Principal Protested for Enforcing Dress Code

I saw a news story today about a school where students were protesting what was billed as a "new addition to their dress code" The principal of Niel Armstrong Middle School in Forest Grove, OR has come under attack for banning leggings. 20 to 25 students wore the banned leggings to school today in protest. According to a local news report, some students and parents are upset about the "impractical" and "ridiculous" ban.

Several facts which are not emphisized in this news story are:

• The school's dress code already bans immodest clothing and clothing that "disrupts the educational process." Thus, the principal was not instituting a new policy, just enforcing an old one.
• The leggings in question are in fact immodest and revealing (just look at the footage in the news video --or better yet, don't look!) They were distracting students and teachers, disrupting the educational process and thus violating the school's existing dress code.
• School dress code policies are within the normal jurisdiction of the school. Students should not be championed for deciding to purposely and blatantly violate a ban that is within the normal scope of the school's existing dress code. Protests are not praiseworthy because they are protests. There must be a just cause for a protest to be honorable.

In truth, what is ridiculous are the arguments cited against the ban:

"I don't see anything wrong with them" Since when have teenagers been the best judges of what is or is not appropriate? That is exactly why schools have dress codes. There will always be those, such as the student quoted above, who do not see anything wrong with the things prohibited by a school's dress code. Proverbs says "Foolishness is bound up in a child" -and despite what they might think, teenagers are still foolish children in many respects. (Before you get too upset with that last remark, remember that I was a teenager not very long ago, and remember how foolish I and my friends have been.)

"I have a hurt foot and it's hard to put jeans over it." This same student's mother also chimed in: "It's impossible to find something they can wear." Since when have leggings been the only option for ladies' clothing? It is far easier to wear a dress with a hurt leg than leggings! Also, the ban only applies to leggings without a dress or top that covers between the hip and the thigh.

Another student was quoted in one news video stating: "The guys are going to stare anyway. If you can't stop them, what's the use?" Yes, some men will "stare", but why encourage them? . Women ought to dress in a way that protects them from the eyes of ungodly men, instead of inviting improper attention.

One comment I read on this story accuses the principal of being a pedophile because he speaks of teachers being distracted. One of men's greatest weaknesses is their thought life. We should encouraging those who are trying to fight their sin nature in this area, instead of attacking them! Additionally, it is the duty of a principal to protect the students in the care of his school from distracting influences.

The following are quotes from Principal Hundley about this decision:

"We are trying to make it clear. It's a place of academics and immodest attire can get in the way of that, "

"We are simply saying this is a school. The expectation is that you come here like you're coming to work."

The purpose of school is learning. Students (and their parents) should applaud this principal for upholding the dress code, thus insuring a better learning environment for each student.