Lesson 15, Task 4: What do I believe in?
The school policy I most agree with out of suspensions, dress codes, and restorative justice, is dress codes. For years schools have been putting in place dress codes, which is basically just a code of conduct for what you can and can’t wear to go school, while some are in place in middle schools, they are more strict and enforced in high schools.
Dress codes are put in place to protect young minds. Though some schools dress codes are much too strict, like the rule that girls cannot show their shoulders, or even in some schools their ankles, to protect the minds of the young men, which teaches them that women are an object and they are distracting instead of teaching them to respect women. I agree with dress codes because they are put in place to protect young minds and to keep things always appropriate. Without dress codes girls and boys alike would be welcome to wear what they please, which could be from short shorts to even just no shirt, so putting in place a dress codes protects everybody. Another reason to have a dress code is that some clothes have inappropriate graphics and things that could be offensive or triggering to other people. School dress codes are both good and bad. For some reasons like keeping students focused on their schoolwork rather than on the boy in class who’s wearing no shirt and his pants hanging below his butt, or the girl who’s wearing the skimpy skirt and almost no shirt. Dress codes also have some downsides, like how some schools dress codes are so extreme that it becomes demeaning to both boys and girls. It teaches the girls that they are sexual objects, and that they are distracting and should be desired, and it teaches boys that they are not able to control their primal urges around woman, which is so , so wrong. Boys and Girls should be taught that they need to respect each other no matter their gender, and to treat others the way you want to be treated, not that we are all sexual objects, we are people.
In conclusion, I agree but also disagree with some aspects of dress codes. Some of the aspects I agree with are, preventing both girls and boys young minds, protecting others by being triggered by the vulgar images or languages on some clothes, promoting ‘pureness” , not promoting your body and purposely trying to get the opposite genders, and more. But some aspects I still do not agree with. Yes I do believe there should be SOME restrictions on what we can wear, but not to the point to where girls fear getting in trouble at school because they have long arms and their shorts don’t reach their fingertips or not being able to show your shoulders at school without being reprimanded for being sexual… because of your shoulders or ankles showing.
