For many students, the hoodie is a wardrobe essential to help keep everyone warm and cozy during the chilly months of winter. However, for Stroudsburg High School, it’s a part of dress code rules and regulations focused on promoting safety and identification. Stroudsburg adopted a policy banning hoodies on school grounds. While some parents view the ban as necessary to maintain order, students question its fairness and the impact on their self-expression. This policy is a daily battle for teachers and administration, but it’s especially a hot topic of debate every dress-down day. Is it still necessary?
After a brief meeting with the SHS Principal Mr. Jeffery Sodl, he explained, “The primary reason that hoodies are not allowed in school is actually a safety issue because there have been multiple situations in the past when we didn’t have the type of camera system that we do now.”
Sodl stated, “Students would have their hoods up and were not identifiable, so in order for kids to be identifiable if something happens, there will be no hoodies.”
In addition to the meeting, Mr.Sodl was then asked if he ever thought about how students in general feel about the hoodie policy and he admitted, ¨ In general, I do. I do, which is why sometimes we talk about it down here [in the office] and discuss if we should let students know that we understand. Also, because teams sell them, students would like to wear them. Once in a while, we allow it, but it just comes back and bites us.”
“They are comfortable. I even have some that I wear outside of school, and I get it. But sometimes, it’s just not possible to allow. So yes, we do take the students’ feelings into consideration,” said Sodl.
