A North Carolina school district is proposing to reverse its school dress code. While it's not yet implemented, the students are already slamming the policy change. Officials are still exploring their options, but what made them seek the proposal?
The New Hanover County School District announced the proposal to the school dress code in a directive posted on its website. Under the stipulations of Policy 8520, "leggings, skinny jeans or other excessively tight fitting pants" will soon be banned from school.
However, the policy will allow for such garments to be worn if a dress or top is long enough to cover the "posterior area in its entirety." The proposal stemmed from the fact that some "bigger girls" have been bullied for wearing tight clothes and this has caused class disruptions. Hence, the proposed school dress code change is directed at female students.
If a student attends classes wearing clothes that are not part of the school dress code, she will be asked to change to a more appropriate outfit. If the student is a repeat offender, she could face possible suspension, per WECT. The school district is still getting feedbacks from its students and parents and in doing so, posted the policy changes via the New Hanover County School District official Twitter account. The social media post was soon littered with negative comments.
@NewHanoverCoSch pic.twitter.com/vpGWdsdBdy
— macey (@maceyaustin_) May 16, 2016
Many students expressed their disapproval for the proposed policy change. Some say that the school should put more focus on improving the quality of education and the physical rehabilitation of broken facilities instead of the dress code. Some pointed out that it promotes body shaming. "As a mother of three daughters, shopping is a nightmare anyway. Stop body shaming females and just put everyone in uniforms!" one mother wrote.
Others also pointed out that if bullying is the problem, then this should be what the school must address. Think Progress reports that more often than not, school officials believe that imposing a stricter dress code would curb incidences of bullying. However, a Washington student disagrees with this and wrote an op-ed piece about strict school dress codes on the Olympian. It stated that bullying happens regardless of what the students wear.
Was the school's proposal extreme? Were the students right to say the focus should be on bullying? What do you think parents?
