As the weather gets warmer, student’s clothing gets inherently skimpier, which means reminders about the school dress code will soon surface.

These rules, as depicted in the student handbook, crack down on girls clothing. However they barely address boys clothes or at least the rules for them aren’t enforced as heavily.

For example, I shouldn’t have to take time out of my class period to go get a jacket to cover my shoulders when boys can wear shirts depicting the Budweiser logo and Playboy girls. No where in the EHS 2018-2019 Student Handbook does it say that I’m not allowed to expose my shoulders or collar bones. However, clothing that displays vulgar writing or images is not allowed, nor is clothing that “indicates support for drug, alcohol, or tobacco usage, including vaping devices and electronic cigarettes.”

When the authors of dress codes picture female students wearing tank tops that show their scandalous shoulders, they must image boys foaming at the mouth and shaking in their desks, not being able to handle that a classmate, let alone a girl, knowingly exposed her collar bones to the whole student body. They must not able to focus on their schoolwork and can’t stop staring.

And no, I don’t think that girls should be able to wear teeny-tiny tube tops or mini skirts to school. I simply want the rules to apply and be enforced for everyone. The fact that a boy can wear a stringer shirt yet girls can’t wear a tank top unless it’s two-fingers wide, which isn’t even in the handbook, is ludicrous.

For example, the senior class president and current valedictorian (not to expose anyone) sometimes walks around school with his shirt completely unbuttoned. All the other students snicker in their turtlenecks and await him to be punished; however, he never is.

According to the handbook, teachers and administrators watch for dress code violations and give punishments accordingly. It also says that students who violate the dress code may be sent home to change clothes, and they will receive unexcused absences for all classes they miss. Students can earn additional disciplinary action for repeated violations.

Yet I have never seen a teacher dress code a student even though there’s myriad potential dress-code violators walking the floors of EHS. Students wear chains. Students wear leggings and don’t cover their hips. Students wear hoods. Students wear coats and jackets; yes I said coats and jackets, which apparently aren’t allowed to be worn during the school day. Students wear clothes that show their undergarments. Students wear unusual makeup. I could keep going, but I think you get my point.

But according to Catherine Pearlman, a licensed clinical social worker, dress codes carry subtle messages that women should cover their bodies. Why? Because something is wrong with them.

“We need to be teaching the boys what appropriate behavior is instead of teaching the girls that they have to cover up to protect themselves from the boys,” Pearlman said.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing inherently wrong with dress codes in schools. They can provide important guidance for the norms students should be aware of as respectful members of the school community. Without these parameters, some students would show up in ultra-revealing clothing, which honestly, I don’t think anyone wants to see at school.