“If a student’s general appearance attracts undue attention to the extent that it becomes a disruptive factor in the school, a building administrator will ask the student to make the necessary changes,” according to the dress code in Rockwood’s 2011-2012 policy handbook. Recently, crop tops and off the shoulder shirts have become a fashion trend. However, they do not comply with the student handbook and therefore are causing problems within the school.
MHS policy says that students must keep midriffs and bare shoulders covered. However, because of this new trend, there have been more and more reports to the office.
“The administration is currently discussing off-the-shoulder shirts,” Jennifer Sebold, freshman principal, said. “There haven’t been a lot of reports, but it has still been a problem.”
Students are also noticing the enforcement of the dress code when it comes to their outfits.
“I wore a crop top to school and my teacher told me I had to pull it down or I would have to go get an oversized t-shirt,” Hannah Roth, junior, said. “It was just a little smaller than a normal t-shirt and I think they are taking the dress code over the top.”
The punishment for wearing clothes against dress code is minimal, unless a student has repeated offenses. For the first time or two, students are asked to pull down their top or put it over their shoulder, or go to the nurse to get an oversized t-shirt. If an administrator repeatedly has to ask students to change their clothes, then they may be sent home to change. If it continues to happen, then further consequences will be determined.
“The biggest problem is that students can pull the shirt down and put it back on their shoulder, but it can just rise back off and fall back off, so we are trying to find a solution to the problem,” Sebold said.
Students can fix this problem by simply not wearing tops that are questionable and then the problem itself will disappear.
“The administration just asks that if while you’re getting dressed you have to stop and ask yourself if it’s appropriate then you just shouldn’t wear it,” Sebold said.