As if getting dressed for school wasn’t difficult enough already, now students have to worry if what they’re wearing might be a one way ticket to detention. What to wear and what not to wear to school has been a controversial topic between students and the Board of Education for years.  Many people are aware of the new dress code implemented in Tottenville High School. The rules prohibit shorts and skirts that don’t extend past the students’ fingertips and low-cut or midriff-baring pieces such as shirts, sweatpants, leggings, and skinny jeans.

Quincy Bricklin, a sophomore at Curtis, was asked her reaction towards the new rules implemented at Tottenville. “I feel the new dress code is ridiculously restricting and goes against the students’ rights to express themselves,” she said. “I feel the rules are old fashioned and do not embrace our new culture of clothing today.”

Curtis High School’s dress code is less restrictive than Tottenville’s. The dress code at Curtis bans exposed midriffs, athletic shorts and shirts, bathing suits, and tank tops. However, Curtis students are usually only stopped for wearing clothes that show too much skin, whether it be exposed abs or too much leg.

The NYC Department of Education Discipline Code states that students may not wear clothing that is unsafe or disruptive to the educational process. This includes: halter tops, tank tops, sheer garmets, clothes that expose the midriff, going barefoot or stocking feet, clothing with suggestive or obscene writing or pictures, graphics promoting drugs, alcohol or violence, head wear, sunglasses or spikes.

Dr. Curtis also had something to say on the matter. When asked what she believed the line between respectable clothing and non-respectable was, she explained, “Midriff baring shirts are a no, and all pants should be secured at the waist. Undergarments are called undergarments for a reason; it’s disrespectful to yourself and to those around you to expose them.”