Katelyn Mitchell | Staff Writer

America is said to be the land of the free and home of the brave, but the educational system is doing quite the opposite. In American school systems, the dress code is constantly protested by students, parents, and sometimes faculty.

The most commonly argued point is that girls should be able to show their shoulders and have shorts that go above their fingertips, but those are not the only injustices. In nearly every school, there is some sort of regulation regarding hats. 

Schools believe that hats are a distraction; a fashion item that will distract kids from their school work and ultimately cause chaos in the school hallways.

Schools may find this surprising, but no one wakes up and puts on a hat to try and distract kids from their school-work. As someone who has a love for beanies, this rule severely hinders me.

During my freshman year, I would have to strategically plan to avoid the dress code and wear my beanie. From the planning that I had done, one would think that I was creating a war plan. I had to find out if the next day would be a red or white day, what teachers I would see, and what hallways I would have to go through just so I could be able to wear a beanie and not be “a distraction”.

Wearing a hat is a distraction yet the countless construction work throughout the school and the loud banging these construction workers create seems to not be a problem for the administration.

Schools today have been trying to figure out a way to enhance creativity in the system. Many performing arts classes and fine arts have finally gained notoriety and more kids are joining them. However, if schools truly did want to help creativity grow, accessories should be allowed in the dress code. Accessories help people express themselves in a harmless way. Some people like to dye their hair crazy colors, some people like to dress all black and wear platform shoes, and some prefer to have more layers of makeup on their face than a layered cheese dip. All of these examples are at some level of expression.

I am not the only person who has been told to take off my hat by staff. I have seen kids that wear snapbacks and ballcaps be reprimanded by a school official to take off their hats. The only question that I have in those situations is: why? Wearing hats is as distracting as wearing a necklace: people are going to see it, but no one is going to care. Well, except for American school systems.

School systems today are saying that hats are a distraction, but in reality, the only reason that hats are distracting is that the administration is making a big deal out of a simple accessory. I have never met a student in my educational career who has told me they were bothered by my hat.