F.A.C.E students drive movement to revamp dress code, how teachers approach them
A group of young students at F.A.C.E. School in downtown Montreal have taken it on themselves to turn their school's dress code upside down.
The goal, they say, is not to have carte-blanche over what they can wear, but to encourage teachers and staff members to treat them with respect.
"At our school, [on the English side], if you're dress coded, they can do it however they want," explains Ivory Fleming, who is in Grade 7. "For example, a male teacher at our school pointed me out in the hallway and told me to stand in the middle of the hall until I buttoned my jacket."
The 13-year-old states such incidents make her, as a young woman, feel sexualized and uncomfortable.
"I've had a teacher say, 'nice belly' and point out my stomach as I walked in," Fleming told CTV News. "Friends of mine have been pulled out from the cafeteria... [We wanted] to change the way it was enforced, which we haven't done yet, but we're working on it."
Fleming, along with six of her friends, worked together to rewrite the school's dress code.
"We realized that there were a few things. The biggest one was that the dress code itself was too vague," said Ivory Fleming, who is in Grade 7. "People were getting dress coded constantly for things that other people were wearing."
She notes students were told not to wear anything too "form-fitting" or "low-cut," but what that actually meant was up to individual interpretation.
"Our main thing was that it was only being applied to people who were more female presenting," she points out. "So, we wanted to change it, which we have now done, to something that had more specific rules."
Fleming says the group searched for different dress codes online and pulled together bits and pieces they thought would make sense in their educational setting.
"Your front and sides have to be covered; you can't have vulgar, aggressive messages on the clothes; the clothes have to fit the activities you're doing," she lists. "The fabric has to be opaque when it's covering certain areas... We made it specific, a list of rules."
The new dress code will appear in the agenda for the school's English starting the next academic year.
"We do have a lot of people in our grade on the French side who have been helping us the whole time," Fleming notes. "We're hoping to get it changed for them next year too."
The teen, who has aspirations to run for student council, says the school was very receptive to the project.
Principal Marilyn Ramlakhan confirmed the English side of F.A.C.E is collaborating with the French sector to finalize details and bring the project to the school as a whole.
"The process is going extremely well," she added. "The process has been a great collaboration between students, parents and the administration."
The other students that spearheaded the project with Fleming are Gisele Brown, Delilah Sparling, Anneke Barr, Sihoo Byun, Daisy-Jo McKay and Mantra Amiri.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
Investigators have finally revealed the identity of an unknown victim nicknamed 'Midtown Jane Doe,' who was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City two decades ago.