Laura Anderson was sent home to change by her vice-principal after showing up to school in ripped jeans and a tank top, stating she failed to follow the school's dress code.

Laura Anderson was sent home to change by her vice-principal after showing up to school in ripped jeans and a tank top, stating she failed to follow the school's dress code.
Photo Credit: Sophie McGregor/Facebook via cbc

Student “dress code” kerfuffle in Canada

“We’re trying to teach them how to be ready for life” Suanne Stein Day, of the Lester B. Pearson School Board, 

With the warm weather, students are dressing to show more skin at high-schools and that’s coming into conflict with expected dress codes.

Most publicly funded schools in Canada do not have uniforms for students, rather dress code “expectations.”

In the past few weeks this has led to a number of incidents where students have been sent home.

Alexi Halkat was sent home on Monday by the school principle that showing her midriff was inappropriate.

The next day several students wore “crop tops” to the school in protest.

Alexi Halket, was sent home from the Etobicoke School of the Arts, because her
Alexi Halket, was sent home from the Etobicoke School of the Arts, because her “crop top” was deemed inappropriate dress © The Canadian Press

In London Ontario, Laura Anderson said the vice-principal at A.B. Lucas called the clothes “inappropriate” and in violation of the school’s dress code.

She went home and changed, but said “My intention was not for it to be sexual. I don’t put on shorts or tank tops so I get sexual attention from men or other people at my school. I put it on because it’s hot outside and I think I have the right as an individual to wear what makes me feel comfortable.”

She wants to discuss the dress codes with the administration.

On Wednesday of this week, dozens of female students also showed up at school wearing ripped jeans and tank tops.

The school’s dress “expectations” are posted on its website.

  • Clothing must not be inappropriately revealing and free of profane or vulgar language. Shirts must cover the midriff and the back.
  • No references to drugs, alcohol, sex, demeaning or offensive slogans.
  • All shorts and skirts should be past the fingertips of your outstretched hands.
  • Skirts, shorts and pants should completely cover undergarments.
  • Pants must be able to stay up at the waist.
  • No hats or head wear. Hats may be confiscated if worn in school. Only head wear worn for religious or medical reasons is exempt.
  • Administration will determine what is considered to be appropriate dress for school.
  • Students who do not conform to this guideline will not be allowed to attend classes and will be sent home to change.

Earlier this month a Moncton, New Brunswick teen was told the full length halter dress was inappropriate and a “sexual distraction” to other students.

Lauren Wiggins said if her bare shoulders and back dsitracted boys, they should be
Lauren Wiggins said if her bare shoulders and back dsitracted boys, they should be “sent home and practice self control” Gregg Ingersoll, the superintendent of the Anglophone East School District, is quoted by CBC saying “Whether it’s dress code, whether it’s dress code student behaviour, coming to school late, those are all distractions to the teacher when it comes to learning, So I think in the school context, I think what the teachers want to do is eliminate any distraction.” © CBC

The school dress code specifically states that, “shirts exposing shoulders and/or backs and/or midriffs (spaghetti straps, tube tops, halter tops)” are prohibited.

Lauren Wiggins says she has been singled out noting that the school code forbids pants that are frayed at the cuff line, and wallet chains and bandanas, all of which she says are commonplace at the school.

In a Facebook post she wrote that she is “absolutely fed up with comments that make us feel like we can’t be comfortable without being provocative.”

Wiggins parents say they see nothing wrong in her choice and fully support her.

Wiggins story made international news also being carried by the Independent newspaper and Metro news in England and by the RT website and New York Daily news

In another incident, a principal in Guelph Ontario got himself into a bit of hot water when he told students in a public address, also this month, that they should “dress cool, not “skanky”. Some female students felt he was targeting them and he later apologized in an email to a parent saying, the intent was not “to denigrate anyone,” but “to send a strong message about the dress code to all students.”

Central Peel Secondary School in Brampton, Ont., started a one-year pilot project this fall during which students must wear uniforms to school. It will re-evaluate the project after this academic year
Central Peel Secondary School in Brampton, Ontario., started a one-year pilot project this fall during which students must wear uniforms to school. It will re-evaluate the project after this academic year. © Central Peel Secondary Schoo

The several incidents have resulted in many newspaper editiorials and media discussions about student clothing.  There seems to be a slight trend toward the idea of school uniforms to eliminate problems and perhaps sensitise young people about societal expectations later in life.

Around this time last year incidents of this nature also cropped up.   Suanne Stein Day, of the Lester B. Pearson School Board, told CTV News last year, “We’re trying to teach them how to be ready for life when they graduate high school, be it university or perhaps a job,”

She added, “If they went and got a job at McDonald’s, they’d have to wear a hat. If they didn’t like the hat-head they got, it’s too bad.”

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