School dress codes can put a “double standard” on students, and teachers need to make sure they practise what they preach.
That’s according to Tony Pontes, director of education for Peel Region, who reminded members of the country’s second-largest school board that books are often judged by their covers.
“Quite simply, we need to strengthen our expectation and enforcement of appropriate dress in schools,” Pontes told school trustees and administrators at a conference on Wednesday. “And, if we have expectations for students about dress code, staff should adhere to the same rules.”
The address was inspired by the mother of a Peel student who last year was disciplined for wearing his pants too low on his hips and exposing his underwear, Pontes said.
“When she went to the school, one of the first things she saw was a female teacher wearing a blouse that was overly revealing,” he said. “To the parent, there was a double standard.”
(Image: pink homecoming dresses)
The director singled out exposed underwear among staff as having “a direct impact on a school’s reputation, and how the Peel board is perceived.”
While the board formally bans messages depicting violence, profanity, discrimination, hate and sex from all schools, it relies on individual school administrators to set the tone for what’s appropriate at each school.
For staff and students, covering up midriffs and underwear should be a minimal standard, according to Pontes.
“I have seen female teachers who, in my opinion, might have been wearing something that’s too revealing,” Pontes said.
“If you see a teacher who’s inappropriately dressed, you have a perception, and all of that ties into whether or not this is a disciplined place of learning,” he added.
One recent York Region grad, Arezoo Najibzadeh, said she felt that dress standards unfairly targeted her female teachers while their male colleagues got away with much more.
“We were taught how we shouldn’t bully each other and how body shaming is wrong,” Najibzadeh, 18, said. “But we see how our own teacher – because she was a bigger lady and her cleavage may be more visible at times – she is told by the school admin that maybe she should cover up.”
Trevor Sookraj, one of two student trustees on the Peel board, said he is unaware of any teachers dressing inappropriately at his school.
“Teachers are role models for students,” the 17-year-old student at Glenforest Secondary School said. “If teachers all obeyed the dress code, then students are likely to do it as well because they look up to those teachers.”
His fellow student trustee, Paul Okundaye, from Chinguacousy Secondary School, said he has never seen a teacher dress inappropriately either, but that he still thought it was “a good idea” for the board to “raise awareness about professionalism” at Peel public schools.
“We’re simply saying that schools are a place of learning and of business and there’s an appropriate dress for staff and students,” Pontes said
Also Read: vintage homecoming dresses
