The KO dress code has been a long-contested topic over the years. Students have experienced strict dress codes that limit them to only formal wear such as khakis and polos for boys and loose dress codes where students were allowed to wear whatever they wanted. This article aims to dive deep into the newest dress code changes, namely the cancellation of spirit dress on Wednesdays. I deeply disagree with this policy change because it lessens school spirit, reduces demand for KO gear, and decreases motivations for students.
The KO administrative team attempts to promote school spirit on a daily basis by encouraging students to go to games, organizing house competitions, and organizing a field day at the end of the year. However, canceling spirit days removes the easiest way to foster intimate connections between students, essentially undermining all the events last year on Wednesdays. Every Wednesday, students would be greeted with a sea of red and black, the main colors of our beloved school, not to mention the countless Wyvern Nation t-shirts worn by both students and faculty members. This helped students new to KO integrate well into our community, as any student would feel a sense of pride as they saw students bond together in this informal way.
Additionally, there are a lot of sports going on Wednesdays. I highly doubt that anyone would be willing to bring and wear KO-themed clothes just for the games. This results in the unfortunate circumstance that students would not be able to show their support for KO teams. Again, this goes against the agenda of the administrative staff’s goal of providing greater school spirit.
Furthermore, there would be fewer people buying KO gear. No one would want to buy a piece of clothing that they could not wear. Some may argue that students would still have the opportunity to wear it on the weekends but that is simply not true. Students would not have the same chances to wear KO gear on the weekends due to their commitments which often include a dress code for different events. Wednesday used to provide a great opportunity for students to show off their new KO gear but this opportunity was taken away from them. As anyone in AP Econ will tell you, if the demand is lower than the supply, there will be an excessive supply which means fewer people are buying KO gear and making the school lose money.
Of course, it is also easy to understand why the school would cancel spirit days. Many students just view that day as a dress-down day. However, having a fault in the execution does not mean the idea itself is bad, it just means that there needs to be modifications to the original idea. Students treat Spirit Day as a mini mid-week break. Instead of having to wear formal attire every day, students get to relax a bit, which would help them refocus the next day. Removing this day makes students more stressed out because they have no breaks. It’s working Monday to Friday nonstop.
In conclusion, taking away spirit days was a horrible idea, and it needs to be reversed as soon as possible, preferably with some changes to the execution of the idea to prevent students from taking advantage of it.
