The school dress code isn’t unreasonable but the district definitely doesn’t take into account every emotional and physical aspect. Some of the rules for clothes are too specific for all the different body types that walk the halls. I find every day girls are getting coded for things that meet stated requirements; I’ve even had it happen to me. And how administration and teachers go about addressing violations is a little rough.

For instance, the infamous fingertips rule the has implemented for years. All skirts and shorts must be at least as long as your fingertips…give or take a bit. Take me for instance; I have long legs, an itty bitty torso and short arms. After years and years of being told that fingertip length wasn’t long enough on my legs, I’ve adjusted and now wear skirts that are longer than fingertip length so there is no doubt about my clothing. But recently even my extra length was deemed too short. What do you want me to wear? Ankle length skirts and jeans constantly? Come on, I’m a girl.

It’s not just the coding rules in general, there’s also an issue with how violators are addressed. This is where the emotional part comes in. I agree that some girls wear inappropriate clothing and need to be addressed for it, but making a public display of the whole thing is just awful. Not only do you embarrass the poor girl, but you rip her pride to shreds and rob her of her dignity. I’ve even witnessed a girl crying because an AP called her out for a skirt that didn’t fit their protocol. Here, we preach against bullying, we even have clubs against it, yet the authority is calling young girls out and publicly humiliating them.

Look, I get the reason for school dress codes. I even support them for the most part, but when it turns into an unfair, imprecise judgment due to body types and a sort of bully fest where everyone knows and watches what the girl is being individualized for, I have an issue. If you want to code girls, take into account that we all have different bodies. You can’t just use a generalization or assume it’s wrong.

Along with this, instead of publicly calling her out, approach her calmly and speak with her as if it were a normal conversation or call them to the office so that she isn’t isolated. These issues are easy fixes, but until someone realizes how wrong some of these things are, we’ll get nowhere.