Ontario Catholic High Schools Promote Modesty in Dress Code
By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, August 28, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Most of the twenty-five Catholic schools in the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board have opted to phase out the kilt skirt as part of the uniform worn by girls in the schools in a move to teach and encourage traditional values of modesty for the students.
A problem with many students not leaving their skirt hemlines at the approved kneecap height has prompted board officials and school principals to conclude that a change to black slacks for girls would be a worthwhile solution to the inordinate amount of time previously spent enforcing dress code rules, and will send students the message that modesty is an attainable virtue and an asset to the students.
“We’re in the business of educating kids and shouldn’t have to spend a disproportionate of time enforcing this part of the uniform,” Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board communications manager Bruce Campbell told the media.
“The kilts were being inappropriately worn at all grade levels,” he explained. “A disproportionate amount of time was being spent addressing the issue with students.”
“The issue is primarily one of morality and modesty: Girls are just wearing the kilts way too short and it’s difficult to enforce,” he said. “You see a student and you have to approach them and say, ‘You know, your uniform is too short.’ … It’s just really difficult to enforce, and there’s way too much time involved.”
Campbell said the move to more modest dress code rules has met with approval from most parents. For example, of the 1,300 students of Philip Pocock Secondary School in Mississauga where the new rules are in effect this September, families of only three called to complain they weren’t properly informed, Campbell said.
Many individuals and organizations have begun to vigorously promote modesty to youth in a trend that runs counter to the sexually flaunting dress of recent decades.
Speaking to youth in Australia on July 18 last year, Pope Benedict XVI mentioned modesty as he encouraged young people at World Youth Day to fully realize their humanity by rejecting those voices that lead to worshipping ‘false gods’.
“People sometimes treat others as objects to satisfy their own needs rather than as persons to be loved and cherished. How easy it is to be deceived by the many voices in our society that advocate a permissive approach to sexuality, without regard for modesty, self-respect or the moral values that bring quality to human relationships! This is worship of a false god. Instead of bringing life, it brings death.”
A unique fashion show, called “Pure Exposure, Reclaiming Dignity in Fashion” took place last week in Toronto, with the goal of presenting today’s youth with attractive alternatives to mainstream fashion trends that tend to degrade human sexuality.
Event coordinator Jenna Murphy explained the reasoning that compelled her to initiate the organization of the show. “Whether or not we realize it,” she said, “the way we dress affects the way we behave, how we perceive other people, how we perceive ourselves. So if we dress in such a way whereby we are sending a message to the world that we respect ourselves and that we do deserve respect in return, I think that you are upholding a framework.”
World renowned Canadian author and Catholic novelist Michael O’Brien strikes a more ominous note in his writings on the cultural slide away from modesty.
“Much of current fashion, especially for women, is an assault upon the ultimate good of those who wear such clothing. It is cunningly designed for attraction, enticement, and seduction, reinforcing the great lie which dominates modern consciousness. This lie tells us that the body is simply an object which we possess as our own, to do with as we like,” O’Brien writes.
Michael O’Brien’s full essay on Modesty in the Culture of Shamelessness is available on LifeSiteNews.com here:
Read related LSN articles:
Unique Youth Organized Pure Exposure Fashion Show Set to Go This Thursday in Toronto
Immodest Dress in the Church: Like Frogs in Boiling Water
Amarillo Bishop Calls for Modesty in Dress – Fight the “Battle for Purity”