Dress Code and Phone Rule: “Hit or Miss”

By: Maddy L. and Sasha W.

Every day students are forced to abide by some controversial rules concerning dress code and the new phone rules. While some students find these rules helpful or agree that they benefit our learning environment, it seems clear from a survey students participated in that the majority do not like the rules and find them biased at times. Going into the 2023-2024 school year, most dress code rules stayed the same, but the phone rules saw a drastic change. We are no longer allowed to have our phones during the day, except at lunchtime outside of the atrium. The dress code has changed slightly, with no longer having dress-down Fridays every week, and a few others. However, the enforcement of these rules is something that raises questions from students. While we understand why these rules are enforced, we also believe that students’ voices should be heard in how they think the rules could be improved or handled more fairly.

While students notice that not having phones can be beneficial for their learning and help keep them on task, they don’t find the new phone rules to be the most effective. Of 80 students who completed the survey, only 30% said they have had their phone taken away at school, while almost 90% of students said that they have seen someone using their phone without getting it taken away. If so many students can get away with using their phones, sometimes we wonder if it is even worth it to have these rules in place. 61% of students in our survey said that there has been a teacher present when they were on their phone and didn’t get it taken away. This also has to do with the bias students have noticed. One student observed, “There are undoubtedly aspects of favoritism present in the way that phone rules are reinforced.” Of course, there’s no way all students can be monitored equally at all times, so why bother taking phones from some students at all?

Students are also upset with the biases present in how the dress code is enforced. Many stated that they were dress-coded for something they see others wearing on numerous occasions. Students say that it seems really “hit or miss” and that “people who are liked by administration are less likely to be dress coded.” Students see others who are constantly out of dress code, yet never get punished for it. A large portion of students specifically mentioned sweatpants as a key thing students get away with, wearing them every day. In total, almost 90% of students from the survey have noticed someone else being out of the dress code without getting in trouble for it.

As many students have pointed out, with SEM being an independent all-girls school, we should be more open to listening to students’ opinions about rules that directly affect them. Students aren’t asking to drop the dress code and phone rules altogether but to modify them. If these strict rules are going to be enforced, they have to be fair and can’t only apply to some people. Students should all be held to the same standards and treated equally when it comes to these rules.