Dress code has always been a controversial issue. The dress code could feel restrictive to some, while others could view it as a general expectation that’s always been enforced in a school building.  

“Dress code should change. The reason why the dress code, or the way they enforce it at least, primarily targets people with female bodies and people with different body types,” sophomore Mary Ellika Bowen said. “Especially ones that are curvier or developed.”

On Sept. 10 there was a planned peaceful protest against the dress code by sophomore Genesis Carranza, with the word spreading through social media apps such as Snapchat and Instagram stories. 

“I wish more people weren’t afraid to stand their ground and had the opportunity to say what they needed to say without being scared,” Carranza said.

According to the Student Handbook, the district has the right to prohibit any clothing deemed dangerous, distracting, or disrupting the learning environment. Repeated violations of the dress code will result in more serious actions, like in-school suspension.

“I feel like it kinda just made the teachers pay more attention to the dress code instead of really listen,” sophomore Isabel Candido Wilson Sarmento said. “I don’t think they care about what we actually have to say. They just want to enforce the rules.”

Holding students in the office due to dress code violations makes students feel that dress code is valued over education. 

“Last year I was dress-coded because my stomach was showing when I lifted my arms and they dress-coded me for two periods. My mom works so she can’t come give me new clothes, so I was there for a while until they found a new shirt for me,” sophomore Kansys Miller said.

There were complaints from students about how it could possibly make the dress code go further backwards, creating a more restrictive policy.

“No matter what side you are, keep doing research and keep fighting for it because it’s simply not right,” sophomore Ava Kindel said.

Campus administrators have a responsibility to uphold and ignoring the rules given to them could get them into trouble. The school board creates the dress code while the district upholds it.

“I do feel like they misdirected their anger [about dress code]. One of the things that has always been a requirement for students for any school in the state of Texas is that you follow a code of conduct and a dress code,” AHS Principal Matt Russell said.” “It’s always clearly stated, parents have to sign off saying they agree to have their students follow the code of conduct, the dress code, and the student handbook.” 

There’s no guarantee that this will revise the dress code, but it helps the high school administrators take this information up to district administrators to make a real change.

“To be heard you have to be civil, to affect change you have to go through a process,” Russell said.

Staying civil makes for a more mature and persuasive argument. 

“No matter what everyone has their own opinions and just respect it. But if you feel the need to wear what you want to wear do it, just do it,” Carranza said. “I felt like a lot of students thought that it wasn’t going to do anything and that it was going to make it worse but at the end of the day the protest wasn’t made to be make dress code worse, it was made to get a point across.”