Whether kids enjoy going to school or not is dependent on a lot of factors like if they have a good number of friends, how much they like their teachers, and how much they enjoy the subject matter they are learning.
One thing that schools do to try and negate any stress about clothing is to assign uniforms. That way everyone is dressed the same and there is no worries that kids can be singled out for income or style.
However, time and time again this has proven to be problematic, and now a school in North Carolina is facing a lawsuit after parents have called their policy illegal.
Charter Day School in Leland, North Carolina has a dress code that prohibits the female students from wearing pants. The girls who attend the school must wear skirts, dresses, or skorts, but the parents don't approve of the policy.
"I felt like the rule was unfair to girls all along," Erika Booth, mother of a student at the school said. "When my daughter ... found out she had to wear skirts the first day of kindergarten, she cried."
She continued by highlighting how wearing a skirt limits them in their day-to-day lives. "It's impractical to wear a skirt," Booth said. "They can't run, they can't play, they can't flip upside down. The clothing is simply not as durable. They're told that they can wear leggings, and any woman who has ever worn leggings can tell you leggings are not pants. When it's 14 degrees in the morning in January ... they're not pants. They're not."
The only time girls are allowed to wear pants at the school is once a week for P.E. class or on some field trips or spirit days.
Booth explained that not only are girls being forced to wear skirts, but they are also being encouraged to "sit like a princess" unlike the boys who can sit however they want.
The school claims that their policy instills "chivalry" and "traditional values" in their students, however the legal representation for the parents fighting this rule is claiming that is breaking the federal law that prevents discrimination based on gender in the education system.
Apparently, the school is arguing that because they are a charter school they don't have to comply, however the school is not privately funded.
The legal representation for the school wrote a letter in 2015 about another parent who was upset about the policy that stated that they could instead select a different school for their child. However, Booth points out that while she disagrees with the school's policy, the educational benefits and location of the school make it hard for her to find another.
The lawsuit has been dragging on for several years, but the parents are still fighting to make sure that even if their kids graduate from the school that the following girls will get to have equal rights.
Source - Today
