10 Things You Need to Know About the Dress Code
I January 9, 2020 11:24am ET
Licking Valley High School, located in Newark, Ohio, has a dress code that some students agree with, but many students disagree. Megan Kollar, Roger Moran, and Alexa Reinbeau from Licking Valley’s Media Literacy class took to the halls to find answers to the questions students were asking the most. With the investigative report, many factors were included to provide adequate information to our audience about the Licking Valley dress code. The group took on many challenges with this report and accepted the possibility of disapproval from those in power.
The reasoning for the dress code isn’t what you think.
The group took on many challenges with this report, one of which being the job of trying to find out what exactly their dress code was created with in mind. To find the answer they needed, they took to their emails to contact Mr. Dave Hile, the superintendent of Licking Valley Local Schools.
When presented with the question, Hile replied “Dress codes are designed to communicate to everyone what is acceptable dress in a particular organization and/or setting. What’s appropriate dress while students are on summer break and what’s appropriate for school, or what’s appropriate in a place of business, or in college is each completely different. I think we can all imagine what it would be like in school without a dress code in place establishing minimal expectations (think Walmart!). We already see how some people dress with the dress code in place. People should not be forced to attend school with other people who choose to show more of their bodies than anyone really wants to see, or who wear clothing that may be offensive to others (i.e., Confederate flag). Thus, dress codes are designed to communicate to people what is acceptable dress for a specific environment.”
2. The current principal and vice principal didn’t have a hand in the original creation of the dress code, but they have the ability to change it.
The basis for the dress code was already here when Mr. Weaver and Mr. Adkins became part of the administrative team at Licking Valley High School. “[The dress code] would have been created originally in 1958, the first year Licking Valley became an independent school district. Administrators would likely have sat down and decided what was appropriate dress for school and what was not. And you can probably imagine that it was much more strict in 1958 than it is in 2019” stated Hile during the interview via email.
3.The dress code isn’t directed just towards girls.
The biggest point Mr. Adkins made throughout the interview was that “to answer the whole ‘it’s geared towards’ thing, that’s not the intent. I hope that all of those people who say ‘this is more geared towards females’ know that Mr. Weaver and I didn’t sit down and say ‘let’s develop a dress code that really hammers on the females.’ I hope I wouldn’t even have to address that, but that’s sadly not the case.” Of course the administrative team’s goal is not to gear it towards one gender or one group of people more than others, but “is it a perfect system? No.” But, the administration “tries to be as consistent as possible” furthers Adkins.
4. It’s not just females who notice clothing patterns.
Megan Kollar sent out a school-wide anonymous survey with questions about student’s experiences, as well as what students have witnessed from others with the dress code. “A lot of the kids who answered my survey were female, actually 125/186 were female” Kollar explained. She continued, “However, everyone seemed to express a dislike towards the dress code.” In Kollar’s survey, students repeatedly quoted the dress code as being “incredibly sexist, no matter who looks at it.” That student continued, stating “As a male, I can even see that myself, that girls are deprived the opportunity to 1.) express themselves and 2.) learn in an undistracted, worry-free school environment.” When getting this response, Kollar knew this was an issue students truly cared about and students needed answers.
Alexa Reinbeau hosted anonymous interviews during Licking Valley High School’s panther period which helped her collect information face-to-face with students about their experiences with the LVHS dress code. Throughout her survey, she asked five female and five male students if they had ever been dress coded, what the offense was, and if they viewed the dress code as biased and unfair. Almost every response from the female students were the same: dress coded for holes in jeans, the dress code is biased towards females, the dress code is unfair. Alexa’s response to this was that she’s “not surprised that every single person said that they think girls get dress coded more.” Reinbeau continues stating that “it’s so unfair to girls at this school. I’ve seen it myself, many boys deserve to be dress coded because of their shorts, but nothing gets said to them.”
5. It’s meant to be black and white.
Mr. Adkins was very clear minded through this interview stating that “it’s not what I think. We have to set a standard, put it in black and white, and hold to that standard. I have some people that it looks like their jeans are about to fall off because they have so many holes. Is that worse than somebody that has one that’s four and a half inches above the knee? Absolutely it’s worse, but I can’t say ‘okay that’s worse and I think that’s a little bit better’ because that’s when you get people starting to complain that this is not consistent. Is it a perfect system? No. We try to be as consistent as possible, but do I see jeans that in my opinion are worse than others? Absolutely I do, but I don’t treat them any different.”
6. Staff aren’t directed to be opinionated.
Continuing on the idea of keeping things as black and white as possible, Adkins makes one of his final points being that “[staff] can’t be subjective; subjective means opinionated. We can’t be opinionated, we have to write it, put it in black and white so you understand what it is, and when it’s a violation, it’s a violation. We’ll treat you just the same whether it’s borderline or whether it’s extreme.”
7. Change can’t happen immediately.
I know, I know. It’s not what you want to hear, but changes to the dress code mid-year aren’t the best idea! “At the beginning of the year, [the administration] has meetings with different teachers to talk about the dress code,” says Adkins. These meetings are to gather input about different problems in the dress code, but also gather the opinions of teachers to understand what things in the dress code could be allowed. It’s all dependent on when the time arrives and it wouldn’t make much sense to call for change mid-year.
8. The system isn’t going to be perfect.
Once again, another thing I know you don’t want to hear. However, it’s the truth! As previously stated, Adkins recognized “is it a perfect system? No.” But, the administration “tries to be as consistent as possible.” It all ties back into trying to keep things as black and white as possible, but with more and more clothing trends coming out and coming back, it’s difficult to keep a steady agenda each and every day. Licking Valley’s administration does not look at every student every day, so it’s difficult to ensure a true consistency to the system.
9. Students can’t always be to blame.
Finally, something I know you should be receptive of! Yes, students choose what to wear each day, but students do not choose what clothing lines are released by companies! The lines are “less definable. Now it’s more subjective which I don’t like to go on those lines because some people say ‘that’s unfair.’ So now the best way to describe it is now they can be cut off right at the shoulder or they don’t even have to cover this part from the neck, all the way down to the shoulder. As long as they cover up the majority of the shoulder. Now that’s drastic from where it was. You had to at least cover over top the shoulder.” In this quote, Adkins was referencing the new shirts with the shoulders cut out. This posed an issue with what the school had as the dress code, but the administration chose to adapt the dress code to the clothing trends!
10.Licking Valley isn’t the only school with stricter dress codes.
Licking Valley does and will have limits within the school walls. “You’re going to have a standard here and students, with all due respect, because I was once a student, are going to try to push that line” stated Adkins. The teachers at Licking Valley are aware of the students’ feelings towards the dress code, but Licking Valley isn’t the only school with a dress code. Sheridan High School’s dress code policy states that “blouses, shirts, and dresses with open backs, low necklines, thin straps, strapless open down the sides or of bare midriff design are not allowed.” Lakewood keeps a lot of gray space in their dress code by stating that “shorts and skirts must be appropriate length.” As a final point, I will include a few quotes from Utica High School’s dress code that include a lot of gray areas and little definition to what is seen as appropriate. “Excessive body piercing is prohibited.” “Styles that create, or may create, a classroom disturbance are not permitted.” “Shorts and skirts may be no shorter than extended fingertip length or at the discretion of the administration.” Licking Valley is incredibly lucky to have defined standards within the school’s dress code policy. Too much gray area leads to the possibility of abuse of power, and that’s not what Licking Valley has.
The students of Licking Valley all feel as if the dress code needs a change. Girls are tired of being treated unfairly with the strict dress codes and the fact that more girls get dress coded than guys. Megan, Roger, and Alexa believe that this investigation opened our eyes to how bad the dress code treatment is. Almost every student at Licking Valley High school has seen or heard about how the girls are dress coded more. They hope that with this investigation, not only was the student’s awareness raised but the teachers and higher authorities at school as well. Alongside raising awareness, they hope to either see a change in the future dress code rules or a start in dress coding those who wear dress code breaking outfits but are overlooked.
If you are a student at Licking Valley High School and you wish to spark a change within different issues throughout the school, there are some things you could try. One thing to try is to start a petition. With a petition, you get signatures and with enough, that will show Mr. Weaver and Mr. Adkins that many students agree that there is a problem, and might change it for future school years. Another thing you can try is to write a letter to Mr. Adkins and Mr. Weaver. If you compose a letter explaining your feelings towards the dress code, and possibly get other students to write letters, then it will show that students are very passionate about changes being made, with the understanding that changes will not happen during that school year but will be applied for the next school year and the future years to come.
Works Cited for Pictures:
Dress code bar code: https://99designs.com.au/logo-design/contests/dress-code-needs-simple-stylish-logo-43427
Gender Equality: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwj3oYS_g_fmAhXbQs0KHWttC7UQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcsnews.com%2Fgender-equality-not-womens-issue&psig=AOvVaw1Ly8A1xSFQ1SujJNMrWLlu&ust=1578676794721713
Teacher pointing at student: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiAxqO-gvfmAhWLAZ0JHTrOCPMQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.istockphoto.com%2Fphotos%2Fteacher-yelling-at-student&psig=AOvVaw0YNYU1q2J4r_T9GTNjzTzC&ust=1578676510749375