Kinda hard when parents are doing it too

[HammerDad]

IMO this whole thing got blown out of proportion. It isn't about sex or sexual urges, and the school screwed up by suggesting it may have been. It is strictly a matter of dressing in a manner that is appropriate for the environment you are in.

And if they want to talk about sexist policies, how about they through out the issue that in virtually all professional environments men can't wear open toed shoes, or sleeveless shirts or shorts, where females can wear all of those and skirts as well. And if you are looking for a direct comparison on the skirt, I don't think my employer would be too happy if I came to work in a kilt one day (my Irish heritage notwithstanding).

It sucks, but I know where I work and if I like working, I wear what is appropriate. These entitled kids will need to learn sooner or later that it isn't a matter of what they want, it is just society has standards. If they don't like it, join some Emo band and sing about how unfair life is while dressing how you want.

[stripes]

My high school had a unisex dress code: no sleeveless anything, no hemlines more than two inches above the knee, no open-toed shoes, no necklines more than two inches below collarbones, no ripped anything or clothes with holes, for boys AND girls. We moaned and complained, but I think it worked. It toned down the teenage body display without targeting one gender or the other. Because this was the 1980s, the students who wanted to assert their individuality did so via punk fashions - guyliner, chains, combat boots, mohawks, etc. The school quite wisely did not interfere with this.

[Links17]

I have something non-PC to say....

I understand that in the PC world of total equality everybody should dress the same way and there are no restrictions but I have a few counterpoints:

1. Consider that boys/men actually have very strong urges that cause them to get distracted and we're genetically predisposed/programmed to be attracted to those exposed body parts. It is a tough choice

2. Consider that boys do much better and so do girls in unisex schools (read that in the past)

3. I'm not sure what the feminist position is on this but while I think a person has a right to dress how they like unmolested - I have trouble agreeing/supporting that somebody I love does it and put themselves at risk. If girl X wants to dress like a "slut" and she gets treated as such or worse then that's her right and I would agree she has the "legal" right to do that but if it were my daughter, I'd ask her to be a little wiser.

[Links17]

The funniest thing is that anybody who lives in a consumer society like ours and believes the "choice" they make to follow the trend is actually a "choice" is partially brain dead.

That goes to say these girls fighting to dress in a way that is provocative think they are liberated but they are actually slaves of fashion, music, men, make up industry and they are debasing themselves so that they compete with each other on the basis of appearance however at the end of the day that disappears and so (wo)men get more and more cosmetic surgery because they value themselves on their appearance and never grow in other ways.

[MrToronto]

Parents pick private schools or religious schools for there values, these types of schools are a throw back to another generation.

These same parents wince at the thought of there child in the public school system. Nothing but savages there.

Helicopter parents values, morals and beliefs go into the toilet when there little darlings are exposed to the "real world" (as we know it, right now).

Children want there independence and do it as a reflection of society around them. (a ankle flash was a real turn on once)

Can you raise a child in a sterile environment and put them through a sterile school system in order to isolate the darling from society? A society that kids will have to 'live in".

Justin Bieber and Coca-Cola are waiting patiently outside those school gates!

I'm a firm believer in one school system (public) that models the real world with all it's warts.

[Tayken]

It sucks, but I know where I work and if I like working, I wear what is appropriate. These entitled kids will need to learn sooner or later that it isn't a matter of what they want, it is just society has standards. If they don't like it, join some Emo band and sing about how unfair life is while dressing how you want.

Well I live with snakes and lizards
And other things that go bump in the
Night cos to me everyday is halloween
I have given up hiding and started to fight
I have started to fight well any time,
Any place, anywhere that I go all the
People seem to stop and stare they say

'why are you dressed like it's halloween?
You look so absurd, you look so obscene'
O, why can't I live a life for me?
Why should I take the abuse that's served?
Why can't they see they're just like me it's
The same, it's the same in the whole wide world

Parents should just do what their kids do and it will solve the problem maybe?

http://www.today.com/parents/who-wea...ter-8C11144327

[standing on the sidelines]

a code of dress for everyone is a good idea in school. I am not talking school uniforms but guidelines.

[Serene]

Reading this thread with interest. I'm not sure what the right answer is but I will offer this:

I went to an Arts high school, just like in the movie/tv show Fame. I lived my high school years for the most part in tights and a leotard. Most people never saw me in regular clothes but for the most part in my dance attire as I danced half of every school day. And we dancers danced everywhere - down the halls, in class, on the yard, etc.

Perhaps it was a sign of the times but this was perfectly acceptable even though there were very few dancers in the school (only 6 in my graduating year). We showed a lot of skin as we had little on. Even if our parts were covered, there was little to the imagination. No one picked on us. We were just the dancers..

1. Consider that boys/men actually have very strong urges that cause them to get distracted and we're genetically predisposed/programmed to be attracted to those exposed body parts.

Women also have very strong urges that cause us to get distracted. We too are genetically predisposed and programmed to be attracted to exposed body parts. Heck, I'm excited by clothed body parts lol.

I always tell my children: if I were wearing fire fighting gear - you would think I'm a fire fighter.... therefore, if you're dressing like a hooch, people are going to assume you're hoochie.

[mcdreamy]

Burkas for everyone.

And saltpeter for those of you who can't control your base urges. Because, you know, you have no control.