"Are leggings a human right? In 1969, the Supreme Court decided that while schools can’t ban students from wearing political messages on their sleeves—like black armbands donned to protest the Vietnam War—that ban didn’t extend to a school’s “regulation of the length of skirts or the type of clothing” worn by students. Schools can still impose dress codes on items that would reasonably “cause substantial disruption or material interference with school activities.” But there's a fine line between deeming a type of clothing as distracting, and declaring a body itself to be disruptive."

(The above is an excerpt from http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/03/24/evanston_school_bans_leggings_students_protest_for_the_right_to_wear_them.html)

The female students of Carmel Catholic High School have recently been informed that they are no longer allowed to wear leggings underneath uniform skirts. Many are upset with this decision. As a Catholic, college-prep high school, there is a regulated uniform that the majority of students adhere to. Unfortunately, this school is located in northern Illinois, so winters are long, cold, and snowy.

After the skirt length was extended a few years ago, many girls were upset with the knee-long skirts, but now they are commonplace within the school. The female students understand that they have the option to wear pants, but would prefer to wear the skirt (both are uniform code). Many girls do not understand why leggings would be banned if they are already wearing knee-length skirts.

Leggings wore underneath the skirts function in the same way that knee socks do: keeping your legs warm! The only difference is that leggings cover more of a girl's legs than just knee socks. Unlike the uniform top-- which can be supplemented by a sweater, sweatshirt, or hoodie-- uniform bottoms do not have supplemental pieces of clothing to keep students warm. Both the uniform skirt and the uniform pants are not conducive to maintaining warmth, so this is why it is important for the girls that choose to wear skirts to be allowed to wear leggings in addition to the skirt. Students find it difficult to focus in class when they are cold in the building, and are much more comfortable and warm when wearing leggings.

"First, the educational process is dignified work and appropriate dress supports this idea.  Because the value of an individual is measured by what is on the inside, a common dress code is a strategy for de-emphasizing what is external.  In addition, the dress code provides an exercise in self-discipline.  Last, a uniform dress code serves as an exercise in team building which promotes community, an important component of the Carmel Catholic experience."

As students, we understand the need for a dress code. This is why we understand that if leggings are allowed, there will be certain requirements that need to be met. Crazy colors and designs on leggings could be distracting, so we propose that solid color leggings should be allowed (even if only black or white is allowed). In addition, the socks worn would cover the bottom of the leggings to keep the clean-cut and neatness of the current uniform. With these provision, we see no problem with allowing leggings to supplement our uniform (especially in the winter months).