Do school dress codes unfairly target girls?

[Ghost in the Machine]

176. "So a parent has to buy 2 or 3 pair of slacks and 2 or 3 polo shirts at Target, JCPenney or WalMart"

Did you read the part where I live in the 4th smallest County in the State?? We don't have either of those stores in our town. I live right near the county line to the next town over, and it's still a 25 mile round trip to WalMart. Target?? Try about a 60 mile round trip. That take gas, which costs money, which takes away from the money the poor already have for the clothes. It's like a no-win situation here. I know several families who do get together and carpool when they go shopping. Hell, I try to wait to go anywhere until I can get several tasks done at once.. like get groceries, pay bills and run a few other errands. Disability checks only go so far, you know.

Even when I was working and making good money, I used to hit flea markets, yard sales and thrift stores to buy clothes for my kids, who were not in school, or just starting school. I used to find them Tommy Hilfiger, Old Navy and other name brand clothes for $1 and don't remember paying more than $3 for a pair of jeans or shirts for my son, or dresses for my daughter (or jeans and shirts for her, too). I have Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren Polo and Craftsman jeans that were bought at Goodwill for less than $5/pair. I have a pair of $80 "Margaritaville" (a brand/line by Jimmy Buffet) deck shoes that I bought at a yard sale for $5. I always lived below my means, even when I was making $15 - $18/hr. I used to like being able to spend my money doing fun things with my kids, and they never heard the words "we can't afford that" until they were 13 & 14 years old, after I got hurt in a work accident. Workers Comp pays 2/3rds of your original pay, but here in our State they had a cap of $325/week. I was drawing the cap, but it didn't compare to what I was used to making.

The bottom line though, is yes, it's the poor and working poor that the dress code puts the burden on, especially in small rural areas. Not everyone has a WalMart, Target or JC Penny nearby. We don't even have public transportation or a taxi service in our town. I'm originally from Miami, Florida, and I know about public transportation. I used to be able to hop a bus to the Metro-Rail station, Take Metro-Rail to the Tri-Rail station and take the Tri-Rail all the way to West Palm Beach. I could also ride a bicycle to about anywhere I wanted to go, but drove when I needed to. It's hard to carry a bunch of groceries on a bicycle or a bus.

Hope that clears things up for you a little bit....

Peace,

Ghost