In today’s New York Times there is an article about a school district that intends to enforce its dress code even for remote learning. But “Along with the clothing requirements, the district’s remote learning guidelines mandate that students be ‘sitting up out of bed, preferably at a desk or table.'”

As “advice,” this position seems reasonable. But, for too many students, such a mandate could translate to, “Instead of being in your quiet bedroom, you must be in a public area of your home where there are commotions and distractions and other people working.” To counter that a student could work from a desk or table in their bedroom assumes that their bedroom is big enough to accommodate a desk or table.

When I posted a mini rant about the no bed rule in Facebook, a friend pointed out that she knows someone with two grown sons whose plans to get an apartment were disrupted by the pandemic. She commented that with four people working from home, “You better believe folks were working from bedrooms.”

I can see discussing professionalism with students, but professionalism must be balanced with the realities of pandemic life. For example, telling a student that it is not appropriate to be in bed during class seems fine. But asking them not to sit on their bed seems both unreasonable and unrealistic.

I assume that the best place for many of my students to attend class will be sitting on their beds. Even if it is a shared space, their bedroom offers more privacy than a kitchen table or a desk in a public part of the house and, as such, is more conducive for learning.

Given the layout of my home, it would be far more desirable for me to teach from my bedroom—which does not have a desk or table—instead of my home office which has no door and is just off the kitchen. Although I never taught a class from my bedroom, I have attended faculty and other meetings while sitting on my bed.

I am sure that none of my students have the option, like I did, of converting a “spare room” in my home into a space dedicated to my academic responsibilities; a room that is separate from both my bedroom and my home office. Those of us with spare rooms need to be very careful while making rules for our students whom do not likely share our degree of affluence.

As we plan for Fall semester, we need to balance rules with reality. I know that I intend to discuss professionalism with my students. “Unless you are ill, it is best that you not be in bed and under the covers during class.”

But, overall, we need to make sure that we are focusing on the right things. For example, do we really need to care if students are wearing slippers—a violation of the dress code—when they attend class? Maybe we could draw the line at what we can see on our screens? But even if we see it, do we have to care? I can understand not having offensive language on clothing that can be seen, but is the prohibition on bandannas really necessary? More importantly, are these even the questions on which we should be focusing?

The school’s handbook advises that “Each school has a reasonable interpretation of the dress code depending upon the building’s culture and climate.” Given the culture and climate of the pandemic, I suggest that it is reasonable not to worry about pajama pants so we have more time to address issues of access, equability, and academic engagement.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

Photo Credit: An 1877 drawing of the Great Bed of Ware. Harper’s New Monthly Magazine.

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