Comfort contributes greatly to a student’s ability to stay focused in class, and my polo is something that takes away from that.
In 7th grade, I received about six behavioral notes concerning my violation of Marlborough’s student dress code. Each note reminded me of the same thing: I need to be wearing a polo under my sweaters and sweatshirts. To combat my behavior, my mother bribed me with $100 to go the entire 8th grade school year without a single dress code violation. Do I condone my behavior? No. Was it acting with integrity? Probably not. But was her bribe effective? Yes. Despite the fact that I am now motivated to follow the dress code, I still believe that I should not have to be wearing a polo underneath my sweaters and sweatshirts, and there are logical reasons behind my theory.
Visibility – If I am wearing a hoodie to school, I am always sure to tuck my polo beneath the collar of the hoodie to intentionally ensure it is not visible. My friends also engage in the behavior, the reason being, a polo collar and hoodie do not visually pair well together.. Hiding your polo beneath your outerwear is not against the rules, but failure to wear one is. So, that poses the question, if the polo is not required to be visible, why should it have to be worn?
Comfort – One of the main reasons why I refused to wear a polo beneath my outerwear was due to added discomfort. Like how some people do not like wearing their hair down while wearing hoodies, I did not like wearing polos with mine. There was something about the feeling of the collar pressed against my neck by the fabric of the hoodie that irked me. The discomfort caused by my polo distracted me in class.
Laundry – An interesting factor to consider is laundry load. When I have to wear a polo beneath my hoodies, that means another added item to wash. While my mom might be happy I am not getting dress coded any more, I am sure she does not appreciate the influx of polo washing she has to do each week. It is impractical, especially if I do not even intend on taking off my outerwear to wear the polo on its own.
All in all, the requirement of wearing a polo beneath outerwear is unnecessary, as its impractical traits outweigh the “good” ones. Making simple changes to Marlborough’s dresscode policy, such as eliminating the polo rule, is an easy way to give students more comfort and flexibility when dressing for the school day. Given how big the impact is for such adjustment, I believe it’s a change that Marlborough should seriously consider implementing.
