A dress-code dispute is brewing at Moncton High School, where some students are angry about the public way in which some dress-code violations have been handled.
A staff member made an announcement over the intercom last Friday, calling out recent violations, and students say some of the things that were said rubbed them the wrong way.
“Girls who show their backs and bra straps have little to no self-respect, something along those lines,” says Grade 10 student Amy Harvey. “I’m trying to quote it but I can’t.”
Many students took to social media to express their anger over the announcement.
“The way she said it was very disrespectful towards women, especially because she told us women, because we showed our bra straps or our back, we have zero self-respect,” says Harvey. “I’m trying to quote it but I can’t.”
“I get if a teacher comes up to you and says ‘oh, you need to cover up a little bit,’ but telling girls they have no self-respect for themselves is going over the line,” says Grade 9 student Kaitlyn Paris.
Students say the school’s dress code is strongly enforced, for both males and females.
“You can’t wear clothes if they show your back, your shoulders, no muscle shirts,” says student James Melanson.
“If you’re wearing a muscle shirt you will be given a normal shirt to wear for the rest of the day,” says Grade 10 student Tyler Budd.
School staff say they were surprised by the amount of attention the announcement garnered on social media, but Principal Mike Belong says students need to dress for a professional environment, not for what’s trendy.
The Anglophone East School District declined to comment on the matter, saying it’s up to schools to set dress codes.
Belong says several schools in the Greater Moncton area follow a ‘dress for success’ code that many teachers, and some students, say is common sense.
“I agree with the basics of it, but it could have been brought across better,” says Harvey.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Cami Kepke
