THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 17, 1995 TAG: 9503170659
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
You may be amazed that I, the nonconformist, support a dress code for teachers at Norfolk's Ruffner Middle School or, for that matter, any middle school.
Now that we know I'm for the code, teachers who have been against it can march to the blackboard and write 350 times: ``I am sorry I ever said I was against the dress code. It is a good thing because Guy Friddell says so.''
On seeing Thursday's story in the tabloid Compass, my impulse, as with any ukase, was to denounce it.
But the article by our Monique Williams was so thorough in offering pros and cons, quoting opinions from both camps, and Principal Pamela Hoffler-Riddick's comments were so sensible, I fell in line.
There are lists of dos and don'ts for men and women. One minor don't, by the way, bans the chewing of gum. Why, the worst thing a student could do in 1930 was chew gum in class. Has it now spread among teachers?
Williams writes that although some loosening of rules has occurred in recent years, traditional clothing continues to be de rigueur.
The Ruffner look, she reports, has suits, sportcoats, tailored pants, dress shirts and ties for men; for women, suits and jackets or vests, pants, skirts or dresses with pantyhose or closed-toe shoes.
What this means is that teachers should dress like professionals, Monique writes. So jeans, leggings, fleeces, sneakers, sandals, clinging or revealing clothes, and trendy or flashy clothes are inappropriate.
Dress codes, she notes, are not restricted to Fortune 500 board rooms. McDonald's, Revco, and HQ, for example, all have employee dress codes.
The Virginia Beach school system has one requiring that teachers dress appropriately to the occasion and avoid extreme or ostentatious apparel or appearance.
Many children come from homes under stress, with little or no standards. Often the teacher is the only stabilizing force they know.
It is fashionable to say there are no rules any longer. But they are there, if unwritten. If youths have seen their teachers in sober dress, they will better accept that in applying for a job, for instance, they should be dressed for it.
If male teachers are attired as if for a day on the boardwalk or a Saturday around the house, their youthful admirers are apt to discount the need for appearing at their best in the adult world.
It is not enough that teachers must also be police, parents, counselors, psychiatrists, ministers. We also expect them to be full-time role models - all at inadequate salaries and under frequent criticism from ill-informed parents and politicians.
Indeed, some of you have been wondering how this reporter dare assess your professional attire. All right, that question will be met head on, `ere long; although how I dress is not as important, by any means, as how you appear.
KEYWORDS: DRESS CODE by CNB