老澳门开奖结果

Last May, I was counting down the final days of my freshman year at Bartram Trail High School and anxiously waiting to pick up my first high school yearbook. When the yearbooks finally came, I rushed down the hallways to the cafeteria to grab my copy and immediately did what every kid does: I flipped through the pages until I found my photo. But when I found it, my stomach dropped. The school had inserted a black rectangular bar across my chest 鈥� censoring my body in my high school yearbook without my knowledge or consent.

The fact that an adult teacher had looked at my photo and decided to censor my chest made me feel exposed and embarrassed. The school had of at least 80 other students 鈥� all girls 鈥� to cover up their chests. Meanwhile, the photos of boys were completely untouched 鈥� including a photo of the boys鈥� swimming team, where they were wearing only swim briefs. I realized then that the school鈥檚 issue wasn鈥檛 with how students were dressed. The school鈥檚 issue was with girls鈥� bodies.

I felt angry and shamed by the school, but not surprised. My high school 鈥� and the entire St. Johns County School District, where my high school is located 鈥� has enforced its dress code unfairly against girls for as long as I鈥檝e been a student. Until recently, the school district鈥檚 dress code set out different rules for boys and girls, including that girls鈥� tops must and be 鈥渕odest and not revealing or distracting鈥� and that girls鈥� bottoms may not be less than four inches above the knee 鈥� something I received a dress code warning for. On top of these gendered rules, the school district has targeted its enforcement against girls, with about of dress code violations issued against female students.

Just a few months earlier, my high school conducted and pulled dozens of girls out of class because their clothes were 鈥渙ut of code.鈥� One teacher even forced a girl to unzip her sweatshirt in front of other students and staff, even though she said would rather not because she was only wearing a sports bra underneath. The school has also conducted dress-code checks when students enter the building, where girls have been disproportionately scrutinized.

As a girl, I feel like the school cared more about what I was wearing than about my education or comfort. I became so anxious about being dress coded that I often second-guessed myself or found myself changing my outfit multiple times before school. Other girls I know have worn long shirts and pants 鈥� including in the heat 鈥� to prevent scrutiny, and the repeated dress coding caused one girl to have a panic attack in the bathroom. After speaking with fellow classmates, it is clear that these harmful effects can be even worse for by reinforcing sex stereotypes, as well as for girls of color.

To fight back against the school鈥檚 sexist dress code, I created an online petition to call on the school district to stop sexualizing girls鈥� bodies and to change its policies. I spoke out with my classmates and parents at school board meetings to share our experiences with the dress code. And in July, the 老澳门开奖结果 Women鈥檚 Rights Project and the 老澳门开奖结果 of Florida explaining that gendered dress codes violate our civil rights and asking the St. Johns County school district to end its discriminatory dress code enforcement against girls. Thanks to all of these efforts, the St. Johns County School Board to remove the gendered language from its dress code in time for the new school year.

While I鈥檓 glad that the school district took this step, it is not enough to change the language of the dress code. The school district must also change its actions.

In addition to passing the gender-neutral dress code, the school district must create policies to prevent future discriminatory enforcement of its dress code against girls 鈥� including by ending the humiliating practice of dress code sweeps and scrutinizing students鈥� bodies and clothing. The school district should also take steps to hear the concerns and feedback of students and parents about the dress code鈥檚 enforcement. It is the school district鈥檚 responsibility to ensure a safe and equal learning environment in our schools.

When the school board recently met to discuss the dress code, one of the School Board members said: 鈥淵ou understand that there鈥檚 a big difference between an elementary school student鈥檚 physical anatomy than there is a high school student 鈥� A first-grade student has the same physical size as a first-grade student, if I鈥檓 making any sense there.鈥� These comments shocked me at the time, and the more I think about them, the more I realize that the school district oversexualizes and views girls鈥� bodies as a problem.

It鈥檚 time to understand that shaming girls is harmful and discriminatory and makes it unnecessarily stressful for us to get an education. Girls shouldn鈥檛 be made to feel that there is something wrong with having a body.