This year, from what I’ve heard, the P.E. dress code is, in my own words, as follows:
You have to buy the $12.50 T-shirt and the $12.50 shorts and wear them every day, and if you don’t, you stand in a corner and don’t participate in the daily warmup, and you get participation points off for that.
This policy has been in place since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and I’m surprised Enochs hasn’t done anything about it. One would think, that with their modernized school dress code and pledge to inclusivity, they would establish something a little easier for students to follow, and yet this year the code is as strict as ever.
As someone whose beliefs entail modest dressing, I find it quite humiliating when I get called out in the middle of class to explain why the sweatpants I’m wearing are actually for P.E., and I’m not wearing them to school.
I find it just a little irritating when my grade drops two letter grades because I wasn’t feeling well that morning and couldn’t make it to the locker room in time.
I only get a teensy bit vexed by how gym teachers refuse to believe that it is actually possible to do jumping jacks in jeans.
And I honestly don’t understand why I have an 85 percent in Intro to Kinesiology because I wasn’t allowed to join in on push-ups and planks for one. day.
Regardless, I just think it’s time for the P.E. dress code to graduate from the ’90s high school era, does that make sense?
To see if I was just overreacting, I interviewed various students who I am aware are taking P.E. this year or have taken it before in order to gauge their reactions to this mandate.
Logan Duarte, a junior, is taking a Weight Training course this year and believes that the P.E. dress code does need a change, just maybe not in the forward direction.
“The P.E. dress code used to be school colors. As long as you wore school colors and no logos, I think. That was last year.”
Senior Grace Dixon agreed. She took Enochs’ aerobics class a while ago and shared how, when she took it, all they needed to wear was a set of specific solid-colored shirts.
Nevertheless, I’d take that old dress code any day. At least wearing different solid-colored shirts is easier to do for 5 days instead of wearing the same gray shirt all week. Apparently, though, that dress code was removed because people perceived the code as lax enough to encompass non-athletic wear, and began wearing whatever they wanted.
When asked how he would change the dress code, Duarte stated that he “wouldn’t require Enochs’s clothes”.
“I would go back to how it used to be last year where as long as you wore Enochs’s colors it would count as P.E. clothes”, said Duarte.
Senior Kenshin Covero has taken 7th-period sports as well as Weight Training during his time at Enochs and was unaware of the new P.E. dress code. Once he learned the mandate, though, he had an amusing reaction.
“Oh, I think that’s stupid. I think you should be mandated to wear athletic clothes in P.E., obviously, just not the school brand,” said Covero.
Enochs still had their branded gym shirt available for purchase when Covero had Weight Training, but he regretted his purchase.
“I personally wish I didn’t buy [them] because I could’ve used my own clothes,” said Covero.
Duarte and Covero had slightly differing stances on the dress code, but they shared the same disapproval of the mandatory Enochs shirts.
In fact, when I asked Duarte what his opinion on the purchase was, he said with a laugh, “The pricing makes sense. They’ve gotta make money somehow.”
I think he was being sarcastic. Even if the gym merchandise was more reasonably priced, I wouldn’t buy them.
If none of this works and Enochs clothes are still required, I think a welcome change would be to put out long-sleeved shirts or leggings on the website along with the T-shirt and shorts, so people could feel more comfortable with their uniform if needed. I know I would.
But it’s just so much more inconvenient. Imagine how many times you would have to wash that gray shirt because you know you need to wear it every single morning, almost every day of the entire week. I’ve got another level of respect for my classmates in 0th period gym.
“I just knew that we could wear our own clothes as long as it was athletic wear. I liked that better than now,” Covero said.
Okay, fine. Don’t change the dress code if you must. But at least lessen the punishment! The amount of shame inflicted on these teenagers, standing in front of their entire 50-person class, watching as the more responsible kids ensure their perfect participation grade is parallel to a timeout. And that’s a lot.
What do I suggest, you ask? A number of strikes per quarter. That way, people who usually do dress up, but don’t for a couple of days because of unforeseen circumstances, won’t be harmed.
Once those strikes have run out, that’s when participation starts dropping by FIVE POINTS every time the code isn’t followed. Not FIFTEEN POINTS. My GPA should be affected by low grades in Honors or AP courses. Not Physical Education at 7:30 in the morning.
Also, just get rid of the whole you can’t participate in the warmup thing. I think we all know that, at least for Intro to Kinesiology, the warmup doesn’t have people drenched in sebaceous gland excretion by the end of it. It’s not that intense.
In fact, I think the activities we do after, where the rebels do get to participate, are much more physically taxing. I mean, Triple Threat football? I am wiping the sweat off my brow at least once a minute. Why not force people to sit out then? Actually, I’m not suggesting that, never mind.
I don’t know, maybe I am overreacting about the whole point system. But it sure does seem like my opinions are shared on the concrete P.E. dress code.
It’s clear to see that Enochs’s P.E. policy needs an update, what do you think?
Enochs' PE Dress Code and Why I Don't Appreciate It Sorry, there was an error loading this poll.
