Be calm about need for dress code

In the rush to refute just about everything she says, there is

usually a knee-jerk reaction to any public statement by Wendy Leece

that results in hyperextension of the joint.

Earlier this week, Leece raised the subject of the school

district’s lax enforcement of the existing dress code policy. Note

the key word: existing. This dress code, enacted in 1995, is meant to

set guidelines and boundaries for kids. Guidelines and boundaries are

not only important for kids, it is something they demand. In survey

after survey, one of the top wishes of children is that their parents

set firmer boundaries for them. Ask adults and many of them will say

that they wish their parents had set firmer guidelines for them.

And while I can’t say that there is a direct correlation between a

parent’s lack of boundaries and their son’s D in geometry, I do

believe that their lack of direction will usually result in much more

of a laissez-faire attitude that does not serve a teenager well.

Teenagers are already wired to push the envelope as far as they can,

and I don’t see anything constructive in helping them.

Wearing spaghetti straps won’t make a kid stupid. Not wearing them

won’t make her smarter. No one who believes in enforcing the dress

code believes either of those statements. Smart or stupid because of

the clothes one wears is not the dress-code issue. The issue is

boundaries, appropriate attire, decorum, behavior and preparing kids

for the dress codes established by society outside of school.

According to the dress code, girls are not allowed to wear

“extremely brief garments such as tube tops, net tops, halter tops,

spaghetti straps, plunging necklines, front or back and see-through

garments.” Kids could also be disciplined for inappropriate

hairstyles, jewelry, make-up or nails. Boys are not allowed to wear

pants that look like they came off of someone the size of Shaquille

O’Neal or shirts with offensive messages, such as foul language or

clothing with any logo or reference to the Boston Celtics or the New

York Yankees. OK, so I made up that last part.

A couple of days ago, Leece told me that in the recent district

study session covering the dress code, only one parent showed up to

speak. The mother, a Corona del Mar resident, told of her daughter’s

continued efforts to sneak a second set of clothes to school. Once

there, she’d change clothes, unafraid of any discipline from school

officials who failed to enforce the existing dress code.

What’s so bad about setting boundaries for kids? Nothing.

In fact, it’s good for them. As Leece told me, “The dress code

sets a high standard of decorum to set the tone in the classroom.”

Sounds perfectly reasonable to this parent.

Unfortunately, there is a crowd that will not be in favor of

enforcing the dress code simply because Wendy Leece says that they

should.

To the knee-jerk crowd, however, Wendy Leece is wrong more often

than a broken clock, which is at least correct twice a day. I happen

to agree with Leece, and I know that most parents do too.

Judging by the district and school Web sites, I’m reasonably

certain that there would not be any opposition to enforcing the dress

code. The dress code is not posted on the district Web site -- at

least not anywhere this experienced surfer could find it. Newport

Harbor High School does not have the dress code posted, and Rea

Elementary School only mentioned that kids had to wear uniforms. No

one, it would seem, really cares enough about the dress code to

oppose its enforcement.

Ah, yes, uniforms. OK for some in the district, not OK for others,

it seems. Uniforms are a dress code, yet I don’t hear any opposing

them anymore.

The dress code may be more on the students’ radar than we believe.

While Newport Harbor High School did not post the dress code, there

was an old notice about a student body meeting in December in which

the list of agenda items includes “dress code.”

Perhaps all the dress code needs for the Leeceophobes to get on

board is to give the code a makeover. Instead of calling it a “dress

code,” let’s rename it something educational and bureaucratic, such

as “B.C.A.L.M.,” which is an acronym for “Business and Career Attire

Learning Module.” Pretty good, eh? Who knows, we may even get funding

from the state.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(949) 642-6086.