School dress code
How does the WELS school community define 'modesty' with regard to school dress? Our school used to have a standard length to the top of the knee but now believes teaching Christian freedom and defining the standard as modest is all that is needed. What does modest mean? Do we define it based on current styles and norms?
Modesty is defined as “propriety in dress, speech or conduct” and “regard for decency of behavior, speech, dress, etc.” The WELS school community takes a definition like that and applies it in a Christian setting.
Because the WELS school community is large (2019 statistics: 372 early childhood ministries, 289 elementary schools, 25 area Lutheran high schools, two preparatory schools, a college and a seminary), one would expect to find differing applications of the definition of “modesty.” There is no detailed standard to which all students of all schools must comply. Such an approach would be legalistic.
If your school has changed its dress code policy, you will want to contact your school’s principal to pass along your thoughts and receive answers to your questions.
Without question, Christians of all ages will want to “do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). That includes how they dress and conduct themselves. Dress and behavior are, after all, ways of letting our light shine (Matthew 5:16).