As FCPS looks towards the upcoming school year, changes have been proposed to revamp the Students Rights and Responsibilities, most notably, in regards to the dress code. `
The SR&R is a booklet that outlines everything students can and cannot do.
Other proposed changes relate to bullying, harassment, and the cell phone policy.
While other schools in the county approach dress codes differently, the current dress code at AHS is essentially non-existent, and tremendously relaxed compared to previous years. Students can wear nearly anything they want; pajamas, tube tops, shorts.
The proposed changes to the 2023-2024 dress code would include much more specific language about what is not allowed.
The new wording specifically explains what students must wear, what articles must be covered, and what body parts must not be shown. The proposed language is much more explicit, while previous dress code language was more subjective.
Most of the subjectivity in the current dress code lies in the phrase: “Clothing should fit, be neat and clean, and conform to standards of safety, good taste, and decency.”
The goal is to have a gender neutral policy, with a focus on the specific clothes permitted or not permitted, rather than the amount of skin permitted to be shown, according to FCPS.
While a more objective approach can help eliminate bias in the enforcement of the dress code, it also increases the odds and frequency of being “dress coded” for everyone. The fact of the matter is that students should be able to generally wear whatever they want, as long as it doesn’t promote violence.
Also, while the new policy is allegedly not primarily trying to dictate the amount of skin shown, the majority of the articles of clothing that are outlined as unacceptable all reveal a lot of skin.
Different cultures have different ideas about what is considered appropriate. In some cultures, showing lots of skin is welcomed, a way of celebrating embracing your body. In others, it is looked down upon.
People approach empowerment differently, and what they are allowed to wear shouldn’t be a barrier to it.
Additionally, in any dress code, gender bias is inherent. The majority of clothes that are not allowed to be worn are clothes marketed towards women, who are disproportionately affected.
In a high school environment, we are mature, and it is unfair to judge students otherwise.
Clothes that reveal skin are not a factor that lead to an unsafe learning environment. Above all, instead of assuming that certain articles of clothing are distracting, why don’t we address the people who are “being distracted”?
Perhaps the SR&R should include some sort of amendment to the dress code that loosens the rules for high school students. That way, we don’t have to be bound by the same rules as kindergarten students.
Fashion is run, transformed, and revolutionized by the youth. It is a form of self-expression.
I see that the proposed changes come from a good place, but the goal of our society is to learn to move past draconian traditions and welcome progress.
