This year, at Lansing High School, the students call for improvements of the dress code, feeling it is outdated and targets women.

The Lansing school administration dress code policy restricts their students from wearing leggings, shorts, tank tops, and ripped jeans showing thighs. However, students note that such clothing choices only regard the girls females who attend.

Targeted by the dress code, the women feel they have no freedom when it comes to how they dress, and many state that is how they express themselves. “The school limits my wardrobe and I can’t wear what I want! It’s very frustrating.” says Kira Honey, a sophomore student. 

However, even while dressing in appliance to the rules, the women of Lansing High School are still ‘dress-coded,’ which means a violation of the school dress code. One student reported being punished because of her jeans that, though ripped, did not show any skin, another was told to change because, even though her top reached mid thigh, she was wearing leggings. Both of these dress codes follow regulation and, according to a student, “had no reason to change.”

“It’s not a student’s job to keep other people from distractions” argues a junior student. She, like many other of her peers, believes that the code isn’t fair and is more strict on female students while the male students are not punished by the dress code. 

Revisions to the dress code students protest for are the right to wear leggings freely, athletic shorts, and tops that display shoulders. 

Teachers, however, have a different view on the subject. Mrs. Royal, English teacher and volleyball coach, states “Personally, I don’t think [the dress code] is strict,” and expresses through her students the desire to wear leggings and sports shorts, though she believes that shirts showing midriff shouldn’t be allowed along with low cut tops. Royal says she’s “eager to see what the students would like to see changed.”

In modern society, should girls be the ones who are ordered to change, or the dress-code itself? This year, there is an opportunity to make amendments to the current dress code in the Spring semester. The Student Council and Student Advisory Board at Lansing High School will propose changes to the dress code to the school’s administration, followed by the District Office. More information on these changes to come this Spring.