Central Junior High students give their opinion on the school dress code

They'll soon hit the doors of the high school, where many possibilities for new friends, new classes, new privileges and important choices on all those things await them. But the minds of students at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School are abuzz with thoughts of another new possibility -- that they could be limited in what they can wear to school.

Students haven't been surveyed by the school district for their opinions on a possible change to wearing uniforms or a stricter dress code. Many parents, staff and community members have shared their opinions through a survey on the district's website, during two public forums, through newspaper polls, in various meetings and on Facebook. Stances differ on whether the school district should make a change. Supporters say a new policy would help students feel equal to one another and improve behavior and grades. Opponents say new clothes would be too expensive for many families and would limit student self-expression. The school board will decide Monday whether to approve a proposed policy for a new dress code.

After school Wednesday, some junior high students shared their feelings about the debate. Here are their thoughts.

Photos by ERIN RAGAN ~ eragan@semissourian.com

* Nick Wiggs, left, an eighth-grader, said he hates the idea of uniforms. "They should enforce the one they have now instead of making everybody go out and buy new clothes," he said of the school's current rules on dress. His friend Ryan Tegel, also in eighth grade, said public school should be "a place of wearing what you want to and not what you are forced to."

* "I don't think it's a good idea," said Kendall Ledure, right, a seventh-grader. "The way I dress is the way I express myself."

* "To me, a new dress code is uncalled for, because I wasn't one of those girls wearing shorts in summer you shouldn't wear," said Jasmine Norris, center, a seventh-grader. Her friend Dana Arthur, also in seventh grade, said most students she knows don't judge their friends on what they wear, but what kind of person they are. "I also think people would argue more with a new dress code, because not everyone would follow it, and we are expected to have a good attitude at school," she said.

* Brynna Bockhorst, left, Lacey Ems, center back, and Julia Niemira, eighth-graders, and D.J. Jones, front center, a seventh-grader, all said new clothes for a stricter dress code would cost too much. "Everyone's going to want Ralph Lauren and all the expensive stuff," Niemira said. "It would be better to stick to what we already have."

Maybe the dress code should be a little stricter, Ems said, because she said she knows some students don't follow the rules now. But she said she doesn't like the idea of having to buy separate clothes she will only wear to school.

"People won't be able to afford it," Jones said. "Some are living off food stamps."

"If they tighten up the dress code, OK. But I don't believe that is all they will do," Bockhorst said. "It's a uniform, and they need to call it what it is. I don't want it."

The four students said if there is a requirement to wear uniforms next year, that there should at least be a day every week or two that they don't have to wear them, or a few times each year there should be a "non-dress code week."

eragan@semissourian.com

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