Student Petition Says School Dress Code Endangers Health
Hollie Sikes, a student at Farragut High School in Knoxville, Tenn., started a petition on Change.org protesting her school’s “irrationally strict” dress code, saying it’s not only sexist but also puts students’ health at risk.
In the petition, which currently has more than 2,700 supporters, Sikes argues against the school’s dress code, which prohibits shorts that don’t pass the fingertip-length test — meaning shorts that are not long enough to reach the fingertips when your arms are at your side.
“We cannot ignore the simple truth that clothing stores do not sell a wide variety of shorts for girls that are below fingertip length, if any, so young women are forced to wear long pants and jeans in 90-100 degree weather simply to avoid suspension,” wrote Sikes in the petition. “Not only does this present health risks, such as nausea, overheating and even fainting, but it promotes victim blaming in the (unfortunately, extremely prevalent) case of sexual harassment among students.”
Sikes, echoing the frustration of many female students (and their parents) who have been penalized for outfits deemed too distracting for male students and teachers, added: “Are we as a county seriously willing to send a girl home and deprive her of her education simply because her shorts are ‘too short’? Due to the aforementioned reasoning, you are prioritizing the sexualization of a woman’s body over her right to learn and grow as a human being.”
Knox County Schools spokesperson Abbey Harris told WATE.com that the board of education reviewed and revised the dress code policy, which was originally implemented in 2009, at several public board meetings and said no students or parents objected to it.
“However, we do certainly appreciate and value the opinions of our students and invite them to share any issues or concerns they may have with the dress code as it stands today with their school administrators and/or board representative,” Harris told WATE.com.
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