Tampa Prep has recently decided to make some changes to their dress code this school year. Most of these changes are regarding the male students such as the length of shorts people are allowed to wear, but there have also been some changes that affect everyone. 

 Included in these changes are the new “no slippers” rule, which prohibits students from wearing slippers to school, despite the fact we are allowed to wear slides and sandals. While most of the dress code is the , the boys’ shorts must be no more than 5 inches above the knee (which already applies for girls) and no sweatpants or athletic materials are allowed, this did allow the dresscode to be more fair for both genders. 

Logos depicting anything inappropriate such as the playboy logo or shirts with the “Coors Light” logo are not approved to be worn. We are still not allowed to wear anything with any type of suggestive text and now we can’t even wear certain hoodies or clothes because of a simple logo.

       I think that the dress code at Tampa Prep is too strict and should be reformed. Male students are not allowed to wear any shirt that does not have buttons or a collar even if it is something such as an Abercrombie and Fitch shirt that looks nice. The fact that we can only wear jeans and khaki material bottoms no matter your gender is a little ridiculous considering half of the shorts and girls’ shirts that are dress code “acceptable” are basically dri-fit material. I also think that the student body not being allowed to have visible tattoos or piercings along with only naturally colored hair is overall a bad idea because it curbs our ability to express ourselves. 

We are supposed to be a school thriving off of individuality and accepting differences, yet we are not even allowed to fully express ourselves how we would like. I think the dress code at Tampa Prep is solely for first impressions on other people looking at the school and does not take into account the fact that something such as a female student’s shoulders or stomach distracts the teachers more than it does the students. For a school promoting excellence and diversity, our dress code certainly seems to expect the exact opposite.