A High School Requires Girls to Send in Pictures of their Dresses Before a Homecoming Dance

A high school is requiring that students wearing a dress to the homecoming dance must send a photo of themselves to an administrator for approval.

September 26, 2017
By: Amanda Mushro

Photo by: iStock

iStock

Choosing a homecoming dress is a rite of passage for most girls in high school. Usually, their priority is looking for the hottest trends or choosing a dress they wear as they dance the night away. However, one Wisconsin high school is making headlines for requiring photos to be taken of the dress each student chooses before the dance so that administrators have the final say on which dresses the girls can wear.

Pewaukee High School is requiring all girls attending next month's homecoming dance to submit photos of the front and of the back of their dress before they can receive approval from an administrator. This isn't just a picture online of the dress because the girls have to be wearing the dress in the pictures.

The rules are clear: unless you send in the photos, you cannot purchase tickets for the dance. While this policy was noted in the school's dress code, parents and students are not happy with this rule.

According to the Journal Sentinel, a reminder email was sent to parents about this policy, and now parents and students are pushing back saying this portion of the dress code is sexist and unnecessary. "The girls are essentially being held responsible for the wayward thoughts (administrators) think boys have," said Rebecca Sheperd, whose daughter is a freshman at Pewaukee told the Journal Sentinel. "They're being told, 'You are the problem."

However, school officials say the policy is not sexist and the dress code does have rules that are geared towards male students like students can't wear low-hanging pants that expose their underwear or behinds. "It's really out of a sensitivity to our students," said Pewaukee Superintendent Mike Cady. "We want (school dances) to be a positive experience. We don't want anyone to show up and have to be sent home because of a dress-code violation."

According to the dress code, here are a few of the dress no-nos that girls need to avoid while dress shopping "tops that have spaghetti straps, are backless, and/or that cover only one shoulder ... blouses that do not cover the midriff" and requires shorts and skirts to "extend below the mid-thigh."

What do you think about this school policy? Tell us in the comments--is requiring "dress-wearing" students to send in pictures of their dress to receive approval appropriate?

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