The dress code at Omaha North High School has gotten too linnet. At this point what even is the dress code do we have one? What people wear to school is getting out of hand.  

According to OPS Student Code of Conduct, the rules for dress code only addresses certain things like “words or images that promote alcohol, drug use, weapons, insult or demean others, or disrupt the school environment are not acceptable at school.” 

The idea of things that disrupt the learning environment is subjective to everyone in separate ways. It is all opinion based and does not have a real rule. In all the rules listed out, nothing mentions the amount of body covered and it mostly covers graphics. 

If people were to show up to school in a swimsuit, yes, they would be sent home but just because it is not called a swimsuit does not mean that students should be wearing things that are swimsuit length.  

At North there have been outfits that show more skin than is expected. I am not saying that the dress code needs to be conservative but just more mindful.  

Shorts or skirts should at least cover a person’s whole backside while standing up. A shirt should not expose the entire lower half of a body.  

Many students do not have any knowledge regarding a dress. 

“We have a dress code?” said by Maya Walton, 10, when asked about the dress code. 

When students get out of a high school setting, the majority of workplaces that they will work in will not allow crop tops, short shorts, or exposed articles of clothing. As a student, I am not saying that we have to cut those out completely. Instead, I think that we need some more defined rules.  

On the other hand, our easy-going dress code allows for students to freely express themselves without worrying about getting sent home for how they choose to dress.  

Many schools with stricter dress codes often target the female students or students with more feminine body types. Schools would often dress code female students or  feminine body types claiming that what they were wearing was distracting while people with less feminine features would be wearing the same thing but not get dress coded.  

“After having an exchange student from Spain who used to get dress code multiple times by admin point out how the dress code is stricter on girls and how in Country’s who do not point out what women are wearing as much tend to have less problems with objectifying women because people are not focused on what they wear,” said Natalie Runyon, Omaha North Teacher. 

This would not be as much of an issue if the dress code had a more direct rule. Like if the handbook said shorts must reach the palm of your hand, which is measurable on every person in the school.  

In past years at Omaha North High School there used to be stricter rules covering the dress code. In the past the rule was that shorts and skirts must be fingertip length. As for shirts there used to be a rule stating that straps must be as wide as two fingers and no midriff. 

It begs the question as to why the dress code has taken a back seat in importance. It also leaves me, a student, questioning what is acceptable and what is not.