The subject who is truly loyal to the Chief Magistrate will neither advise nor submit to arbitrary measures. This article was published more than 4 years ago.
Some information in it may no longer be current. It's tough to be a high-school principal today. That's because the inmates are running the asylum. After that, all hell broke loose. Female students accused the principal of sexism and slut-shaming. The school board had a word with Mr. Bishop, who issued an apology to all he had offended. Dress codes have relaxed a bit in recent decades. Today, ripped jeans, saggy jeans, exposed bra straps, ragged short-shorts, and tights sans skirts are almost de rigueur.
About all that's required is that the kids' clothes cover their underwear. Some things never change, though. As always, the adults' job is to set reasonable boundaries on decorum, and the students' job is to subvert them. Ever since the '60s and no doubt long before , students have complained that school dress codes are arbitrary, demeaning, antiquated, and an outrageous violation of their freedom of expression.
But now they have another weapon in their fight against adult oppression. School dress codes reinforce rape culture. Somewhere, perhaps, there is a line. But the authorities are not entitled to draw it.
Last month, graduating seniors at Biglerville High School in Pennsylvania got some tips from the administration about how to dress for the awards ceremony. Your underwear choices should be your own private choice and remain private. Elliott calls them. As you get dressed remember that you can't put 10 pounds of mud in a five-pound sack. This frank if tactless advice was greeted by torrents of outrage from critics, who called it sexist and degrading. One offended mother threatened to sue for sexual harassment.
