Dress code policy on spaghetti strap, yoga pants, tube tops, and much more,  is it  protecting or restraining us? According to the Institute of Education Sciences, 35% of city schools, including elementary, middle, and high schools require a dress code. A dress code is a set of rules, usually written and posted, specifying the required manner of dress at a school, office, club, or restaurant. At many different types of schools, the controversy of a dress code is debatable to the students. What is the actual point of the dress code? Most say its to help students “cover up” or it teaches kids to look more presentable. But when girls get more dress code rules than boys, because their articles of clothing are too “distracting,” it teaches the people around us that girls are responsible for their male peers’ hormones and actions. This is a nationwide issue with many women/girls who have a right to wear whatever they want without the fear of sexual interference and the accusation of “asking for it.”

Nationwide, there are many different types of schools with the same contentious issue with their dress code policies. Around March 2014 in Evanston, Illinois, a small middle school named Haven Middle School notified the female students that they were no longer allowed to wear yoga pants, leggings, shorts, or clothes that show too much skin. The parents of these students fought back hard, stating the discrimination behind why it is the girls’ job to prevent themselves from being ogled at, instead of teaching boys to restrain themselves. Another similar incident included a junior high in Northern California that banned “tight” pants because it was too “distracting”. Many other schools across America have also owned control on hemlines and necklines on female clothing. Some schools’ reasoning behind dress codes is that “boys will be boys”. Then why isn’t the term, “girls will be girls,” used loosely? This is because society is teaching girls that boys can’t help themselves and that girls need to fend for themselves.When kids wake up in the morning and look in their closet, they should feel free to wear whatever they are comfortable in; not worrying about who stares at them or what the school policy is. When will the time come, when people realize that if a girl decides to wear a short skirt or a tank top, that she isn’t just “asking for it”?

After conducting research on one female and male sophomore at Sacred Heart Cathedral, it is shown that there are also other girls who agree with the idea that they should receive the freedom of wearing whatever they want without the responsibility of getting ogled at. According to an anonymous female student, she had stated that, “girls have more dress code rules than boys because some types of clothings are too distracting to boys”. This statement proves that she believes that girls shouldn’t wear certain types of attires just because of her male peers. Doesn’t this teach girls that they have to base what they wear to their male peers’ opinions? This is not right, girls should feel free to wear whatever they want without being deemed as “easy”. According to an anonymous male student, he had stated that, “girls have more dress codes rules than boys because girls have more “sexual” attire than boys”. This proves that many boys do indeed get “distracted” by many girls’ appearance. Although boys do get absentminded by some choices of clothings, why do girls have to get punished just because the boys around them can’t control themselves? It is not the girl’s duty to control how the male minds work, so why are the girls getting punished? Girls should not sustain the idea that it is their fault that their body parts are too “distracting” but instead it should be the boys responsibility to how they react to it.

In conclusion, the idea that girls are responsible to how boys react to their item of clothing should not be imbedded into society. Instead, girls should be allowed to wear whatever they desire, while boys should learn how to control their hormones. With the unjust dress code policies nationwide, there will be a day where females are going to have the freedom to wear whatever pleases them without the consent of a male’s reaction.