Katherine Ashley Chen and Sanaya Parekh
January 3, 2022
[No return address]
Hong Kong International School
High School Division
1 Red Hill Road
Tai Tam, Hong Kong
October 27, 2021
Dear our esteemed HKIS HS administrators,
This is a letter of gratitude, and a letter of request.
To begin, I would like to thank you for protecting our student body. Your excellent policy on dress code has allowed our students to flourish at this amazingly open-minded, diverse school. It ensures that our boys will not be distracted by bare shoulders or exposed skin, and protects our girls from the harmful male gaze. Additionally, it guarantees that what needs to be taught to the next generation is taught properly; that our values of education and equal learning opportunities are passed down to our kids. As a parent of a current HKIS sophomore teen girl, I cannot emphasize how important the dress code policy has been to my teen’s school life in educating her about protecting her body in order to not seem promiscuous or attract unwanted male attention. Although it often causes her distress in the mornings as she attempts to select clothing that is both fashionable and modest to prevent being shamefully dress-coded, it is vital that she learns these lessons before she really enters the “real world”, where any misstep could cost her her job or reputation.
My daughter often complains about the subjectivity in the school’s enforcement of the dress code, and the supposed injustice this causes for girls with what she describes as “curvy” body types. In her opinion, it is unfair that a heavier girl cannot wear the same things as a slender girl without being dress coded. However, I’d like to applaud the dress code implementation tradition of targeting girls who have the greater potential to distract, and therefore detract from the classroom. It is vital that we teach girls at a young age to cover up parts of their bodies that may be deemed inappropriate, and educate the younger generation about the value of modesty. Today’s culture of girls and women casually dressing promiscuously has led to far more debauchery than what is proper, all of which can be prevented by appropriate education towards girls from a young age. By embracing traditional values that have been lost in today’s culture, our school reigns supreme and rises far above other schools, especially the ones in the United States, who have so mindlessly followed society down the path of moral tribulation.
Furthermore, I would like to show my gratitude for the dress code’s protection of our precious young girls. We hear many horrific stories about rape, sexual assault, and harassment that happen at other tainted schools, all of which are intercepted at HKIS due to its cerebral and judicious dress code rules. Obviously, boys will be boys, so it is necessary for the dress code policy to take into account clothes that will be the safest for girls. A girl that shows more skin could be interpreted as “asking for it”, and thus it is imperative that our rules ensure girls are defended from ever being accused of being cheeky or inviting. This will also serve the purpose of preventing unwanted sexual contact, as boys will not be further tempted to act upon their natural instincts. On this note, I’d like to further issue a request to strengthen the policy in two ways.
First, I believe it is of the utmost importance to forbid form-fitting clothing items. Although many body parts of girls are already covered up, sometimes the mere silhouette of their body can be distracting to many of the teenage boys who are already battling heightened hormonal instincts.
Secondly, I feel that girls should be made to wear clothing that covers the collarbone and clavicle area. Today’s media often depicts these areas in a suggestive and sensuous manner, thus the exposure of them may detract substantially from our learning environment and teach the wrong lessons to our easily influenced youth. Of course, all these policies should be implemented under the “general student body” in order to avoid the inevitable uproar that will arise from the especially lewd or unvirtuous members of our community. However, boys should not be dress-coded nor held to the same standards, since girls have already been taught how to control themselves around the opposite gender.
Thirdly, I presume the administration is aware of the extensive makeup that girls apply to school. Most of them wear eyeliner, mascara and lip balm in a way that serves to only make their appearance more attractive towards the other gender, in order to garner unnecessary and misguided attention. Even more unbelievably, most of them wear all three of these items together. You can only imagine how distracting boys must be, surrounded by girls who only care about getting their attention. Besides, makeup gives girls a sense of gratuitous individuality, and allows them to feel a sense of unnecessary empowerment. As such, the dress code should expand to include the exclusion of makeup in our girls’ everyday routine.
To our distinguished HKIS administrators, I would like to commend you once again for protecting our youth and teaching them the virtuous lessons of the real world. I sincerely hope you consider my suggestions on how to further create a fair learning environment for our children.
Modestly,
Anonymous HKIS Parent