Olivia Fiehn, Staff Writer – What used to be a reward for good behavior, or a special day of spirit week, has now become a regular everyday occurrence. Wearing pajama pants to school is a common theme around schools in America. Of course everyone likes to feel comfortable, especially while they sit at a desk all day and do work. But it’s caused a question to arise. Does wearing pajamas to school affect your academic performance?
While many would argue that your clothes should not affect your learning abilities and performance, I would argue that it 100% does affect your performance as it represents your academic capabilities and integrity.
While your clothes should not affect the way you learn or whether or not you will do good in school, not being able to do something as simple as getting dressed and putting on decent clothes in the morning shows a lack of motivation and effort.
It’s not necessarily about how you dress, or what you’re wearing, but about the basic principle of the situation. If you can’t put in the effort to wake up a couple of minutes early and get dressed, you obviously can’t put in the effort to do difficult assignments or homework.
How would you feel, knowing that your students are being taught by a teacher who lacks the motivation to do a simple task, such as getting dressed, in the morning?
If the roles were reversed and this were the case, it would very quickly be considered wrong and the idea would strike controversy among schools in America. So, why should students be allowed to do it?
Imagine if everyone wore pajamas to a place like church. This would never be permitted. Wearing pajamas to school, in my opinion, should go back to being a reward or special day of the week, not an everyday outfit you wear to school. I think this would allow students to wake up earlier and have motivation to get things done at school.
Look good, feel good, do good, is a saying you’ve probably heard one or twice in your life, and it is definitely accurate. When you look good, you feel good, and you do good. This statement should be applied more often in more places, especially places like schools. Forcing students to actually put on decent clothes in the morning will instill the motivation to get things done and do good academically.
THE REBUKE
Joseph Berkhouse, Social Media Coordinator – Dressing up for school is not something that is new to the United States and still happens at preparatory schools and private schools all over. Khakis or dress pants, a shirt with a button and dress shoes are still mandatory at some institutions and still have a place in a large number of schools that aren’t open enrollment.
However, it doesn’t make sense for every student in America to have to dress a certain way because other people want them to. Overtime, public schools that don’t have a specific dress code have retired the trend of wearing “dressy” clothes for good reason. Allowing students to be themselves and feel comfortable in what they wear, even if it is pajamas, is what schools should strive for, as it will allow students to be more expressive. Wearing the same uniform or having to wear a certain style of clothing is not for everyone and may restrict freedom from a student.
Some people may complain about their peers wearing pajamas, as they may not understand the reasons behind it or their peers thoughts. However, their peers clothing choices don’t harm them, so it should not be mandated to dress up. If certain people want to dress up they can, but if other people don’t want to it really shouldn’t matter. Unless a peer is wearing clothing with something that is profane or distracting, what other students wear shouldn’t affect the livelihood of someone else.
While you may want to dress up or down, what you do should not evoke emotion out of others. Ultimately, it should be the students’ choice of what they wear because it is their life and the only reasonable opposition to this is a private school where it is mandated to dress up.
