FASHION VS. COMFORT

Sleepwear to school! Is this appropriate?

            In recent months an ongoing trend has a rose, all based on one thing: comfort. You have probably seen more people in Stoller wearing pajamas, sweats, slippers and even snuggies than ever before. Is this school appropriate? Is it fashionable? This issue causes controversy.

`Looking back at the Stoller dress code it states, “Sleepwear is not an appropriate attire for school.”

In an interview conducted with the principal, we asked her if she has seen the numerous people participating in this trend, she replied, “Of course, people wear all sorts of things.”

Ms. Richey thinks, “What you are wearing makes you feel a certain way. I want that way to make you feel alert and ready to learn.”  “Clothing is a form of expression. Expressing is a good thing as long as it fits within the perimeter. What is that perimeter? The line is so hard to draw.”

Ms. Richey’s first priority is about us students and how we learn. She lets us wear what we want only if it does not get in the way of school.

Like Ms. Richey stated “The number one thing is to be in the classroom learning.”

            We asked if she gets less strict towards the end of the year about the dress code just because it is just too hard to enforce.

She replied, “No, the goal is to always be consistent because the kids will get confused.           All the classes and teachers should be on the same page.”
After interviewing with Ms. Richey, we learned about her concerns. She feels this issue is difficult to agree on but as long as the clothing won’t disrupt you from learning then go ahead and wear it.

We also interviewed Sara T. who chooses to occasionally wear pajamas to school. When we asked her why she replied that it is "comfy and easy." She was wearing yellow pajama bottoms with rainbows and hearts. Sara tells us that she does not find pajamas attractive and would rather wear attractive clothes than comfortable clothes, yet she wears them anyways because on some tired days she’d rather get up and just go to school without taking forever to get dressed.

       If you didn’t notice, this year there had been several people coming to school wearing a snuggie. A snuggie is a product that is like a blanket with sleeves, so you can wear it and be very warm. We interviewed Christina U, who has once worn one. When we asked her why she chose to wear this, she “Because it is comfy and it takes a short time to wear. It is a fashion statement.” Do you prefer comfort to attractiveness? She said that it “ “It depends where I am, a place like school is okay.” They both said that there intention for wearing it was not for attention, but because it is comfortable.

Most importantly, we asked questions whether snuggies are appropriate for school. Do they distract you from learning? Is it a safety issue? Christina U said that it did not distract her, and she tucked the snuggie into her boots so that she would not trip. We also interviewed Mitchell T., who had a different insight on it. He said that he didn’t trip over the snuggie but it was very distracting during class and he played with it all day.

Ms. Richey was most concerned about learning, and would most likely disapprove if something that would interfere with learning. Overall, the snuggies were more of a one-time thing. People all wore them to school on a specific day for fun, but it probably won’t be coming as a trend for school. But you never know. It is surprising at what people will wear to school these days!