The Dress Code Debate

Student expression is a crucial subject at Medina High School. With that being said, there are rules that need to be upheld with expressing yourself; that is where Medina's Dress code comes into play. We sat down and decided to interview our head principal, Dr. Tedona, and two seniors that have been at Medina for all of high school to get their thoughts on the dress code. 

When asked what her definition of tasteful clothing is, Dr. Tedona said, “Students should feel represented by their clothes but students also need to understand that their clothes should be representative of who they are as a person. Just like if they were at their own job, they can't show any midriff and there should be boundaries. At Medina, we’re getting students set up for expectations in their professional lives after high school.” 

What can Medina do to make the high school a more comfortable and safer place so students are able to feel represented by their outfits? Kaitlyn Pesarchick and Sofia Morris believe that Medina could make the high school feel comfortable and safe if female teachers focused more on dress coding and not male teachers. They said, “Male teachers should not be the ones dress-coding us. It's very uncomfortable when an older male comes up to one of us and says that we need to change our shirts or zip our jackets up when they shouldn't be judging our clothes in the first place. It makes us feel uneasy about the entire situation and would save us some discomfort if a female teacher were to say something.”

When asked if either student had been dress-coded before, Kaitlyn told us that she hasn't been dress-coded at the high school, but Sofia told us that she was dress-coded at the beginning of the year by Mrs. Lobuglio for a visible midriff which resulted in Sofia having to zip up and close her jacket.