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May 13, 2022 • 1 hour ago • 5 minutes reading • 7 comments Students from the Béatrice-Desloges Catholic High School left school on Friday to protest the application of a dress code. Photo by Errol McGuigan / Postmedia
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Several hundred students protested in front of Beatrice Delog High School in Orleans on Friday to express outrage at a dress code blitz that included girls taken out of their classes to check the length of their shorts.
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The protesting students returned to class around 1pm after head of education Jason Dupuis arrived and spoke to them. Dupuis said Le Conseil des écoles catholiques du Center-Est would investigate their concerns and revise the dress codes.
Police in Ottawa monitored the protest and said they had arrested a non-student youth for violating the border and causing riots. He was taken out of school and released without charge, police said.
This morning, at 11:30 a.m., @ottawapolice reacted to a disturbance in Block 1000 on Provence Avenue. The information received shows that the students were outside the room and protesting. 1/3
– Ottawa Police (@OttawaPolice) May 13, 2022
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Teenagers at the demonstration chanted respect for the administrators and held signs – in French – asking if their clothes were more important than education, and said young women should not be sexualized.
Several students said school administrators at Béatrice-Desloges entered classrooms on Thursday to look for violations of the dress code, including the rule that shorts or skirts should extend to “mid-thigh”.
Several girls said they were called to the hallway or office to have their shorts inspected, and some were told to go home and change.
Several said they were humiliated and outraged by both the dress code and its application.
Melanie Lalonde, 16, said “they took the girls out of class and lined them up.”
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“I didn’t have 90’s shorts, they were too wide, and they told me my shorts were too short.”
Lalonde said girls should be allowed to wear shorts and tank tops without “embarrassing the body.”
“We want to be able to dress comfortably for the weather and for ourselves and not be humiliated.”
Students at the Beatrice-Delog Catholic High School are protesting against the imposition of the school’s dress code on May 13. Photo: Errol McGuigan / Postmedia
Sophie Laby, a 12th grader, said the principal had entered her classroom, saying she wanted to talk to students whose outfits were “inappropriate,” and asked them to follow her to the office.
“I thought she meant me,” said Laby, who was wearing shorts. She said she had been “dressed” many times in the last six years.
The director demonstrates a “trick” to determine if your shorts are too short, Laby said. The director asked Labbée to raise her leg at a 90-degree angle, then placed the clipboard on her knee and touched her thigh where the clipboard ends, saying it was the right length, Labbée said.
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Labbie said she was uncomfortable because she didn’t like the school clerk touching her. But mostly she was “disappointed and angry.”
“Why does this man have a problem with my body and my shorts?”
“I just left school, I didn’t want to put up with it, it was so ridiculous.
“It’s always the same story, over and over,” Laby said. “They always say, ‘It’s not about you and your body.’ It’s about other people.
“I don’t understand why my body has to make other people uncomfortable. If I was only 13 and I was told that my body makes other people feel uncomfortable, is it appropriate to tell a child?
Student dress code protest in Ottawa. This student missed two hours waiting for sports pants to be delivered after she was told that her shorts were inappropriate. # ONTED pic.twitter.com/7VxNbDDyZP
– Jackie Miller (@JacquieAMiller) May 13, 2022
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Melisand Wellett, 17, said she was in math class when the principal arrived. “She asked all the girls to stand up. She grabbed me and this other girl. ” They were asked to go down the hall and said their shorts were “inappropriate.”
“It was very uncomfortable.”
Wellett said she was told to wait in the office, then in the library, and could not return to class until someone delivered her clothes. “I was like, ‘Okay, I’m sorry, but I’m just in math class right now, and math is very important.'”
Her parents were not available and it took several hours for her sister to arrive in a pair of sweatpants, she said.
Wellett said she missed two hours.
Jason Dupuis, head of education at the French Catholic School Council, spoke to students at Beatrice-Delog Catholic High School on Friday as they protested against the dress code. Photo by Errol McGuigan / Postmedia
Parent Holly Patterson stood in front of the school on Friday and applauded the students. “I’m very proud of them for what they stand for,” she said.
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When her 13-year-old son told her about the blitz, she was amazed, Patterson said.
“They come to school to get an education, and because of some archaic rules about what women should and shouldn’t wear, they miss their education.
“There is nothing wrong with shorts and spaghetti straps. Since when has it been humiliating for a woman to show her shoulders?
The Béatrice-Desloges dress code says that clothing must be ‘clean, decent and appropriate’.
Pants, shirts and shorts must be “of appropriate length (up to mid-thigh)” and worn in such a way that underwear is not visible.
The top must cover “the entire upper body”, cover the shoulders “with the appropriate width” and be worn so that the underwear is not visible.
Headrests can be worn, but not in the classroom, office or gym; sunglasses are banned except for “medical reasons”; and pajamas are banned.
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Dress codes are determined by each school after consultation with parents, staff and students, said Chief Dupuis. The Béatrice-Desloges dress code was revised last fall to make it clear that the rules apply regardless of gender, he said.
The school board is investigating concerns expressed by students, he said.
“We have heard them, we have listened to them and we will move forward and build positive relationships and make changes if necessary.”
The council does not approve the application of the dress code, which involves touching or humiliating students, he said.
Dupuis said he was investigating the facts of what happened at the school on Thursday, but there was no indication that any of the students had been asked to “bend over” so their shorts could be measured – a story circulating among students. or that measuring rulers have been used.
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A letter was sent to parents at Béatrice-Desloges on Thursday night after some complained about the blitz dress code.
Parents were reminded of the dress code in April, and students were also briefed on what was acceptable, according to a letter from principal Marie-Claude Vio.
During the blitz, some students were asked to go down the hall to find out if they were following the code, but the administrators respected the dignity of the students, according to the letter, which was written in French.
The letter said law enforcement may have led some to conclude that students had been targeted, and apologized if any wrongdoing had been committed.
The Ottawa-Carlton School Board recently abolished the policy of allowing any school to adopt a dress code. Instead, a universal code has been adopted that does not include any references to skirt lengths or top types.
The new dress code “recognizes that all students have the right to express themselves fully in school through their choice of clothing, hairstyles, jewelry and accessories.”
The rules prohibit clothing that depicts violence, swearing, discrimination, hateful or pornographic images or slogans, or encourages the use of alcohol and drugs.
“With files from Lynn Sachsberg.”
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