whitesville. With that being said, the country has a variety of styles. I am a senior, next year I will be leaving this small town. When I go off to college I’m going to see different people, people are going to wear what they want. Am I going to be used to this? No. It’s like you’ve been told your whole life not to do something, then you see others doing it, and you think that they are doing the wrong thing, when really you just haven’t experienced the rest of the world. Girls outside of our school wear shorts that do not come past their fingertips, and then wear leggings. Sometimes people dress to be unique, but we cannot be unique.

Students will follow the dress code much better if it were looked at and evaluated based on new styles, and some of the changes since the last time it was revised. Not only will this make the student body happier, it will reduce the amount of times kids are getting in trouble for the clothes that they wear. Let us express ourselves, let us wear what we paid for. This will prepare us for the real world. In Whitesville, we are all pretty much the same. But once we leave, everything is different.

Works Cited

Anderson, Katie. "Schools tailor dress codes to suit changing fashions: Short shorts, super tight

jeans among this year's problems." Jacksonville Journal-Courier [Jacksonville, IL] 28 Sept. 2008. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Jan. 2017.

Haynes, Charles. "School Dress Codes Limit Students' Freedom of Expression." Students'

Rights. Ed. Jamuna Carroll. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "T-Shirt Rebellion in the Land of the Free." First Amendment Center 14 Mar. 2004. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 10 Jan. 2017.

Swan, Noelle. "High school dress code: The battle for keeping up appearances." Christian

Science Monitor 11 Sept. 2013. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Jan. 2017.