Most parents tend to feel strongly when the school changes policies, and their children have to abide by new rules. One father in Arizona was enraged when he found out the school was deciding to change its dress code requirements.
To make his point, he made the decision to do a dramatic action. Read on to discover more…
A school board meeting in Gilbert, Arizona, took a highly unexpected turn when a father named Ira Latham undressed to show an odd attire. He was demonstrating a point he felt very strongly about by donning a crop top and short shorts underneath his business clothes.
Ira Latham stated at the meeting that “under the proposed rules, this would be appropriate in a classroom.” To emphasize his point, he removed his shirt and pants while standing at the podium.
The Higley Unified School District convened the meeting to discuss establishing a more permissive dress code. Since May, there have been ongoing discussions, and the majority of those in the school system are aware of what they will involve.
“Clothing must cover all private body parts and/or undergarments and must not be see-through,” states the new guideline. Although undergarments are not permitted to be worn as clothes, inadvertently visible undergarment waistbands and/or straps are allowed.
The father demonstrated what would now be acceptable to wear to school by donning a crop top and short shorts to properly drive home his message. According to the proposed guideline, this would be acceptable in a classroom, he declared.
The new clothing code, which was put in place in 2001, permitted students to show more of their chest, abdomen, and midriff.
Latham, who has four students in the district, thinks that the dress rule will interfere with his kids’ ability to learn in a classroom. As a father, he stated, “I expect the district to be able to enforce policies that enable my children be able to go to class and know how they may contribute to a safe classroom environment, as well as limiting the unnecessary distractions in class.”
“That is not what this policy does. Additionally, I believe that the ambiguity of this policy puts instructors under a lot of needless stress,” he stated.
He claimed that by dressing in a way that would be permitted by the new regulations, he was trying to illustrate how this policy would actually play out.
He added before taking off his clothing, “I have no other way to express my concerns about this policy, so I’ll conduct an object lesson.”
This is not proper for a board meeting, in my opinion. If your dress code policy permits this in the classroom, it does not foster a secure learning environment, the enraged father continued.
Tiffany Schulz, the head of the governing board, was not amused by the father’s comments. She emphasized how unfairly female students were targeted by the current regulations.
But, Anna Van Hoek, a different member of the governing board, appeared to concur with Latham’s viewpoint, claiming that a modest dress code helped pupils prepare for the real world by having them dress in a way that would be required of them in the workplace. She claimed that dressing modestly was a sign of “self-respect.”
She added that teaching children to have self-respect, which excludes flaunting one’s bodily parts, is essential if we want them to be prepared for college and the workforce.
The clothing rule that they sought to implement was essentially the same as the dress code for a public pool, Latham later expressed his frustration to the media. Just make sure that children cover their underpants, that’s all.
These explanations, however, didn’t please governing board president Schulz, who noted that this was more of an issue for female students because they are the ones who typically wear crop tops and tank tops.
Schulz asserted, “We’re suggesting that they must conceal because of how it could make someone else feel, and that is incorrect.
She continued by saying that teachers should be more focused on instructing rather than measuring their male pupils’ shirts and upsetting their female counterparts. Another member of the governing board, Amanda Wade, concurred with Schulz.
They are children, she said. They don’t have a job, and I realize that this is the only job they have, but we need to give them some freedom.
The school board voted in favor of amending the dress code policy by a margin of 3-2, despite Latham’s vocal opposition to the new code.
Several school districts are moving in the opposite direction from Higley Unified School District, which has adopted a more contemporary and updated dress code. Mississippi’s Madison, Rankin, and Hinds County districts have all made crop tops prohibited and established that short and long-sleeved shirts must cover a student’s stomach. Also, the new guideline stipulates that specific skirt lengths are prohibited as well as the prohibition on pants with holes.
Fathers often have rather strong feelings when it comes to their kids. See the account of what a father did when his daughter started bullying other kids.
What are your thoughts about schools having dress codes? Let us know in the comments. Share with others to find out what they think as well!