Dear Future President,

Several other girls and I agree that there needs to be a stop to student dress codes. It causes many issues in many schools and people aren’t taking it as serious as they should. School dress codes are important because everyone should be treated equally. Girls are always getting spoken to about what they are wearing to make sure they aren’t a distraction. Yet boys are not getting spoken to about being a distraction. Girls should be able to wear whatever they want without being a distraction. What they are wearing may describe their personality and what they like to wear, but they can’t wear it because it’s a “distraction.”

At the beginning of the school year, all the girls were called down to have a meeting about dress codes and about 99% of us were not fond of it. According to the school, if girls are wearing “too short of shorts” or have “too much cleavage” showing, we have been chosen to not earn respect or be treated as professionals. Instead of teaching girls to cover up so the boys aren’t distracted, they should tell the guys that no matter what a person is wearing, they deserve respect and should be treated as a person. Everyone deserves respect no matter what they choose to wear on their bodies. Wear whatever you feel comfortable in, because we couldn't care less about being a distraction.

Truly, everyone should be treated equally, no matter what kind of clothes they are wearing. According to www.theatlantic.com, girls are getting treated differently because of what they are wearing. “I’ve never seen boys get called out for their attire, even though they also break the rules,” says Stacie Dunn. Girls are constantly getting disciplined because of the way they dress and it’s not right. Sexism is a big part of this situation and you need to figure out a way to stop it. Boys need to be taught to treat girls equally no matter what they are wearing.

Both boys and girls are affected by this situation according to www.lettertopresident.org. “The standard dress codes that are enforced over half of the U.S public schools are unfair to both genders”, says Kiri. This problem doesn’t only affect girls but it also affects boys. Boys also think the dress codes aren’t fair. Boys at my school think they should be able to sag their pants and wear clothes with inappropriate content. Some boys disagree and think that the dress codes are fine and girls are taking it too serious.

There are several ways this problem can be solved, boys can stop harassing girls by what they are wearing. Students also could speak out, fight for what they think is right. Anything can make a difference. Fighting for what you believe in is a good thing.You should try and influence schools that dress codes do not matter, maybe more people will actually care and take this problem more seriously. There are bigger problems in this world that matter but the small ones matter too.

Sincerely,

Candlelynn Gessner

Citations:

FIORDALISO, By MICHELLE. “Family - The New York Times - Http://Www.nytimes.com/Section/Well/Family.” Family - The New York Times - Http://Www.nytimes.com/Section/Well/Family, grabpage.info/t/www.nytimes.com/section/well/family.

“The Atlantic.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/10/school-dress-codes-are-problematic/410962/.

parenting.blogs.nytimes.com