School dress codes a contentious issue for some parents as academic year begins
When Karen Green sends her two daughters, aged nine and 12, back to school in September, she knows she’ll have to contend with their school’s dress code.
The rules prohibit tops with straps narrower than the width of three fingers; skirts, shorts or dresses shorter than the length of extended fingertips when a student’s arms are extended down the sides of their body; and abdomen, back and shoulder-baring tops, among other things.
Green believes the dress code unfairly targets girls in a certain age group — those in Grades 6 through 9, who are likely going through puberty.
“It’s not my child’s issue to make sure that nobody knows she’s wearing a bra. It’s everybody else’s issue to accept what a growing girl’s body looks like, and to not be distracted by it,” says Green, whose children attend a school in Chatham, Ont.