Soddy-Daisy AD Jared Hensley Condemns Dress Code. I Will Too (But Not Women)

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Soddy-Daisy High School athletic director Jared Hensley condemned his school’s dress code with disparaging remarks about women. Let’s just get to the video, shall we?

Yikes. My former high school—Wilson Central High School in Lebanon, Tennessee—had sports coaches who had this—let’s call it politically incorrect—attitude. I won’t get into who they are or what they were about. Some coaches and teachers like to act as though they’re still “one of the boys.” They had an immature, unnecessarily dismissive attitude. People who make these stereotypical jokes think they’re funny. It made them look childish and vulgar. I’d think, “Haven’t you grown out of that, yet? You’re nearly 50.”

Whatever. Those comments from Jared Hensley displayed incredibly poor judgement. Gotta grow up or shut up. Bite your tongue and always speak at minimum. Never forget that humanity is a society of professional stone-throwers.

That’s not what I’m here to discuss. I want to rant about the absurdity of high school dress codes.

High school was my only educational period that required a dress code. My previous elementary years (preschool through Grade 8) included three different schools in two different states. Two of those were private schools. I graduated from Middle Tennessee State University.

No dress codes at any of them. Just Wilson Central High School.

Everyone wore nearly identical outfits. Those outfits were typically collared shirts with khakis. You know, the type of stuff one would find at Tommy Hilfiger or Polo Ralph Lauren. Belts were required. If your clothing had a logo, there was a certain “inches by inches” requirement. Sweaters were appropriate although they too had those logo restrictions. Can’t remember if blue jeans were allowed or not.

What was the final result? Mostly solid-colored collared shirts with khakis or some other assortment of blandness. You could find more soul in a Walmart bathroom stall than that place. Such a lifeless environment.

Here were my three primary memories about that dress code:

  • Sent to ISS (aka: detention) during first day of spring semester freshmen year. Assistant principal had realized that I hadn’t worn a belt all day. I spent the entire last quarter with a few other students in a small room. As it was the first day of the semester, I had no homework. So I just sat there.
  • This happened during either my junior or senior year. SoBros movie contributor Brandon Vick nearly had me kicked out for the entire day because he tattled on me for not wearing a belt. My father had to leave his job site so he could bring me one. WrestleMania: Huffman vs Vick awaits a later date.
  • Our school had a few dress-down days. One day I wore a foam cheesehead. It got removed for safety reasons.

Assistant principals roamed around each classroom making sure everyone was in complete compliance. Anyone missing a belt? Your parents had better bring one or you’ll either have to go home or spend the entire day in ISS. Did your shirt get untucked a little in the back? You better not let anybody see that. I could never keep it completely tucked. Oh, that logo looks a few inches too large. Let me measure it.

And I must ask…why? There’s more positive energy in the Amazon Warehouse that’s across the street than there was at Wilson Central High School during the early to mid-2000s. Did that increase safety?

Hopefully, things have gotten a little less strict for more recent graduates. I was part of the first full-graduating class. They gave me a “Most School Spirit” award solely for attending most of the basketball and football games. That alone made me the Holy Spirit of the Wildcat.

I like color. Freedom of expression is nice. What about seeing other people convey their colors and ideas through fashion? You can learn much about someone through their attire. Removing that eliminates culture. Always crying about my shirt and belt makes me think people are spending too much time looking at my backside. Wasn’t the point of these policies to get fewer people to stare at my backside? Mission failed.

Don’t get me wrong. The students were cool. Got along with most of the faculty. They had to do what they had to do. Everyone seemed to think it was absurd. Their paychecks came through enforcement. So be it.

One good thing came out of it: never once have I missed high school. Year 13 and counting. It’d felt as though students were imprisoned for eight hours per day. Students were lucky to find time to step outside during lunch. Were we getting an education or preparing for Riverbend Maximum Security Institution? Sometimes, it felt more like the latter.

Let me apologize. I’m still pissed about waiting approximately two hours for JROTC to push my car up the incline back up toward Highway 109. Don’t mistake that as frustration toward the kids. I’m just confused as to how school administrators spend so much time on petty garbage like dress codes and then have Tennesseans attend school when there’s nearly half-a-foot of snow. Before that, I had spent my entire life in Upper Peninsula Michigan and Northern Wisconsin.

My thoughts about Southerners and snow can come at a later date. 😉

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Joshua Huffman was born and edumacated in Middle Tennessee. He has published content for Yahoo! Sports (via Contributor Network) and Titan Sized, among other venues. At SoBros, he’ll provide Daily Fantasy Sports suggestions and broad sports coverage. Follow him on Twitter.

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