| Backpacks | Hats | Short Shorts | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo High School | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed |
| Rockford High School | Allowed | Not Allowed | Not Allowed |
| Orono High School | Allowed | Allowed | Not Allowed |
| Maple Lake High School | Not Allowed | Not Allowed | Not Allowed |
Buffalo High School has a very lenient and almost non-existent dress code. We can wear hats, short shorts, and carry around backpacks all day with us to our classes. This sense of freedom is not a common occurrence for the schools around us. Maple Lake High School has very strict rules. For example, the guideline of no sagging jeans, or handkerchiefs hanging out of pockets are just a few of the the restrictions that you will find in the Maple Lake Student Handbook. Orono, on the other hand, has a similar dress code to Buffalo, however short shorts are prohibited. If you visited Rockford High School, short shorts and hats are nowhere to be found.
Maddy Bremel, a Rockford Junior, commented on her school’s current dress code by saying, “The handbook says it’s strict, but they don’t really enforce it much.The one thing that they really don’t like are hats and inappropriate messages on shirts. Otherwise, they don’t enforce the other rules.”
When asked if she would want to change Rockford’s dress code to be less strict, she said, “No, it doesn’t really affect me because I wear sweatpants and t-shirts everyday and don’t understand kids who wear hats inside. It seems unnecessary.”
It would be interesting to see the standardized test scores from the above schools to see if a sense of free will, as seen in Buffalo, helps the learning environment or if it takes away from the focus of students.
