The Talon Online

Over the summer, a committee held a series of meetings and created a new district-wide dress code for the 2004-2005 school year. The changes came in response to growing concern from parents, teachers and administrator that students were not wearing appropriate outfits.
"The amount of clothing was becoming more and more petite," Assistant Principal Cristy Dawson said.
The only differences between this year’s guidelines and last year’s are the new restrictions on shirt, and for the first week or two of the year, staff surprised the students by actually enforcing the policy.
It is important for a school to have a dress code. Students should not be distracted by exceedingly low-cut shirts or exposed underwear while they are trying to learn. However, the code is only successful if it is reasonable and the enforcement is consistent.
The current regulations are too harsh in many respects. According to the guidelines listed in students’ planners, “No backless shirts or tops with spaghetti straps may are to be worn.” If a girl wishes to wear a shirt that is modest but happens to have spaghetti straps, why shouldn’t she be allowed to? Adults on campus have admitted that they even own shirts with the dreaded spaghetti straps that are now prohibited.
One may also wonder why spaghetti straps are outlawed at LAHS when Mountain View High School allows them. The dress code at both schools should be the same since it is a district code, but this does not seem to be the case.
However the biggest flaw in the dress code is not in the specific rules, but its enforcement. The first week back at school, Dawson said that over 40 students were reprimanded for violating the dress code. Since then, there has been a dramatic decrease in this figure.
While administrators suggest that students are taking it upon themselves to comply with the rules, it seems that more midriffs and short skirts are beginning to pop up again. The administration is not regulating student attire as much as it was in the beginning, and the same violations that used to exist are once again becoming prevalent.
Last Wednesday, an announcement was made during fourth period stating that on Thursday, no more warnings would be issued and that the dress code would be enforced. It is positive that the administration has realized that the violations are recurring, but the enforcement never should have stopped to begin with.
Erratic enforcement of the rules in the classroom has contributed to the current problems. Students walk into sixth period classes and see dozens of low-cut shirts, boxers and short skirts. This means that violations are getting past five teachers without being addressed.
Inconsistencies in the enforcement of the code don’t stop there. Girls are relentlessly targeted for their short skirts and low-cut tops, but teachers and administrators rarely make a peep about boys who violate the dress code. Although “sagging” is prohibited, boxers are continually showing. The vast majority of students apprehended have been girls, Dawson said.
Last year’s dress code that the school had last year is a good example of a reasonable policy. While students were encouraged to dress conservatively, they were not prohibited from wearing the tank tops that fill most girls’ closets. Granted, last year’s code was unsuccessful, but it was not because of the policy itself. The problem lies in the enforcement of the rules. If a fair dress code is implemented and enforced, then everyone can enjoy an environment that is conducive to learning.