DPS Dress Code Crackdown
Most of the students at Northern High School follow the Instagram page, @uknightednews, to see updates on events that are hosted and take place at Northern. Recently, the students at Northern have been in an uproar about the newly posted Durham Public Schools dress code.
On September 16th, Northern’s Instagram posted the dress code expectations, created by DPS for students to follow. The Instagram story said the following clothing are prohibited to wear at school: spaghetti straps, strapless tops, halter tops, skirts and or shorts shorter than mid thigh, clothing that is excessively baggy or tight, sunglasses and hats worn inside, pajamas/bedroom slippers, and clothing promoting alcohol or drugs.
“I feel like the dress code is more biased towards girls as a lot of the dress code requirements are pertaining towards them,” junior Lorenzo Demain said. “The school is giving the idea that what they wear and how they express themselves is a distraction to the learning environment when that is actually a false statement.”
When the Instagram story was posted about the new dress code, a lot of students had something to say, mostly girls than boys did not have much to say, the only thing that concerned the boys was not being able to wear hats inside.
“I think the DPS (Durham Public Schools) dress code is a very nonchalant dress code that is very liberal and rarely enforced,” senior Maxwell Service said.
The next day, the administration did not have anything to say; Not because they were shocked, but because students simply did not see much of a problem.
“I think [cracking down on the dress code] would be better! Limitations should consist of the way we are presenting ourselves; creating more accurate expressions of who we truly are. We all must work on self presentation. Not emulating fake representations of what we think is beautiful,” history teacher Ajanae Willis said.
It is quite clear that students break the dress code on a daily basis, yet only a few students are addressed about what they are wearing. The topic of having to wear uniforms comes up every time staff or students talk about the dress code. Students use the argument that what they wear is a way to express themselves and things that they are interested in. The dress code limits what they would be able to wear which in a way limits their creativity and expression
“I feel like if Northern enforced uniforms students would be upset and not want to go to northern anymore,” junior Mackenzie Perry said.
With all this being said, the staff is trying to teach students that you can express yourself in other ways than what you wear by enforcing the dress code.