Of dress codes and colleges
When I was at school, I had earnestly wished that I join college as early as possible. No, it was not that my school was taxing or anything, but it was purely for the sartorial freedom that those institutions offered me. But now, a host of colleges are busy drafting rules to enforce dress code among their students.
It started with a few autonomous colleges in North India and it has even extended down south to our very own Anna University. And now, even some government-aided institutions in Orissa, about 500 and odd, have introduced a uniform dress code for its students.
All this enforcement, after those boys and girls had worn school uniforms for more than 12 years in a row. Just when they want to get out of their school uniforms, come the colleges with another set of dress code. Is it right or wrong?
No, I am no judge to decide on whether the rule is politically correct or not. However, I feel that all this enactment only because a few students, especially girls, in the last 2-3 years, had gone overboard about their sartorial liberation and dressed, or should I say undressed, a little too much. The callous attitude of a handful of girls had resulted in the curbing of freedom of whole lot of students.
Uniforms, in general, and the basic principle behind them, is quite noble. It was enforced in schools mainly to avoid the display of differences in the economic status of the pupils which might result in any kind of discrimination both among students and teachers.
However, when you complete your higher and senior secondary levels of schooling, each mind is supposed to have matured enough to understand that one should not judge people based on their attires.
But again, when a bunch of dunces have disproved the same, and had used the freedom to show off not just their clothes but also their bodies, its time for the college officials to take some punitive steps.
It started with a few autonomous colleges in North India and it has even extended down south to our very own Anna University. And now, even some government-aided institutions in Orissa, about 500 and odd, have introduced a uniform dress code for its students.
All this enforcement, after those boys and girls had worn school uniforms for more than 12 years in a row. Just when they want to get out of their school uniforms, come the colleges with another set of dress code. Is it right or wrong?
No, I am no judge to decide on whether the rule is politically correct or not. However, I feel that all this enactment only because a few students, especially girls, in the last 2-3 years, had gone overboard about their sartorial liberation and dressed, or should I say undressed, a little too much. The callous attitude of a handful of girls had resulted in the curbing of freedom of whole lot of students.
Uniforms, in general, and the basic principle behind them, is quite noble. It was enforced in schools mainly to avoid the display of differences in the economic status of the pupils which might result in any kind of discrimination both among students and teachers.
However, when you complete your higher and senior secondary levels of schooling, each mind is supposed to have matured enough to understand that one should not judge people based on their attires.
But again, when a bunch of dunces have disproved the same, and had used the freedom to show off not just their clothes but also their bodies, its time for the college officials to take some punitive steps.
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