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“Honestly, I don’t see the point of these dress codes. It’s a new era. We need to update everything. Most (students) just dress normally, according to the weather.”
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May 21, 2022 • 6 hours ago • 6 minutes reading • 10 comments Sophie Laby is in 12th grade at Beatrice Delog High School. She was among 400 students protesting against a “dress code flash” at her high school last week. Photo by Tony Caldwell / Postmedia
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Sophie Laby says she was “dressed” for six years at her high school in Orleans.
Her shorts were considered too short, her tank tops too tight.
“It’s just ridiculous,” said Laby, who was among about 400 students who staged a protest in front of Beatrice-Delog School after administrators walked into classrooms and pulled students to check the length of their shorts on a hot day.
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Student dress code protest in Ottawa. This student missed two hours waiting for sports pants to be delivered after she was told that her shorts were inappropriate. # ONTED pic.twitter.com/7VxNbDDyZP
– Jackie Miller (@JacquieAMiller) May 13, 2022
The excitement led to an apology from the school board and a promise to consult with students about possible changes to the dress code, which requires clothing to be “clean, decent and appropriate.” Translation: shorts and skirts should extend at least to the middle of the thigh, the shoulders are covered with “appropriate width” and no underwear is visible.
The debate over school dress codes dates back decades. Fifty years ago, some schools did not allow girls to wear pants in class. There were conflicts over jeans, ripped jeans, pajama pants, crop tops and balls.
As social norms and fashions change, schools tend to lag behind, at least according to students interviewed at Béatrice-Desloges and other schools in Ottawa.
Many students said that some dress codes were stupid and others were sexist, aimed at girls and reflect attitudes of “shame on the body.”
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What message is being sent to young girls who say that the sight of their shoulders is disturbing? Said Laby.
A group of students at Ridgemont High School, who had lunch at a mall this week, described being “dressed” to wear clothes they thought were normal. One of them said she was told to “cover her ass” when wearing a wedge and her skirt was too short; another was asked to change the torn jeans that show her underwear underneath.
“A lot of people express themselves in their clothes,” said Kali Gardner, a student at Ridgemont. “Honestly, I don’t see the point of these dress codes. Now is a new era. We need to update everything. Most (students) just dress normally, according to the weather. ”
Sharanya Sivasatiyatannan, a 9th-grader at John McCray High School, is the new co-chair of the Rideau Student Union, an Ottawa student advocacy group. Photo by Tony Caldwell / Postmedia
Sharanya Sivasatiatanatnan, a ninth-grader at John McCray High School, says dress codes have traditionally been sexist because they target girls and women.
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“There are thousands of different reasons why students dress a certain way, whether religious or non-religious,” said Sivasatiatanatan, future co-chair of the Rideau Student Union, an Ottawa student advocacy group.
She said that with the exception of things like hateful or obscene clothing, how to dress students should be decided by the children and their parents, not by the school board.
Shivasatiyatannat does not accept the argument that dress codes help prepare students for the world of work.
“High school is the time when we discover how to present ourselves to the world,” she said.
“This is the time to really understand ourselves… I think that by the time we get to the workforce, we are more confident and more confident in how we want to present ourselves.”
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Sivasatiatannatan and Ridgmont High School students interviewed were pleased with the recent decision by the Ottawa-Carlton School Board to adopt a dress code that allows more choice.
The new dress code “recognizes that all students have the right to express themselves fully in school through their choice of clothing, hairstyles, jewelry and accessories.”
Students may not wear clothing depicting violence, swearing, discrimination, hateful or pornographic images or moods, or the use of drugs, tobacco and alcohol.
The board began studying the dress code in 2019 and held consultations as part of a broader review of safe school policies. While the details are still being worked out, the goal is a dress code for all schools that does not include restrictions on things like the width of the tank top.
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Katie Banner, a high school student in Canterbury, says her school has already given students freedom of action. It’s an art school, so students are used to seeing interesting clothes, she said.
“There is a lot of freedom here. To a large extent, we are allowed to wear what we want, as long as it is respectful. “
Banner said that when students have the freedom to decide for themselves what to wear, it leads to a more respectful environment on all sides and students are less likely to “overdo it”.
The clothes help students express themselves and the way they feel, she said.
“When you feel freer, it makes you a lot less stressed and more at ease with yourself, and that can affect the way you learn.”
In the other three Ottawa school boards, schools adopt their own dress codes after consultation with staff, parents and students. They usually prescribe which parts of the body should be covered and many forbid hats.
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At the Collège catholique Mer Bleue in Orleans, for example, a dress code published online says only scarves are allowed. The code included photos of other types of hats that were not to be worn in class, from heels to fools.
The dress code at Mer Bleue High School. Source:
At St. Pius X Catholic High School, a group of teenage boys interviewed at their lunchtime mocked the hat ban.
The dress code of this school states that “headdresses and fools” are allowed if they are “an expression of the student’s culture and / or religion”.
However, “hats, heels, hoods and other non-religious / cultural hats should only be worn outdoors.”
Zac Reno, 17, left, and John Monroe, 18, are students at St. Pius X Catholic High School. Photo by Jackie Miller / Postmedia
Teachers are asking 18-year-old John Monroe to take off his hat all the time. “I take it off, then I turn the corner and put it back.”
Monroe and Zac Reno, 17, joked that hats should help the word of God flow in their heads.
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The rule against visible underwear affects some boys who like to wear pants hanging below the waist, said Monroe and Devon Hugh. Some wear plain shorts under their low-hanging pants to fit.
All three teenagers said school dress codes affected mostly girls.
Reno scoffed at the justification that girls with spaghetti straps would distract boys.
“They are making a much bigger deal than it should be. Honestly, no man will look at a girl and say, “Oh, God, her shoulders!” Now I can’t focus.
“And if a man is like that, that’s not a girl’s problem. That’s the decent thing to do, and it should end there. “
Reno said the requirement to monitor midres and the length of shorts puts teachers in an awkward position, especially male teachers.
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All students interviewed said they believed there should be some restrictions, such as banning hateful or vulgar slogans and images.
At Béatrice-Desloges, several teenage girls said that short shorts should be allowed, but not everything that reveals the buttocks.
Some sample dress codes in Ottawa schools
(All reviewed codes are published online. They usually prohibit violent, obscene, hateful images and slogans or the promotion of alcohol and drugs.)
Ottawa-Carlton School Board
The universal dress code states that “the board recognizes that all students have the right to express themselves fully in school through their choice of clothing, hairstyles, jewelry and accessories.”
École secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges, French Catholic Council in Ottawa
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Clothing should be clean, decent and appropriate. Pants, skirts and shorts must be of ‘appropriate length’ (mid-thigh). No visible underwear. The tops should completely cover the upper body (without transparency) and the shoulders “with the appropriate width”. Hats can be worn in classrooms, offices, theaters and during school gatherings. No pajamas. (Except during activities organized by the school, probably spiritual days) No …
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