Detentions for shoes. Detentions for pants. Detentions for sweaters. The dress code policy at Walsh Jesuit leaves students baffled by the strict rules and repercussions. At the start of the 2017-2018 school year, a new school dress code policy was put in place that stated that uniform infractions would now result in detentions.

Some of the new rules include no light pink or white colored pants, no Vans shoes or shoes that are not all one color. In addition to the uniform restrictions, another rule states that students can wear Walsh Jesuit outerwear over their polos, but it must be WJ apparel. Senior Christina Ferfolia mentioned that since the school policy is changing all the time, students are required to go out and spend even more money on new school apparel, and some families simply cannot afford to do that every year. Then the question becomes, would a student want a detention for being out of dress code or put their family into a tough position financially? Reactions from older students seemed to all point toward dissatisfaction with the new policies.

Underclassmen typically have a different view on the new policy, since most of their concerns deal with shoes. Sophomore Ceci Ochmann stated, “I don’t mind the uniform itself, but how strict the administration is with the rules on shoes is ridiculous.” Christine Kropf, a classmate, agreed with Ceci explaining that “the dress code policy is fine, but they need to loosen up a little bit on the shoes.”

One common trend regarding school dress code is students feel that female students are penalized more for dress code violations than male students. Christina Ferfolia observed, “It’s more common for girls to get in trouble because Miss Hudec watches the female students more carefully than Mr. Rardin does.” Senior Amelia Ross agreed, saying, “There are more restrictions on female students, so there’s more to get in trouble for.”

A common rule that female students would like to be changed is the fact that they cannot wear sweaters over their polos, but male students are allowed to wear a dress shirt and tie if they want. Another senior, Lillian Risser, believes that “sweaters should be allowed to be worn because they look respectable and they keep us warm when a lot of the classrooms are freezing.”

A second problem with the new policy is the way students are punished for uniform infractions. Christina Ferfolia made the point that “a demerit should be given out first because three demerits equal a detention, and that causes a student to be punished, but not right away.” Senior Connor Cook chimed in, “There is a better way [to punish students] than a detention, but the way the deans handle it now gets their point across.”

With mostly negative feedback on most of the dress code policy, one is left to consider if the policy should be revamped for the upcoming years to make it more lenient for future students. At the very least students agree that a detention is much too serious a consequence and should be reconsidered.