Unpopular dress codes persist

Many of today's teen fashions lean toward showing more skin, and some high school students head off to the mall in low-rise jeans and tight tops. It's apparel deemed unsuitable for the classroom, but students at area high schools had varying opinions about the rules.\nBloomington High School North and Bloomington High School South dress codes prohibit bare shoulders, backs and midriffs, as well as shorts or skirts that rise above the reach of fingertips. Bloomington North allows spaghetti-strap shirts while Bloomington South doesn't. \nMary Sieve, a Bloomington North student, sat in the cafeteria eating and laughing with friends last week. Sieve, like her friends, wore a short-sleeved shirt in accordance with the school dress code. \nShe said she has no problem with the code and said she thinks it's necessary. \n"Without it, people would be wearing really odd stuff, and it's going to be distracting," Sieve said. \nAndrew Deckard and Steven Wilcoxon, both Bloomington North seniors and friends of Sieve, nodded in agreement, saying the dress code a good precaution against classroom distractions.\n"Backless shirts are distracting," Deckard said. "They're always flying open and guys are always checking them out."\nDeckard and Wilcoxon said the dress code doesn't apply as much to male students. The school requires that male students have their shoulders and torsos covered and that their pants be around the waist. \nWilcoxon also said most male students are less affected for style reasons as they don't wear tube-tops or backless shirts. \nBut other Bloomington North students said they feel the dress code is unfair.\nKattlyn Miller, a Bloomington North underclassman, wears a black spaghetti-strap top, allowed by the school. Miller was told on her way to lunch to pull the shirt down. It had jogged upward with that day's walking, exposing her stomach. \nShe said she dislikes her school's policy.\n"As long as another student doesn't make a complaint, we should be able to wear what we want," Miller said. "People have more important things to worry about than what someone else is wearing." \n Miller said clothes are an expression of individuality, and the idea that revealing clothes are a classroom distraction is a weak point in arguing for stricter dress codes.\n Trent Parker, a Bloomington South student, shares a similar opinion. Parker said revealing clothing doesn't sidetrack him from studying.\n"I always found time to look at other students and still get As," he said.\n But many students at Bloomington South think that risque clothes, though having a place, are unacceptable in the classroom. \n Susie Schunk, a senior at Bloomington South, said she enjoys wearing clothes prohibited by the schools because they're comfortable and stylish, but does so on her own time.\nInside the school there should be limits, she said. Her friend and classmate Amber Knowlton shares this opinion.\n"I think the dress code is a good idea because it takes away from some guys' attention," Knowlton said.\nSome students said the dress code keeps students focused on their algebra equations and subject-verb agreement.\n"I think it's fine the way it is now," Jim Schroeder, a senior at Bloomington South, said. "It keeps us guys focused on school. We're here to learn. It's not a fashion show"