“All students and staff should understand that they are responsible for managing their own personal “distractions.”

This is one of the first lines referred to in the official dress code of Smoky Hill High.  

Continuing on, it says, “students should be able to dress comfortably for school and engage in the educational environment without fear of or actual unnecessary discipline,”

It seems to be this is exactly the case for Oaklyn Grant, a sophomore at Smoky Hill. Grant was stopped by a dean in the hallways, early morning on April 15th, and was told that her outfit was too revealing. But what was she wearing?

An off the shoulder black crop top, with shorts.

“She says that what I’m wearing was inappropriate, and to pick out a random shirt to wear. When I asked her if I could just grab my hoodie, she said no in which I had to argue with her to get my hoodie,” Grant said. What did the dean say about her outfit and why it was inappropriate?

“She didn’t need to see it,” I asked her, “What’s wrong with it?”, and she said that “my breasts were hanging out” and that people don’t go around showing their breasts,” Grant said. “The weird thing is she never told me directly what was wrong with what I was wearing she only said it was inappropriate and that she didn’t want to see it,”.

The following day, Grant was dress coded again- by the exact same dean. Again, she wasn’t violating any dress code rules. In the Smoky Hill handbook, the things a student cannot wear are:

• Headwear (hats, hoods, caps, do-rags, sunglasses, bandanas)
• Violent language or images 14
• Images or language depicting drugs or alcohol (or any illegal item or activity) ● Hate speech, profanity, pornography
• Images or language that creates a hostile or intimidating environment based on any protected class or consistently marginalized groups
• Any clothing that reveals visible undergarments (visible waistbands and visible straps are allowed)
• Swimsuits (except as required in class or athletic practice)
• Accessories that could be considered dangerous or could be used as a weapon
• Any item that obscures the face or ears (except as a religious observance)

Grant wasn’t violating any of these by wearing a crop top. The dress code is designed to give students more freedom. Not to restrict and humiliate them by shaming them. This is a crucial time growing up as a woman, and what we don’t need is more people bringing us down by simply existing because what they’re wearing doesn’t cater to what they deem “acceptable”. We need to be heard.