Moms And Dads New Dress Code Violaters

Moms And Dads New Dress Code Violaters

For school-age children, the most basic element of the educational system is dress code. Fingertip shorts, straps with the width of three fingers, and the infamous midriff are aspects of clothing we come to know, and hate. For students and administrators, dress code is a problem over-explained and under followed. But what about parents? Educators in Broward County are proposing a parent dress code for drop off and pick up of students.

“It’s hard for me to tell a child not to show up for school with hair curlers, pajamas or short shorts if they see parents wearing them,” Broward County School Board member Rosalind Osgood said.

Students, especially at the elementary school age are extremely vulnerable to soaking in the information they hear, and the trends they see. How else could toys like Silly Bandz or “musicians” like Justin Bieber be spread? With this in mind, seeing adults wearing too tight tank tops, or the lace of grown up undergarments makes children think that’s what is popular, and that’s what they’re supposed to wear. Elementary education is in desperate need of a parent dress code. These kids are still developing, and learning how to be an active member of society. For most, these children are still in the “don’t pick your nose and wipe it on a textbook” period of learning how to be a normal person. Impressionable kids look to adults to show them what is okay and what is not, and in my opinion, dressing like you came off the street corner and into your minivan before coming to the kindergarten parent pick up line is not okay.

That being said, there is a difference in elementary school students and high school students. From sophomore year on, a large percentage of high schoolers drive to school, leaving parents off campus. Another large percentage are bus commuters, leaving a very small percentage of parent drivers. Once the fifth grade graduation has passed, the cool factor of having a parent walk you into class plummets. This leaves parents in the car, and frankly, if a parent is dressing inappropriately at school they’re also doing so at home. So if that student is being subjected to the influence of a parent there’s no stopping it. And by this point, students are going to do what they want to do, and no parent, teacher, or school board member can really change that.

In actuality, the likelihood of a parent dress code being passed is slim to none. Enforcement of a code like this would be extremely difficult, because mandating what a parent wears in his or her vehicle is impossible. But I think that if a parent is going to exit the vehicle, and walk their child into the school building, there should be a list of what is appropriate to wear, and what is not. As an elementary school student, I looked up to my parents not only because I was short, but because they were, and still are the primary influence in my decision making. If a student must follow a dress code, then somewhere in the parent-student handbook there should be a clause that says parents must follow the same one.