Not a single day goes by that I don’t hear at least one person complain about dress codes. While dress codes may seem a little unfair at times students need to realize that the staff has every right to limit the way students dress.

Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent School District was the first court case concerning dress code; several students wore black arm bands to protest the Vietnam War. The Court essentially decided that schools may limit student expression (such as enforcing dress codes) if there is a legitimate concern that such expression will be disruptive to the learning environment or violate the rights of others.

Because of this law, if staff feels the need to restrict the way students dress, they are more than able. Complaining at teachers and principals won’t change a thing because the dress code is only enforced by our teachers and principals while being put in place by the School Board.

The struggle isn’t useless though, the dress code has “evolved” in a sense over the years. For example, leggings used to not count as clothes at all, if you had leggings on under jeans to cover holes you would still have been out of dress code because leggings were just the same as not wearing anything. Camo is technically not allowed at all, and girls aren’t even supposed to wear heels. Yet the staff never cracks down on these things. Slowly progress has been made towards letting students express themselves through clothing.

There are many steps that can be taken to help if you are unhappy with the current dress code. Writing letters to the editor is a great way to get your voice heard, making petitions and sending them to the School Board can also be very effective. There are ways of getting your voice heard and your opinion acknowledged.