Every day I walk into school ready to learn. Even though I dread the thought of school, I know I’m here to further my education in order to have a better future. Going through middle school and high school can be some of the most important times in a girl’s life because it is when we experience most of the things that shape us into who we are. One of the things that help us during this time is the ability to be comfortable and confident in how we look and tin the clothes we wear. Girls sit down, feeling confident in a new shirt and skirt, ready to learn about math or history. Yet, all they actually learn is how much more important a boy’s education is than theirs. You might be wondering how this could possibly be taught to a girl. It happens every day and everywhere through school dress codes. Dress codes are absurd and sexist and all they do is teach a girl to change so that boys can have an undisturbed education.

“Last March, middle schoolers in Evanston, Illinois, protested a ban on leggings and yoga pants, which female students say they were told are too distracting to boys”. The school said that it was too distracting for boys to see girls in clothing items that normally cover entire legs. Most dress codes follow a similar pattern. They restrict showing different body parts, or clothing items that show off certain body parts, to eliminate distractions. Yet, most of the time, these body parts aren’t sexualized. If a boy gets too distracted by a girl’s shoulders, why do we put blame on the girl, and tell her to cover up? Is it now her fault that she has shoulders? Maybe instead of blaming the girl for showing off a body part that shouldn’t be sexualized, we should spend more time teaching boys not to sexualize them. Jackson Brook, a 16 year-old from California, would definitely agree with what I’m saying. He stated, “The worst part is by calling a girl’s clothing “distracting”, you imply that she is responsible for any disruptions. That’s like saying that because a store has a cash register, it’s the store’s fault if it gets robbed!” He also makes a fair point when he says that school dress codes don’t give boys enough credit. He thinks it is absurd to assume a boy will get distracted from his education just because of a pair of leggings.

When I was in elementary school, girls were allowed to come to school in spaghetti strap shirts. When I got to 3rd grade, we were told that we were not allowed to wear these shirts anymore, because some boys had been using scissors to cut the straps. At the time, I didn’t think much about it, but looking back on it now, I find a huge problem. My school didn’t take time to punish the boys, or to teach them that what they did was wrong and inappropriate. Instead, the girls were told they weren’t allowed to do something they had always done. The girls were restricted because it wasn’t the boy’s fault they cut the straps on a shirt. It had to have been the little girl’s fault. “When a girl is taken out of class on a hot day for wearing a strappy top, because she is ‘distracting’ her male classmates, his education is prioritized over hers. When a school takes the decision to police female students’ bodies while turning a blind eye to boys’ behavior, it sets up a lifelong assumption that sexual violence is inevitable and victims are partially responsible.” Why does it become the girl’s problem if a boy can’t focus in class? This is how girls get taught that their education is less important than a boy’s.

In some schools, girls get sent out of class for a couple minutes to change, which, when looking at the big picture, isn’t that big of a deal. However, what about the girls who get sent home, or shamed if they the break dress code? It is not okay that a girl is forced to miss an entire day of school, but it is even worse when the school tries to shame them into not breaking the dress code again. In Florida, a high schooler named Miranda Larkin was dress coded for have a short skirt. She was sent to the office and forced to wear a neon yellow shirt and bright red sweat pants that said “DRESS CODE VIOLATION” across the shirt and down the pants. This was intended to embarrass the girl into never breaking the dress code again. “This is a harmful practice and it doesn’t teach anything.” Not only is this a terrible form of punishment, but if a short skirt was a distraction, then how is it not distracting to have a girl walking around in a neon yellow shirt and bright red sweats? That distraction now extends even further onto her girl classmates as well.

As a sophomore who is very comfortable with her body, I wear clothes that look good on me. I don’t deliberately purchase clothes that would be distracting. That is just ridiculous. I went out the other day and bought a shirt I though was cute and looked good. The shirt has spaghetti straps with long sleeves attached to them, so I end up showing off the area between my shoulder and collar bone. Clearly that part of my body is so distracting that my Spanish teacher thought I needed to be dress coded. Almost everyone in the class protested, so I thankfully did not get dress coded. Unfortunately, it is these reasons why the dress code is so unfair. These extreme instances are why the dress code gets mocked on a daily basis.

Finally, to illustrate just how sexist dress codes are, I would like you to think about the number of times you’ve seen a boy get dress coded. I don’t mean dress coded because they sag their pants or because they are sporting gang symbols. I am talking about for the same things girls are dress coded for. When was a boy dress coded for showing their knees or shoulders? In December 2013, a feminist club conducted a survey that showed the inequalities in the dress code. “Of the 118 female and 111 male participants in the survey, 64 percent of females responded that they had been called out for violating the dress code, compared to only 12 percent of males. The survey showed that males received 40 dress code offenses, primarily due to displaying gang-related or explicit messages. In contrast, females reported 178 offenses, of which 153 were shorts violations.” The extreme differences in female versus male dress codes fully show how sexist dress codes are.

While the dress code has shown time and time again to be sexist and abused, there is still a needed place for it in schools. It is one thing if a girl walks into school showing her shoulders or knees. It’s another thing if she shows up in only underwear. Protection against distractions, such as gang symbols, and inappropriate clothing is necessary, and I understand that there comes a point where a skirt can be too short. There are things that should not be in schools and dress codes can be a good way to protect against that. However, the dress code should not be a way to tell girls to change to accommodate the lack of control boys have.

With our evolving world, equality is becoming more and more important. Yet, we are still raising girls to believe that their education is less important than a boy’s. This is absurd and needs to change. There needs to be a restriction on what the dress codes can restrict, or girls will be taught from a young age to take a backseat to a boy. Allowing girls to have the proper education, without sacrifice is extremely important and school dress codes are just the start.