By Sophia Swenson
Ahh, spring. Birds chirping, sun shining, and season of the discipline office gym shorts. I don’t acknowledge that it is spring until I see that first girl tugging at her skirt right outside of door A, praying she won’t get noticed by security and shipped off to 210.
It’s like a game of Russian Roulette: either you’ve made it past the metal detectors, or asked to go upstairs and trade in your unbecoming pants for gym short that are, ironically, against the dress code. Has anyone ever noticed that our gym shorts and several sports team’s uniforms don’t quite reach the knee? Tsk, tsk, Lane Tech.
But all facts aside, I get it. Lane wants to keep its students looking “appropriate” and “professional” for the school day. The thing is, I’m pretty sure we passed that point about 20 years and 30,000 push-up bras ago.
It’s not just girls who are giving the dress code a run for its money, though. One accessory in-particular that seems to be on every teacher’s “no-no” list are boys’ earrings. I don’t mean to wave the red “sexist” flag here, but this rule does seem a little unfair to gentlemen who just want a little more zest in their lives. If girls can get away with earrings that are big enough to get stuck in the door, surely boys are allowed wear a tiny stud!
A question that always comes to mind on a particularly hot day is how students can maintain a normal body temperature when we are expected to abide by the dress code. I, and a bountiful number of students, can affirm that there are many parts of this building that reach a solid 90 degrees towards the end of the year. Open windows and battery-operated fans can only go so far, people! As for those of you who are shaking your heads and saying “Lane is never that hot,” I have something to say to you:
1. Your first-floor office is air conditioned.
2. Please, come visit my science class on the fourth floor when it’s 85 degrees outside. Have a seat. Stay a while.
Not only does being incredibly hot and sweaty make it hard to care about anything my teacher is saying, but also it poses a risk for dehydration. So unless Lane’s willing to fix the ants-living-inside-half-of-the-schools-water-fountains business, I suggest that from April- September Lane’s dress code be lifted. Not only will this keep kids from passing out in class, but it will make the banisters in major stairwells a lot less sticky.
Let’s get real, Lane Tech: we are not going to be able to wear what we want until we can band together as a whole and stop dressing like we’re auditioning for the Bad Girls Club. So ladies, if you look in the mirror and can see the color of your bra through that shirt, change. Boys, if that deep-V surpasses your nipples, for the love of god, change. Otherwise, I don’t see what the big deal is about a hem that’s at mid-thigh, or even a stud that belongs to a boy.
