Dear kid who got me dress-coded | Teen Ink

Dear kid who got me dress-coded

May 2, 2024
By Anonymous

Dear kid who got me dress-coded,

I know you don’t care, but I will try to make you understand why I’m upset about getting dress-coded.

 I had this pair of jeans that I would wear about every Friday for spirit dress. They had holes in the knees, which I believed appropriate because the student dress code said, “Jeans may be slightly distressed, but should be appropriate for school.” So I wore them to school thinking I was allowed to wear them. Also during the period of time which they called the “warning period,” I had never been told that my jeans were deemed inappropriate. 

Then of course you came along and said, “Look at her jeans! She's out of dress code!” right next to a teacher during a time when we wouldn't receive warnings. Just detentions. 

I had to go to the head of detention to try and get my dress code revoked. He of course said, “Well your jeans are distressed.” Even though it clearly stated we can wear distressed jeans. So then I went to another teacher hoping she would understand, and she did but she had no authority to take away my detention. 

So I waited an hour after school to talk to the headmaster who had no idea why I would ever get dress-coded for my jeans. She immediately got it taken away, but I spent more time trying to get a detention revoked than I would've actually spent in detention. 

I’m just wondering how my jeans were affecting you in any way? Did they offend you? Were they inappropriate? “Look honey, we're going to the theatre—we’re not going to be in it…so go change,” says George in “A Raisin in the Sun”. This situation got me even more angry about the dress code because it’s ridiculous, to be honest with you. I can’t wear jeans with holes in the knees, but everyone else gets away with wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts. Why exactly are girls wearing skirts getting dress-coded, while boys walk around with athletic shorts that are shorter? Darryl George, “Was removed from school because his hairstyle violated a dress code” Dress code oppresses people's freedom of expression and attacks things as simple as your haircut.  

I’m not saying the school should let me wear a bikini to school but maybe give me some freedom to wear clearly appropriate jeans. If we are going to have a strict dress code then it has to apply to all. You can’t change this, but could you at least let me wear my jeans peacefully?

Thanks


The author's comments:

I chose to write about dress code because it directly affects me and the people surrounding me. I think people should be free to express themselves however they want, including how they dress. Oppressing their self-expression is against our right to freedom of expression. I chose to write to a kid who got me dress-coded a couple of months ago because it was very annoying that people found it so disrespectful for me to wear ripped jeans that I got detention for it. I spent more time trying to get it revoked than I would have actually spent in detention, but I didn't want to disappoint my parents. It was very difficult to find a good subject to talk about that I also felt connected to. It was also hard to find working quotes to add to my paper but I think they did after a lot of searching. The one thing I didn't like about this was that I had to send out my letter with my name on it. I really don't want to hurt anyone directly or even indirectly.


Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.