Parents and community members were outraged when Osakis High School said that girls needed to submit photos of their prom dress for prior approval for their upcoming prom. The school overturned that decision and instead said that girls may be turned away at the door if their dresses are deemed inappropriate for the dance.

Here's my take:

I think that the school has a right to enforce a dress code and maintain a certain standard at its functions. It's not a student's right to attend the prom. Therefore, their request isn't that unreasonable.

With that being said, prom dresses are super expensive. Sometimes, prom dresses can cost as much as a wedding dress depending on where you go. I know this from personal experience. If I were a student, I'd certainly want to know ahead of time if the dress I plan to spend a small fortune on was going to be deemed too inappropriate for the dance.

Some people argue that the decision should be left up to the parents as to what they deem appropriate for their child. While that seems like a nice idea in theory, some kids have terrible parents that are just plain bad at their job. Some parents probably don't care at all what their child wears in any situation. Unfortunately that ruins it for everyone and forces the school system to have to be the "parent" for everybody.

I've heard from people who are outraged that the boys don't have abide by the same rule and submit pictures of their tuxes for prior approval. But, let's be real for a second--a tux is a tux. I don't know about you, but they are pretty much all the same. If I went to the store and asked for a tux, I'm pretty sure I can predict what I'm going to get.  That's not the case with a prom dress--they vary drastically in style.

To me, this rule isn't about "girls distracting boys." It's about knowing what's appropriate at a formal event. If boys were wearing inappropriate tuxes, then they absolutely need to be turned away as well. I think we all need to use our common sense here.

Students will be faced with many dress code policies after high school. Being able to follow a dress code is an important skill they all need to learn. I think the school is trying to create a certain standard and the students absolutely need to follow that.

 

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