The Wyoming Valley West School District has made the news recently in adopting a revised standard of dress in their district. From what I have been told, the only other public school district to have a similar code is the Hazleton Area School District.

When the Wyoming Valley West School District first announced their intentions a few months ago, it became an immediate hot topic. Some welcomed the change; some did not. I might as well admit that, as a mother of a student living here in the district, I was as close to indifference as I could be. My single thought: “I’ll buy the kid slacks and polos when the fall comes around”. That was it. I moved on. If I represent any kind of majority, it’s a darn silent one.

Almost immediately after the school board met to approve this, the students and the parents were vocal in their thoughts. To credit the newspapers, they reported as many positive as negative views. Some felt that the ability to express individuality was taken away. Others liked the idea of a higher standard of dress which represents a level of dignity and respect. I was surprised by the attention since I had given it so little thought. After all, it’s merely a “dress code” they are not requiring a “uniform”.

I think that there are more positives than negatives with the new dress code. The choices make dressing much easier. Most of the suggested clothing can easily mix and match. For parents of girls, the morning drama of wardrobe selection is almost completely eliminated. They’ll look good in any of the code’s choices. It presents a positive image and as a whole, the look of the student body will be upgraded. Everyone feels better when they are well-dressed. The clothes on this list tend to be durable and easy to wash. They need little, if any, ironing.

The negatives do exist. For some (me), all new clothing needed to be purchased. That’s a one-time negative though. I actually spent far less on the slacks than I would have on jeans. My son liked wearing jeans and t-shirts every day. That was his uniform. He collects t-shirts from the Hard Rock Café and liked wearing different ones. He’s not nuts about the dress code, but like most boys, on most subjects, he says little to his mother.

In the bigger picture, the corporate world struggles with the same issue. Many offices have adopted a casual dress policy or maybe one day a week like a “Dress Down Friday”. Ironically, some companies who adopted the casual dress policy have since revoked it. Performance actually began to suffer. We all know it’s important to dress for success. You are at an immediate advantage in a business meeting when you are professionally dressed over someone casually dressed. It’s true. Ask the person who is caught casually dressed.

I know it’s hard to know where to draw the line. When you really think about it, pantyhose suck. If I were a guy, I’d probably hate wearing a tie. Having said that, I usually wear pantyhose when I wear a skirt or dress to the office. I save my open-toe shoes for the weekends. I respect a professional male more if he’s wearing a tie than if he’s wearing a polo shirt.

Policies are always created because extremes have pushed in. A short skirt gets shorter, a tight top gets tighter showing off “The Three B’s” (boobs, back and belly). Slacks turn into jeans, they turn into holey jeans and those turn into shorts. A spiked hairdo becomes a six inch Mohawk. Pierced ears aren’t enough for some. They have to poke holes in their eyelids, noses, chins and other unmentionable (and blessedly unseen) locations. Anyway, the envelope gets pushed and pushed too far. Who would hire these kids who go over the top looking the way they do? Sometimes, it just takes a new policy to help things return to center.

Finally, it’s been said to be a safety issue. I think that the school must think about the one nut case who is bound to decide to slip a gun in the cargo pocket of their slacks. I wish nothing like this ever happens, but it does. It is a sad and painfully true statement about the world in which we live.

Overall, I think it’s much ado about nothing. Look at it this way, boys: “every girl’s crazy ’bout a sharp-dressed man”.

Above mentioned policies listed below.
http://www.wvwspartans.org/RevisedDressCode07_08.htm
http://www.hasd.k12.pa.us/
(click the dress code link)