Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

School's Controversial New Dress Code Has Students In This District Cheering

School's Controversial New Dress Code Has Students In This District Cheering
(SFgate)

A school district in Alameda, California, is challenging a traditional school policy that typically targets female students and students of color.

Alameda city schools lifted their previously strict dress code policy in response to female students' complaints of feeling shamed for their bodies and held responsible for male behavior.


After the school board reviewed the policy changes over the summer, students will now have the freedom to express themselves however they want as long as they wear a top, bottom and shoes.

Steven Fong, the Alameda Unified School District's Chief Academic Officer, hopes the new policy will bring the focus back to education. 

"We believe these changes will reduce inequitable and unnecessary discipline and help us maximize learning time."

However some in the media, like NBC reporter Melissa Colorado, asked Alameda parents to contemplate only the perceived negative extremes like tube tops.

 

But shouldn't each parent be deciding what their own child wears already? 

Shopping for school clothes and approving the outfits their child leaves the house wearing is part of family life for most parents. Why should another parent or a school board take that decision away from them?

The new Alameda Unified School District policy states that students can wear hoodies as long as they do not cover the face and even comfy yoga pants.

The remaining restriction being students must wear:

 "clothing that covers specific body parts (genitals, buttocks, and areolae/nipples) with opaque material."

The most common reason given for dress codes that target females is female body parts "distract their male classmates" and "prohibit learning."

The majority of school dress codes around the United States require females to hide not only any glimpse of their thighs, shoulders, back, waist, collarbones or chest because those areas of the female body "are distracting", but also to hide the shape of some areas of their bodies as well.

The required hiding of the female form leads to some of the more controversial decisions going viral on social media over what is and is not appropriate; decisions often made by an adult male administrator or teacher regarding an underage female student.


A school in Texas recently made the news for targeting only females in their informational video to teach students about their dress code. 


The policy revamp describes what type of dress is permissible, including articles of clothing that frequently end up at the center of controversy for policing female students on their appearance, or rather males reactions to it, as well as clothing associated with certain ethnic, racial or religious identities.

"Students can wear:
hats including religious headwear; hoodie sweatshirts (overhead is allowed); fitted pants including leggings, yoga pants and "skinny jeans"; sweatpants; shorts; skirts; dresses; pants; midriff-baring shirts; pajamas; ripped jeans as long as underwear is not exposed; tank tops including spaghetti straps; halter tops and "tube" (strapless) tops."


An example of students protesting strict appearance guidelines unfairly targeting specific racial or ethnic demographics happened early this summer.

According to Teen Vogue police were involved when a Black student from Apache Junction High School in Arizona refused to remove his bandana when White students were not asked to remove theirs.

The new Alameda dress code will be on a trial run for a year and is considered to be the Bay Area's most accommodating for students and parents to decide on what is acceptable for each family.


Margo Dunlap has two daughters attending schools in the district, one in elementary school and the other in middle school.

She is all for the updated policy and sees a positive impact on students in general.

"There's an opportunity to listen to the young people. They're dressing in a way that's comfortable for them."



H/T - SFgate, Twitter, TeenVogue

More from Trending

Screenshots from @sarahtheseven's TikTok video
@sarahtheseven/TikTok

TikToker Speaks Out After Doctor Refused To Set Her Broken Arm Because She Was Crying

Many of us have negative relationships with the healthcare system, going to doctor's appointments, or asking for medical help at all—and unfortunately, that's for good reason.

Too often patients are subjected to medical bias, gaslighting, and neglect, and it can often lead to poor medical attention, inaccurate diagnoses, and even unnecessary medications and procedures. And the main victims of these occurrences are often women and people of color.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @culinaryem's TikTok video
@culinaryem/TikTok

Wedding Caterer Goes Viral For Her Reaction To Discovering Groom Was Having An Affair

It's easy to say that we would intervene if we realized that someone was cheating, but would we actually follow through when it happened?

That was the question chef, caterer, and TikToker @culinaryem faced when she planned to cater a wedding for a "lovely couple" she nicknamed "Sweet" (the bride) and "Dirtbag" (the groom).

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @dani_b_unfiltered's TikTok video
@dani_b_unfiltered/TikTok

Woman Hilariously Panics After She Accidentally Child-Locks Her Dinner In The Oven

We've all been "hangry" before and know how important that Snickers bar can be.

Or in TikToker @dani_b_unfiltered's case, it was a potato that was baking in the oven.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rob McElhenney
Gilbert Flores/ Variety/Getty Images

Rob McElhenney Just Shared A Video Explaining His 'Kinda Douchey' Decision To Legally Change His Name

What's in a name? A lot, apparently.

To be fair, a name represents a lot of things: a person's identity, the family they originate from, and possibly even some of the cultural and historical background of that family.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic
Disney/Marvel Studios

Pedro Pascal Adjusts Accent

Pedro Pascal was advised to tone down the Mid-Atlantic accent for his upcoming role as the stretchy Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards in Fantastic Four: First Steps.

In a video interview with Vanity Fair, he reflected on his past and current work and talked about working with a dialect coach for the Marvel movie, which is set to premiere on July 25th.

Keep ReadingShow less