Brickbat: Dressed for Success

In Utah, Stansbury High School principal Kendall Topham has apologized to students after dozens of girls were turned away from a dance because some faculty members deemed their dresses too short. School policy said the dresses should be "at or near knee length." But faculty members turned away girls whose dresses were as little as one inch above the knee. Topham said the policy was too vague and promised to clarify it.

Comments

[generic Brand]

I can't really find it in my heart to get upset about this. While school dress codes are a bit ridiculous some times (no flip flops in Florida?), a school dance is a 100% extra-curricular activity. Even if it takes place at a public school, there is nothing stating everyone is entitled to go. If they set up the dress codes ahead of time and made it well publicized and the girls still tried to see what they could get away with, fuck them.

Learn early that rules exist and you can break them and face the consequences or work to change them if they are unjust.

[mnarayan]

RULES IS RULES

[R C Dean]

Of course, the problem here is that the rules weren't broken, and at least some of the people turned away had actually complied with the rules.

[Rasilio]

"fuck them"

I believe that this is exactly what the rule was trying to prevent.

[BarryD]

Because when girls wear mid-length or long skirts, teenagers forget all about their attraction to members of the opposite sex.

[Rasilio]

I didn't say that there was any rational reason for believing the policy could have any chance at succeeding, just that it was the reason they had it.

I mean isn't that the general idea behind bureacracy? Come up with idiotic rules that given the appearance of doing something about supposed problems?

[BarryD]

Oh, I wasn't trying to argue with you.

The general idea behind bureaucracy is to entrench and expand one's power and improve one's income, by going what you said.

[BarryD]

"going" should be "doing"

[Death Rock and Skull]

"a school dance is a 100% extra-curricular activity. Even if it takes place at a public school, there is nothing stating everyone is entitled to go."

It is common these days for school dances to be organized with a limit on attendance, and cost 25 to 50 dollars or more paid in advance, at least in "privileged" schools. Aren't proms in the area of hundreds of dollars?

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

I can't really find it in my heart to get upset about this.
...
Learn early that rules exist and you can break them and face the consequences or work to change them if they are unjust.

I'm having trouble articulating all the things I see wrong with this, so I'll choose a few.

No flipflops can be a safety/health issue as they give no protection to the feet. In Florida seems immaterial as --unlike when I was in school-- virtually all public schools are air conditioned.

Public school indicates public property. Everyone should be able to go because by definition they have ownership.

Dress codes by governmental entities are by definition censorship. Dressing is a matter of personal expression. Dress codes are nothing but prejudice based in tradition and religion, IOW the stale and irrational.

Finally, the girls didn't break the rules as stated. If one inch isn't near the knee to you, I recommend you don't look at styles from when I was in school: Miniskirts, shortshorts and see-thrus! Oh, and don't look too closely at (un-bowdlerised) Egyptian or Renaissance fashion. The top of your head will come off.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Sex!

[tagtann]

Looking pretty good to me dude. Wow.
http://www.private-at.tk

[Ken Shultz]

In prep school, all the girls had to get their dresses preapproved by the girls' dean. I suppose that's easier to do in boarding school.

Oh, and oppressing girls that age, so they won't do what you're afraid they want to do? Makes them want to do it.

Trust me.

[alex griggs]

I thought Stansbury was a college? What am I going to do with my 1502 SAT now?

- Zack Morris

[protefeed]

Learn early that rules exist and you can break them and face the consequences or work to change them if they are unjust.

The problem is that the "rules" were written vaguely, and then enforced in a way that arguably did not conform with the actual wording.