In an unconventional demonstration, a father of four, Ira Latham, has challenged the proposed dress code for students at a recent school board meeting in Arizona. The meeting, which was held in the Higley Unified School District, was well-attended by several other parents who also expressed their worries concerning the new dress regulations.
However, Latham decided to drive home his point in a bizarre manner by stripping down to a crop top and jean shorts in protest. The startled look on the faces of other parents in attendance is solid proof that no one envisaged his novel reaction to the policy change.
According to the proposed dress code, students would be allowed to wear tank tops and show off their midsections. The new regulation prohibited transparent dresses. Nevertheless, it permitted the children to put on any clothing of their choice to the extent that it covered “all private body parts or potentially underpants.”
With this revised approach, students could wear clothes that showed the waistbands and straps of their undergarments so long as they didn’t wear them as outer clothing. Latham was not having it.
“As a parent, I expect the district to be able to enforce policies that help my children be able to go to class and know how they can contribute to a safe classroom environment as well as limiting the needless distractions in class,” the frustrated dad had said. “This policy does not do that. I also think that it brings a lot of unnecessary pressure on teachers having to deal with the vagueness of this policy.”
However, Latham didn’t believe that his words alone were enough to accurately express his disapproval. According to him, “I have no other way to describe my concerns about this policy.” So, his only alternative was to “do an object lesson” by protesting in a rather dramatic fashion at the September 20 gathering.
“Now if you ask me, this is inappropriate for a board meeting,” Latham continued while donning his black spaghetti-strapped top and shorts that barely covered his bare bottom. “If you have a dress code policy that allows this in a classroom, it does not promote a safe classroom environment, as well as limiting the amount of distractions in a classroom,” he added.
Latham’s demonstration was to help the school board realize the ridiculousness of the relaxed dress code. Unfortunately, it proved futile as the school board still voted 3-2 in favor of the new dressing regulations.
According to the supporters of the new dress code, the restrictions in the existing regulations unfairly targeted females. In the words of the governing board’s president, Tiffany Shultz, “We’re saying that they need to cover up because of the way it might make someone else feel and that is wrong.”
Meanwhile, more parents have come out to condemn the new policy, saying that it doesn’t teach the kids self-respect or prepare them for the career world. “We need to be raising these girls to be women in society and have that self-respect and dignity,” a parent said.
We’d love to hear your thoughts. Is the new dress regulation a welcome development or a sad deviation from acceptable rules of propriety?
