An Illinois school district has barred students from wearing pajamas while learning from home! The school prohibited pajamas, hats, caps, bandanas, sunglasses, sweatbands, and the like as part of their dress code while attending school. This week, the Springfield Public Schools Board of Education approved their new handbook for the upcoming school year and they included this existing dress code for remote learning. Do you think this is an overstretch considering students are by themselves or with their families in their own homes? The Director of School Support, Jason Wind, says that: "We don’t need students in pajamas and all those other things while on their Zoom conference". Wind continues on to say: "This remote learning information that we put in, with the students' rights and responsibilities that will fall back under that dress code. They must follow the dress code of the building, and so no pajama pants."
So, the students still need to follow the dress code of the building, even though they are NOT in the building? I understand they want to carry on as normal as possible but these are unprecedented times! Now, I can see the school requiring that students sit up at a desk or counter-top, and not lie in bed, sure, okay, you want them to be up and alert, not dozing off while laying in bed or on a couch but PJs? I think it's an overstretch. If they're showing up, willing to participate, who cares how they are dressed as long as they aren't naked and causing a distraction! Furthermore, how is the school going to prove the kids aren't wearing PJ bottoms? Are they going to have remote check ins before the class where the kids stand up and show their outfits? Come on. Parents are dealing with so much right now at home with trying to work from home, get meals going, get the students awake and set up to start remote learning, having the parents have to dress them and wrangle them (little kids especially) is an extra measure that can be a lot so the major concern is getting the kids in front of that computer, not dressed and I can't blame parents for just trying to get those kids to sit in front of the computer and get ready to learn. This is an extra step parents did not used to have to do when sending the kids out the door, they did not have to get them dressed, fed, and school them all under the same roof. Imagine if parents have multiple young kids too? So give the parents a break here if they have to choose between getting them dressed or seated in front of a computer. People forget kids have only so much attention span and can only do so much at a time. My take, relax on the dress code. As long of the kids are learning, participating, and doing homework, don't make the dress code an issue. Your thoughts?
-Producer Lightning