Kiss goodbye to all those short shorts, tank tops, and sunglasses! We’re back in school and teachers and administrators are cracking down on making sure that all students are following the dress code this year. By the end of the previous year it’s fair to say that students were getting away with clothing that is not in the Pinellas County rules.
“Now compared to the end of last year there has been a dramatic change in the number of students getting dress code violations,” math teacher Mrs. McDaniel said, “The students are still used to being able to get away with the shorts but this year we will not tolerate it.”
Some students feel the dress code is not too bad or hard to follow, while others feel that it is ridiculous and as mature high school students they should be able to wear what they want.
“They are being way too strict! I understand they don’t want us wearing shorts that show too much but I feel that if we wear full tank tops under our lace or mesh shirts it shouldn’t be a problem,” freshman Dejah Myers said.
Myers was written up the second week of school for wearing shorts and a lace t-shirt with a tank top underneath.
“My mom told me I’d get in trouble for the shorts, but even my mom said that my shirt should not have been a violation,” Myers said.
This is one of the reasons that PHU wanted to have a modified dress code which consisted of only crew neck, or polo shirts with no design or prints, also only jeans or khakis would be allowed; jackets or cardigans could not be used to cover up any dress code violations.
Some students and teachers here at PHU are thankful that the modified dress code did not pass.
“I would rather enforce this dress code than have the modified one,” McDaniel said, “the modified dress code would have been way too hard to follow, even as a teacher.”
“It’s better that I can still wear what I want to an extent compared to the modified dress code they wanted to pass for this year,” Myers said.
Some still wonder how long they will enforce this effort to keep students in dress code, or if they will slack off like they did last year.
“We are slacking off on warning the students about their midriff already; that is against the dress code policy,” McDaniel said, “Also teachers who do not follow the dress code policy are doing us all a disservice!”
The dress code this year is just another rule that student and teachers will have to follow. By simply following the dress code we could eliminate any problems that come along with it.