VHS Journalism www.thecougarpress.org Please Recycle
The Cougar Press @the.cougar.press Friday October 22, 2021
@thecougarpressvhs
@thecougarpress
“You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So... get on your way!” Dr. Seuss
New dress code targets students, but why? “Let’s keep it classy” - Principal Cervantes
Avery Cameron “I was walking to my third period and it was a hot day… I was wearing some shorts that I myself deemed appropriate, and one of the people on the bikes took me aside and told me that my shorts were inappropriate and then sent me to the office,” said senior Avery Kightlinger. She shared her experience being dress coded, “they told me that it was fine just dont wear them again… I didn’t get any consequences but it was embarrassing.” After a new dress code has been proposed by Marissa Cervantes shown in VHS classes, students have strong opinions. The new dress code reads “No baggy pants, no short-shorts, bare midriffs or undergarments exposed” also mentioned are no gang related clothing or clothing with inappropriate writing. The dresscode slide ends with “lets keep it classy” which implies that dressing modestly is seen
as classy or more serious. Why would students have to dress modestly to be seen as classy or serious? Kightlinger continued her interview by describing the dress code as “shameful in a way because I don’t think that anyone dresses with the intent to be harmful or draw negative attention to themselves,” she said. When asked to speak on this new dress code Cervantes said, “due to this being an area I am still navigating as a new administrator, I am not ready to comment.” In a poll taken from The Cougar Press Instagram account, nine percent of pollers agreed with this dress code, 21 of the 210 that voted. And when asked if junior London Fletcher’s black tube top and jeans should be dress coded, 60 voted yes and 207 voted no. But why do they think this? Misogyny? Rape
In junior London Fletcher’s outfit of the day, displaying her midriff isn’t “classy” according to the new dress code. Photo by: Avery Cameron
culture? Or just a product of their sexist environment? Tank tops and shoulders are a big topic of debate within schools dress codes, but why? In writer @lylyanyeson’s opinion article “Why there shouldn’t be school dress codes”, from the LA Times she proposes her opinion about the shoulders debate. “I highly doubt that any boys are going to find collarbones or shoulders distracting. If they do, girls shouldn’t be responsible for that, it’s not on them to control the boys. They should be able to
control themselves.” Freshman Alyssa Garo agrees with this and also brought up the shoulder debate in her interview. Garo said, “I can’t show my bra strap but he can wear a muscle shirt. I think that it definitely is not a good idea.” She brought up the controversial topic of sexism and misogyny within dress codes.
Continued on... thecougarpress.org
The new security rules brought forward by Cervantes are being heavily enforced by campus security officers.
With Ventura High’s new principal Marissa Cervantes in charge, there have been changes on campus. One of these changes is increased security, which some Ventura High School students think is more strict and more strongly enforced than before. Students who are tardy to a class will now receive lunch-time detention. According to the VHS bulletin, “random tardy sweeps” have begun. A random tardy sweep is where administration will randomly pick days and times to check classrooms for tardy students. If students are caught being tardy, they will receive a lunch-time detention. This new rule says that students who are not in class when the bell rings — i.e. tardy — will be given detention. Junior Jasmine Bruns said, “It’s kind of absurd that we have a whole lunch detention if we’re a few minutes late to class.” Another new rule being implemented is that all students must carry their ID and be ready to show it to security during random times during the day. Students with a gap period must be ready to show their schedule. Administration therefore
enforces security both during class time and during breaks. Caroline Dickinson, who is a senior at El Camino, but is in the music program at VHS, was kicked off campus by security because she was still on campus after her class was over. She was told that El Camino students weren’t allowed to stay here during the times they had gap periods. “I was walking to Santa Cruz to get a snack, [. . .] and then I came back on campus and I was kicked off, because I didn’t have an off campus pass.” Another rule students have noticed is the locking of the gate at the main street gym and the portables gate, the gate to the parking lot by the portables that many teachers park in. The gates are locked due to risks of security breaches. This leaves many students with reduced ways to leave campus. English teacher Dr. Elizabeth Mainz said, “It’s kind of a bummer that [the gates] have to be locked. I understand why, and I don’t think I disagree with it, but I just feel like it’s just bad. For example, my son walks over here from Cabrillo, and I thought he could come through the gate to my classroom, but he can’t, then I was like ‘Oh
Volume 74 Edition 01
What’s Inside?
By: Belen Hibbler
New security rules on VHS campus have major effects on student life Elise Sisk
@thecougarpress
Campus supervisors are stationed all around the VHS campus during breaks, and during class. Pictured is supervisor Aaron Triana on the VHS golf-cart, watching the Poli St. side of campus during period 6. Photo by: Elise Sisk
shoot!’” Mainz continued, “I haven’t seen students hopping the fence [. . .] but if I saw someone hopping, I would be concerned for their safety more than anything else.” To some students, it may feel like there are constantly changing new campus security rules. Many students don’t know about them until they break them. According to Paul Hunt, the music director at Ventura High School, students are not allowed to enter the music/drama building from the Catalina side entrance during breaks anymore because it can’t be monitored. Music students now must have a pass to use practice rooms. However, according to the most recent VHS student handbook (which is from 2019), all of these security rules were in place in
the past, but they were never enforced. Aaron Triana, a campus supervisor at VHS said, “It’s not that [the rules] are different; it’s more that we’re just trying to be more consistent in maintaining the rules that have already been in place.” Cervantes is taking all of the pre-existing campus safety rules and having them enforced more strictly and regularly than former principal Carlos Cohen did.
thecougarpress.org
What’s up with Ventura High’s snacks?
By: Halle Gentry
Varsity Basketball Coach Felix Cortez
By: Jade Buck
VHS has a new tennis coach, Alison Ferguson
By: Brody Daw
Señorita Ellberg: A fresh take on classroom flexibility