Fashion Police On Patrol

By Barbara Hollingsworth
The Capital-Journal
Published Monday, August 18, 2008

Jeff and I have been writing for a small teen section in the local newspaper (The Topeka Capital-Journal) for a month or so, and were recently chosen from that group of kids for a photo shoot to demonstrate dress code violations at schools around the area. As you can imagine we were quite excited and even more excited when we came to find that the story was front page along with us! I demonstrated overly baggy, sagging pants, a baseball cap (ironically, it was my Official Orange hat), and a shirt suggesting violence (of one of my favorite bands). Jeff demonstrated overly baggy, sagging pants, and a sleeveless shirt. The following is the article, quoted straight from the Capital-Journal website. We take no credit for the actual story, we just wanted to show you our pictures and the accompanying information. Hope you enjoy:

"Take off those pajamas, and for heaven's sake, pull up your pants.

This is school, after all. And Washburn Rural Middle School principal Jerry Meier won't tolerate frumpy pajama pants in his school in the same way he doesn't tolerate adolescent girls in revealing spaghetti strap tops.

"Sometimes you dress the way you act&mash;not all the time, I understand being comfortable and everything&mdahs;but it is an educational setting," Meier said.

Washburn Rural Middle School added the ban on pajama pants to its student handbook for the first time this year although Meier hasn't allowed them for years. Also new this year, Shawnee Heights High School students must cover bare shoulders.

Those are just two examples of schools trying to manage the confounding and sometimes revealing world of student fashion. Sometimes, there is plenty of agreement on what shouldn't be allowed. Other times, what annoys one principal is just fine with another.

For example, Shawnee Heights principal Warren Watson would be perfectly happy to see students shuffle through school in cotton and flannel pajama pants.

"We feel that pajama pants actually cover a lot more than other things they wear," he said.

Meier's take: "Warren works in a high school, and Warren works in a place where juniors and seniors are not so apt to de-pants a kid in the hallway as a middle school kid."

That can be humiliating for a 12-year-old and enough to get the aggressor in big trouble, Meier said. So, he asked, why leave open the option?

"I've been in situations where I've had kids not come back to school for two days because they are so humiliated someone came and dropped their drawers right here in the middle of the hallway," Meier said. "No one needs to know what color your underwear is. Seriously."

At Seaman High School, the goal is to reflect the view of the community, said principal Ron Vinduska. That means taking a pretty conservative approach, he said. Still, there are days when regulating student dress just isn't a top priority.

"Dress code is important, but some days it's not our highest priority," he said.

Highland Park High School has a dress code for its freshmen. Beyond that, the rules are similar to other schools. Don't wear anything that makes a derogatory statement, promotes drugs or alcohol, is gang-related or shows stomachs.

"We don't want to see navels," said associate principal Jaime Cuevas.

While drooping pants were a bigger issue 10 years ago, Cuevas said they still show up, although students won't hear much for a little drooping.

"When they sag and bag to the point where the crotch of the pants is down there between their knees, that's well beyond excessive," he said.

At Shawnee Heights, students are getting used to the new dress code.

Shawnee Heights senior Sami McHenry on Friday wore a short-sleeved white cardigan sweeter over her tank top. Students, she said, seem to be split half and half on the new shoulder rule.

"I really don't care," she said.

Nearby, senior Kelsey Purvis isn't impressed with the new rule that has caused girls she knows to be given a T-shirt to wear for the day.

"It's lame," she said.

Purvis and junior Morgan Hines said it is summer, and girls want to wear tank tops. And they said, if cleavage is the concern, there are plenty of long-sleeved shirts that are just as revealing.

"That's not solving it," Hines said.

The rule, Watson said, actually originated with talks with last year's student council. The concern was that boys would wear tank tops that opened wide on the side revealing much of their chests and girls would wear spaghetti-strap tank tops that showed undergarments.

"We just didn't think that was appropriate for school," he said.

The no-shoulder rule is a little flexible, Watson said. For example, a shirt with a wide strap that doesn't cover the shoulder might still be acceptable. The goal, he said, is to get rid of clothing that can be distracting.

"We're not here to embarrass kids, and we're definitely not here to harass kids," he said."

Barbara Hollingsworth can be reached at (785) 295-1285 or barbara.hollingsworth@cjonline.com

You can find the original story here:http://www.cjonline.com/stories/081808/lif_319877638.shtml