Arielle Bocanegra, a senior at Granby High School in Connecticut, and several of her classmates are upset with their school's decision to update their dress code.
Sure, it is normal for school administrations to make policy updates, but the part of this change that upset Bocanegra is the fact that only the girls are being affected.
The updated dress code says that girls cannot wear shorts that land any higher than six inches above the knee. It also says that they cannot wear spaghetti straps, along with other strict, measured rules. These restrictions have all been put in place specifically and pointedly to protect the boys and male teachers from being distracted form a learning environment.
Girls were being stopped on their way to the cafeteria, as administrators were calling them out for their dress code infractions. Bocanegra even skipped lunch one day for fear that she'd be publicly embarrassed in front of her peers simply for what she saw as weather-appropriate clothing.
The situation beckons the question: Is it fair to ask girls to go out and buy clothing that adheres to these strict rules just so that the boys don't get distracted from their learning?
Bocanegra understands her principal's goal to create a good learning environment, and when she started a petition to change the rigid dress code she wanted to work with the administration to make things fair. On a closed meeting on last Monday night, she, her peers, and parents all took steps to change the new code.
Do you think students were right to start this petition? If you were Bocanegra's parent, would you agree?
Please SHARE with your family and friends to see where they stand on this very hot topic.
