My favorite thing about my middle school education was the emphasis placed on the girl's dress codes. It was a perfect system in which 11-year-old girls were granted the opportunity to measure their skirts with a ruler every morning in class. There's nothing a preteen girl loves more than being objectified by her teachers and peers. It was definitely the best part of my middle school experience. Although some disagree with the infallible dress code system, it was able to regulate everything from tops to skirts and even socks. Yay, dress code!

Skirts. Skirts are made simply for middle school girls to show off their kneecaps. Despicable. However, due to many guidelines, these private schools are given, they must allow a skirt option. Luckily, my middle school teachers were able to come up with a foolproof way of making sure these girls aren’t taking advantage of their opportunities. Every single morning they would have all of the girls stand in a line in the front of the class - the boys just got to sit at their desks (luckily, because why should we have them stand up). Then the teacher would pull out an index card, and measure it with a ruler to make sure it measured at most 3 inches. Then they would gracefully walk back and forth, kindly allowing each girl to endure the necessary stress of wondering who would be picked first. They would smile sweetly and walk up to their chosen 12-year-old. Then they would bend down and place the index card at the top of their knee, and make sure the skirt fell atop the edge of the card. Lovely. The process was then repeated until some of the girls were approved, and some were handed detention slips because their skirts were at the height of the index card instead of over it. I couldn't imagine a better system. 

Tops. good thing each student was required to tuck in their shirts. Honestly, it would be better if teachers brought around the tape and had the students tape their shirts to their bottoms, but the current system could be worse. Whenever a teacher felt so inclined they could ask a student to lift up their sweatshirt to make sure their shirts were tucked in underneath. What would school even be if a student had their shirt untucked underneath their sweatshirt? And sweatshirts - there were two choices. A zip-up and a pullover. And you better make sure you paid the extra cost to get the school logo printed on the pocket, otherwise, you can’t wear it. Thank goodness. Otherwise, how would we even be able to tell they went to the right school while in class? Dress codes are so ingenious. 

Socks. Socks are one of the cornerstones of middle school education. Without sock regulations, what would students be able to get out of their 3 years in middle school? Especially girls. Those pesky middle school girls always walking around, finishing for the male gaze. Have you seen them lately? They walk around as if their entire ankles aren't hanging out, begging for someone to stare - begging for someone to be distracted. Good thing my middle school had a rule for that. I am eternally grateful that in my middle school days, the girls were required to wear socks that covered their ankles. If everyone was walking around with their ankles showing, I don’t think even I could have focused on my tasks at hand. And can we talk about color of the socks for a second? One of my fondest memories was one particular morning when I arrived at school, walked into my first-period class, and was handed a pretty little demerit sheet. It had my name scrawled out in the prettiest little letters, and under my name was written: DRESS CODE VIOLATION - STUDENT WORE BLACK AND WHITE SOCKS INSTEAD OF BLACK OR WHITE SOCKS. I am still thankful that that tremendous mistake was corrected before it could happen again. The tragedy of black and white socks still haunts me today.

There's no better experience than being able to experience the fear the dress code strikes in young girls. I still savor the memories from this time in my life. I will forever be in debt to my middle school teachers who taught me the importance of covering my elbows whenever possible.