Dress Code Could Be Implemented For Parents At Tennessee Schools
Most schools — even public ones where children have a choice of what they want to wear each day — have a dress code for what the students are allowed to wear to class. Usually, dress codes would prohibit things like short skirts, low-cut tops, tattoos, excessive piercings, or even hair color.
While students are used to having to navigate a daily dress code each morning when they get ready for school, some parents will happily drop their children off at school in the mornings wearing their pajamas and slippers, sometimes with curlers still in their hair. That is about to change, however.
The state of Tennessee is mulling over the possibility of implementing a dress code for parents who are arriving at a school to drop off their children, according to ABC News.
The publication is reporting that some school districts have such a problem with “inappropriate attire” that they already employ a sort of “parental code of conduct.” Even so, it seems Tennessee wants to take that a step further — and write that code of conduct, one which would include a dress code, into law for parents across the state.
Democratic State Representative Antonio Parkinson has already filed the legislation on Thursday to do just that.
Tennessee parents might soon have to abide by dress code at their children's schools. https://t.co/R6faNNBqbq
— ABC News (@ABC) February 1, 2019
“It all started with a Facebook meme about a snow day,” Parkinson said, explaining that the meme encouraged parents having to drop off their kids at school to wear two pairs of pajamas to combat the cold weather.
As funny as many seem to have found it, others took a more serious tack, pointing out that some parents take things way too far with their casual dress. According to Parkinson, one mother arrived at an elementary school to drop off her child “wearing nightclothes with certain body parts exposed.”
Hearing about the numerous stories from school administrators and other parents, Parkinson realized that parents’ attire at schools is causing actual problems. He decided that perhaps it is time for a parental dress code as well.
The hope is that new legislation will hold parents to the same standards their children are expected to meet when they arrive at school in the morning — looking respectable. This may set a good example not only for their own children, but for others as well.
“Everyone else who comes onto a school campus, teacher and students, has to abide by certain rules,” Parkinson said. “Parents are the third leg of the school. Anything or anyone that comes onto the campus should be contributing to a learning environment.”
Despite the good reason for the bill being pushed into law, some people are not happy — perhaps those who have gotten a little too cozy in their pajamas.
“The premise is understandable but the actual implementation can be seen as racially insensitive. I’m an adult a professional adult [sic] I do not need a legislator telling me how I should dress when you are not paying my bills. I think this is a step too far,” one woman commented in response to the news, via Facebook.
