School dress codes a contentious issue
Parents, experts and educators present conflicting views
When Karen Green sends her two daughters, aged nine and 12, back to school in September, she knows she’ll have to contend with their school’s dress code. The rules prohibit tops with straps narrower than the width of three fingers; skirts, shorts or dresses shorter than the length of extended fingertips when a student’s arms are extended down the sides of their body; and abdomen, back and shoulder-baring tops, among other things.
Green believes the dress code unfairly targets girls in Grades 6 through 9, who are likely going through puberty.
“It’s not my child’s issue to make sure that nobody knows she’s wearing a bra. It’s everybody else’s issue to accept what a growing girl’s body looks like, and to not be distracted by it,” says Green, whose children attend a school in Chatham, Ont.
“Boys are basically represented as prisoners of their hormones. (They), just can’t help it and it’s not their fault. Girls, on the other hand, are seen as the gatekeepers of morality,” says Shauna Pomerantz, a Brock University child and youth studies associate professor and author of Girls, Style and School Identities: Dressing the Part (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). Mark Sherman, the superintendent for the Lambton-Kent District School Board, where Green’s children attend school, says dress codes help create a “modest, business-like” atmosphere.
“(Dress codes), are defined by the communities that the schools operate in. It’s a process designed to get input from parents through the school council,” Sherman says. “They want to have a safe, respectful learning environment.”
For some parents, dress codes help create an environment where everyone can be comfortable.
Toronto parent Terry Perdue, recalls a November 2016 incident when one of her daughters was told by a teacher that her V-neck sweater was too low-cut to be worn on its own. Perdue also received a phone call from the teacher during the school day.
“It was awkward,” she says. “The teacher explained to me that (her cleavage), was distracting the male children in the classroom.”
Her daughter’s undergarments weren’t exposed, but the teacher suggested she wear a T-shirt underneath the sweater, Perdue says.
“I think you should be able to wear whatever you feel comfortable in as a (girl), but you got to think of other people too, especially teenagers and all their hormones,” Perdue says. “You can’t be judgmental.”
One former school board chair rejects the argument that certain clothing that girls wear might make boys uncomfortable.
“We need to raise (and educate), our boys to respect and not sexualize the clothing that (girls), choose to wear,” says Patti Bacchus, a former Vancouver School Board chair and trustee, who believes it’s important to include students in discussions.
Schools should focus on supporting students and ensuring they have the best learning opportunities available instead of policing the width of a shoulder strap, she says.
“I question the need for them,” Bacchus says. “We need to teach students to respect other students’ bodies, their individual rights and diversity.”