An Unjust Policy

 An example of a policy that I think is unjust is the leggings ban at Affton High School. This ban was instituted on the 28^th of November in 2012. The reason given for the ban was that leggings are too provocative and show inappropriate content. Many female students are upset about the ban because leggings have become about half of their outfits for the week. They believe that the ban is unfair because it is the result of an incident between a student and a teacher a few days ago. Now to expand on this.

            One reason I believe that this ban is unfair is that the faculty is prosecuting the whole, instead of prosecuting just the offenders. If you prosecute the whole for something that only ten percent was guilty for, it is unjust and unfair to those who did not break the rule. Another reason I think this policy is unjust is because it outlaws wearing an item of clothing, a personal item of clothing might I add. If you are going to ban one item of clothing, why not just ban all of them and replace them with uniforms? Being a public school, Affton has not had to deal with the whole uniform argument, but I fear that with the banning of clothing starting to happen, that it will come up soon as at a PTO meeting.

Girls at Affton High school are not trying to gain attention by wearing leggings. When asked why they wear them, most girls will reply with, “They’re comfortable,” or, “They’re warm.” I don’t believe that it is a crime to wear something that is comfortable or keeps you warm, but then the argument shifts to the transparency of leggings. Yes, some leggings are very transparent, some however are not. So why should one girl whose leggings are perfectly acceptable for school dress code be punished? Or what about a girl who wears leggigs once and is prosecuted for a dress code violation without a warning?

            I understand that the faculty is trying to make Affton High school a better place by banning leggings to help stop incidents like this, but what about all the other incidents like this that don’t involve leggings? Are we soon to learn that they will ban jeans, yoga pants, jeggings, shorts and any other type of clothing that shows a little bit of skin? If leggings are worn correctly they can be both comfortable and school appropriate. Surely we should get a say in what happens right? Isn’t our country ruled by a system of democracy?

            Other schools have banned leggings because of the same argument brought up today, but if you wear a shirt that covers the back half of them, then it’s fine. The point of leggings is to be able to show your body form and physique without taking clothes off. So is Affton trying to discriminate against girls who are wearing leggings to be comfy and show their physique, or discriminate against girls who do not wear them properly?

            In conclusion, I’d like to reiterate the points that have been made during this essay. Leggings are not a crime if worn correctly. The school cannot punish the whole for a mistake that less than ten percent of students have made. Clothing is a personal item and if not revealing then should be made school appropriate. These are just some of the points that have been made over this argument, but I’d like to end this article with a saying. If the leggings fit, (and are worn in school appropriate fashion), wear them.