When springtime arrives, sometimes it’s more than birds that migrate. Among young people, skirts inch upwards, necklines migrate south and tiny shorts come out of hibernation.
Dress code violations are worse in spring at some schools, despite officials’ efforts to enforce non-distracting school-wear.
“As I walk through the halls now that summer is coming I see a lot more girls dressing in really, really short skirts,” said Quynh Dinh, a senior at Mountlake Terrace High School.
Girls also wear extremely low-cut jeans and tank tops that show a lot of chest, she said.
“Since I’m a girl it’s sort of uncomfortable for me,” Dinh said.
Christina Montilla, a Terrace senior, also feels uneasy when faced with girls in skimpy clothes because it creates a certain atmosphere, she said. When body parts peek out of clothing, it’s especially awkward.
“It puts you in a weird position ‘cause you don’t want to look,” she said. “It seems there’s a lack of consideration I think kids have when they’re deciding to dress.”
Montilla has seen girls at school wear ultra short-shorts, spaghetti strap tops and low-cut jeans that show their own or their boyfriend’s underwear.
Local schools have their ways of getting students to cover up when warm weather beckons otherwise.
At Terrace, the dress code discourages anything that creates a deterrent to the learning environment, including short shorts, exposed midriffs and more.
Dress code violations spike in fall and spring, said Greg Schwab, Terrace principal. This spring, he’s had more conversations with students about proper dress than in previous years.
The first response: Ask students if they have other clothes they can change into.
“Nine times out of ten, we find the way kids arrive at school is not the way they left the house, so they often have clothes with them,” Schwab said. If they don’t, a parent could be called, and if violations continue, a student could be suspended.
Edmonds-Woodway High School sees its share of violations.
“I’m sure if we wanted to, we could spend all day busting people,” said Michelle Trifunovic, assistant principal at Edmonds-Woodway. “If I could compare it to my last school, it’s not as bad. Our kids in general are very good but now the weather’s getting nice and it’s the time of year when we have to do some reminders.”
The fact that long, layered shirts are in style now, as opposed to the midriff-baring shirts of earlier years, helps, she said.
But skimpy dress also emerges in younger students. Montilla, the Terrace senior, sees it with sixth- through-eighth-graders as well as freshman and sophomores. Dinh sees elementary students dressing more sexually.
“Kids are dressing (older) by the day,” Dinh said. “When you go to the mall or you see elementary school kids get out of school, they’re dressing a lot older than they used to.”
She blames mall fashions in part. At the kids’ clothing store Limited Too, kids’ clothes are just smaller versions of adult clothes, she said.
This spring at Alderwood mall, clothes for elementary girls cover a range. At the more risque end are lacy camisole-style tank tops, ultra short shorts, tube-top dresses and animal-skin-patterned bikinis.
Along those lines, elementary schools in the district also have dress guidelines. Meadowdale Elementary, for example, asks its students to avoid short shorts, shorts with slits up the side, tank tops and exposed midriffs.
Still, provocative dress among Meadowdale students is very rare, said principal Kyle Kinoshita. Sixth-graders sometimes copy their older peers in dress, but it’s rarely out of bounds, he said.
“It’s not — definitely, definitely not — a major problem,” he said.
That’s partly because the dress guidelines have been well-communicated with students from a young age, he said. That’s a goal at the high schools too.
“Our goal is to educate, not to be punitive, not to put kids in a position where we back them into a corner,” Schwab said. “To educate them that this is a place of business, not a party.”
Trifunovic also reminds students of the difference between beach and club clothes and school clothes.
Others think students should be able to dress freely.
Montilla said there are some female teachers at Terrace who believe clothing choices are a matter of personal expression and should be allowed.
She disagrees. Skimpy clothes are inappropriate for young girls because they’re still developing a sense of self, she said.
“At that age you’re trying to build up a good self-esteem, and learning to respect your body,” she said.
Mike Corcoran of Everett, whose daughter just turned 20, said that kids are “somewhat out of hand” with their clothing, but added that’s always been the case.
“Kids have always pushed the envelope. I don’t think it’s any different than in the ’60s when I was their age, with miniskirts,” he said, explaining that back then, it was mostly a skirt issue.
“Now they wear jeans but virtually nothing for a top,” he said.
Corcoran is much more offended by X-rated T-shirts marketed to preteens and teens at Spencer Gifts at Alderwood. He was shocked when he went there with his daughter recently, he said.
Hilary Scheibert, an Edmonds-Woodway student, said she doesn’t hold others to high standards of dress.
“I have a sister that would dress in a way adults would find obscene, but it’s normal in her circle of friends,” she said. “I think it is a form of self-expression.”
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