Many schools have a strict dress code.
In my 8th grade year, I was sent to the office because my shorts were too short, wasn't allowed to go back to my class until my mother brought me a new pair of shorts. We had this rule of "shorts have to be longer than your middle finger". My arms are very long and so what looked ok on my short legs was unacceptable due to the insane rule.
One day I was told I had to button up my jacket because "too much cleavage was showing," it was "inappropriate for school." My undergarments weren't visible and that is how I was told to determine what is appropriate and what wasn't. Boobs exist. A lot of the times they are hard to completely cover up, especially with the way that clothes are made.
Another rule was no tank tops that were less than two fingers long; the majority of the time that meant short-sleeved shirts. This was great when I was sweating through my shirt and long shorts on the bus because it was 90 degrees out. Some days I could feel myself getting dehydrated on that 20-minute bus ride. I got to high school we were not allowed to wear leggings or yoga pants. I live in leggings and yoga pants now. I wear them to work almost every day. But I wasn't allowed to wear them at school? How does this make sense? "It's distracting", "it's inappropriate". Who is distracted? Why are they distracted? If my armpits or tight pants are distracting to you, then you have a problem.
I believe that taking a child out of class is a crime in itself. Grown adults are physically taking children away from their ability to learn because they believe their outfit is inappropriate. Why are children from kindergarten getting sexualized? Are the teachers the uncomfortable ones? How is it that in college, when we are all fully developed are we allowed to wear whatever we want, yet before that, we're not allowed to? None of my professors have EVER commented on what I have worn to class. Meanwhile, I see all of these articles about children having to leave class or school due to what they were wearing.
There aren't these kinds of rules in real life. There are common courtesies and "no shoes, no shirt, no service" policies, but the radical dress codes are only in the high school rulebooks. The reasoning for these extremities is "you're too young to be dressing like that".
Some teachers' dress code for themselves is exactly what their students aren't allowed to wear. Why is this? Teachers are allowed to wear "revealing" clothing, but their students get penalized for doing the same.
Instead of teaching girls to not wear clothing that could get them "negative attention" or "distract people" teach students to not get distracted by other people's body parts.
There's also the problem of teachers, predominantly male teachers, potentially getting distracted by female students wearing clothing that is "too revealing". This shouldn't be a problem at all. These girls are children and if faculty are worried about their teachers getting distracted or even aroused by the sight of these children, there are bigger problems aside from the clothing.
Instead of hiring teachers that won't get distracted by the shoulders and legs of little girls, they force the blame on the students. Schools make the students change their clothes instead of making the teachers change their actions.
School dress codes are more strict on girls than guys. Girls have rules specific to them. Boy clothes/shorts are never "too short". Boys tank tops are always past two fingers. There are boy-specific differences with clothing that are not acknowledged. Like, the fad of guys "sagging" their pants, where their underwear shows almost all the way down their back. Or the pantsing fad where guys would randomly pull each other's pants down. Why are these instances not addressed often? Their underwear is showing. Yet, when a girl wears a shirt that shows her boobs without showing her bra, that's unacceptable?
The dress code is bad enough, put gender in the mix and it is mostly adults sexualizing young girls for the way that most clothing for girls is made and the way where most girls are able to feel the most comfortable.
