Tatum’s Dress Code Breeds Lots of Love of it but Lots of Hate too
I remember my high school days loathing the dress code at Lindale, in particular with my hair. For boys, hair couldn't be long enough to touch the collar of a shirt. I liked to keep my hair long, though, because I wanted long hair. My parents didn't like it but let me keep it as long as it didn't get too out of control. Of course, this was the mid 90's when I was in high school and dress codes were more tightly enforced. However, a recent complaint about Tatum's dress code proves that there is still lots of love for dress codes but also a lot of hate for them among parents.
In the All Things Longview Facebook group, a complaint about a kid being put in a "holding room" for a dress code violation brought up a lot of support for the dress code but also a lot of disagreement, or straight up abolishment, of the dress code. The particular disagreement was because of ripped jeans being worn but leggings were worn underneath as to not expose any skin. This parent believed because no skin was showing that her child was compliant with the dress code.
Line 14 of the school's dress code (tatumisd.org) was brought up a lot in response to this complaint.
It sounds to me like the school was more worried about the "excessively torn clothing" portion of this rule rather then not showing any skin because of the leggings. So technically, this student was in violation.
But as you further read through the 130 plus comments (as of this writing), you get a sense that a majority of parents believe that a dress code is archaic. Some even mentioned that the sports uniforms for some of the girl's teams shouldn't be allowed because those are in direct violation of the dress code.
On the other side of this argument, you had those that mentioned dress codes are in place so students will understand that certain work environments will require a dress code to perform the job.
Others mentioned having the self discipline to just follow the rules.
There is certainly no gray area whatsoever when it comes to school dress codes. I do agree that it's harder, especially for young ladies, to find clothes anymore that would fit within a school's dress code. But fashion is not exactly what school is really known for. I do believe rules, and to a further extent, laws, are around for a reason. Yes, we live in a free society where we can do as we will. But rules and laws are in place because certain people use that freedom to wrongfully impose on others. Without rules and laws, our free society would be chaos.
I, for one, prefer to follow the rules and laws because I have the personal discipline to do so and I don't have to worry about the consequences of disobeying or breaking those laws.
School dress codes are certainly a subject of intense debate in East Texas. Making a case to your local school board to make a change is the best course of action. We want our kids to be able to express themselves but parameters do need to be set and followed so they can grow into respectable and disciplined adults.