Are these new school dress codes unreasonable?

[CanadianJohn]

From an article in the Toronto Globe and Mail...

"A cursory scan of dress codes across Canadian schools finds them peppered with words such as “modesty,” “appropriate,” “respectful,” “common sense” and “good taste.”
...
"Across the country, several school boards – including the Toronto District School Board, Canada’s largest – are doing away with the concept of modesty in their policies, replacing it with a new priority: “student voice."
...
"The new codes all come with some limits. Toronto stipulates no nipples, buttocks or genitals exposed and all the codes ban hateful messaging and put safety first, meaning no stilettos in gym class or billowing tops in chemistry. But these school boards have drawn a line in the sand – staff will no longer be tasked with policing students’ dress or their bodies.
...
"The policy-makers’ philosophy is this: Letting students wear what they’re comfortable in helps them feel welcome at school and more engaged in their learning. "

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-is-modesty-no-longer-the-best-policy-on-dress-codes-canadian/

It seems to me that the adults have abdicated their responsibility. Can we really allow teenagers to dress as they please. Most students may well dress modestly, but it would only take one student in a backless top and yoga pants to distract the others.

What do people think?

Context is key...But we have very little context in this case that to go on. What is the specific context in Canada? I’m not Canadian and don’t want to make a lazy assumption that it’s just like the US. Is there a particular issue with misogynistic modesty policies there?
I don’t like the term “modesty” and wouldn’t use it but I don’t think there’s anything intrinsically wrong with having rules against skimpy clothing. Allowing an environment where fashions for impractical, sexualised clothing are normalised is not in the interests of teenage girls.
They’ll be just fine in jeans, trainers and t shirts.

So you see the term modesty and think, yay, could mean anything.

Well OK.

Your assumption that it's like your all girls school in (?) rather than a mixed school and with specific meanings around modesty is intetesting.

Very intetesting.

Where do you work, if you don't mind me asking.

The whole point is that North America has modesty rules.

USA does and modesty is specifically cited in the op.

Soooo.

UK girls school teacher agrees with modesty code.

That's fine.

Loads of local religious schools feel the same..

I know op is Canada.

Word modesty says a lot.

I was thinking in terms of continent as well lol.

Do French areas of Canada have issues with girls, sorry, students, and modesty?

Our US school dress code has been updated to be gender neutral.

"Clothes must cover the chest, midriff, and behind." That's pretty much it.

Similarly changes are happening to dress codes throughout schools in my US state, and I'd imagine throughout the country.

'Modesty' or 'modest' when applied to uniforms or dress codes is a huge red flag that the institution requiring it is misogynistic. You never hear of boys being punished or shamed for wearing clothes that reveal the shape of their bodies - and don't any of you start bleating that boys' fashions never reveal anything. What about the fashion for drooping trousers that give a frequent flash of arse crack, or skinny t-shirts to show off toned abs or whatever?

My kids go to school in Victoria and from what I've seen the school kids dont seem to have a problem dressing appropriately. 90%of the girls wear leggings, hoodies with sides or white trainers & all the boys are wearing Adidas white stripe sweats with champion hoodies. All good here.

^It seems to me that the adults have abdicated their responsibility. Can we really allow teenagers to dress as they please. Most students may well dress modestly, but it would only take one student in a backless top and yoga pants to distract the others.

What do people think?^

You're right. If girls dressed themselves they'd objectify themselves and turn themselves into some kind of sexualised class for the masses to wank over. The sexualization of schoolgirls is all about their choices of what to wear. They should bring back pleated tartan skirts and white shirt and tie for girls. 'Cause you never see that in porn. .

British expat living in Canada with a 14 year old daughter in high school,so right in the thick of this. Her school has no dress code at all -never has as far as we know - and no restrictions on hair colour, hair cuts, jewelry (as long as it doesn't get in the way during sport), choice of shoes etc. And you know what - the kids all look just fine. Mostly jeans, sweatpants, hoodies, vans. Yes they even wear yoga pants! They never miss class because someone has decided their hair is the wrong colour, or their skirt is too short, or their socks don't match their blazer They've never had a uniform so there is no novelty in wearing their own clothes - and they don't wear ridiculous heels and see through tops because they aren't comfortable and/or are too cold to wear all day! No modesty rules - just kids figuring out what they like to wear, and that actually tends to be very boring!

Generally teens still need financial help to purchase said clothing. So wearing everyday wear generally is totally fine.
When it’s hot and muggy in places like TO, yes girls are reprimanded (as per newspaper or online articles) for exposed bra straps, or bare mid-drifts.

I went to a school with uniform. Despite wearing uniform, we found the opposite sex distracting (and presumably same sex for anyone who was gay/bi).

Having had experience of a child going to a school where there was a uniform and another who went all the way through school without a uniform, I think that no uniform is best. The children wore a variety of jeans, yes shirts & sweatshirts and looked relaxed and comfortable. Buying an acceptable uniform was ridiculously stressful.....the designated trousers & skirts were either out of stock or didn't fit properly and the polo shirts lost their colour quite quickly. On bit days the children had to wait to be "allowed" to remove their sweatshirts and in the winter they had to trudge through rain & sometimes snow, in black, low heeled school shoes. If they wore boots or wellies they had to change out of them at school and carry them around all day. It was ridiculous. No uniform is a much easier option.

but it would only take one student in a backless top and yoga pants to distract the others.

This Is sexist drivel that makes me unwilling to answer your other points.

But just this one, there are schools that specialise in ballet, students and teachers seem to manage to learn and teach in them.

The OP doesn’t say that all of the schools had modesty dress codes. It says they were “peppered with words such as “modesty,” “appropriate,” “respectful,” “common sense” and “good taste.”

So there were rules about skimpy clothing and some schools had the word modesty in their policies. Others had words like “appropriate” or “common sense”.
It seems to me that the US, which did not have dress codes in public schools until 1969 and where around half of schools still have no dress code (although I think they have become a lot more common over the last 20 years) at all is not inherently a better place to be a teenage girl than Canada, where schools typically have a dress code or, in Montreal and Ontario in particular, a uniform.