OPINION: Classist theme day upsets students

When Winterfest rolls around each year, so does the week of theme days prior to the dance. One of the theme days for this year’s Winterfest week is Iced Out. It makes sense, right? Iced Out for a Fire and Ice theme. But what the name of the day doesn’t say is the classist, elite-focused environment it will promote within the school. 

The idea behind Iced Out day is that students are supposed to wear their most high-end brands such as Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton and Chanel among others. It’ll be a day of students showing off their most expensive things, a dog and pony show. 

But what are the students who don’t have the expensive high-end brands supposed to do? Not participate? I thought that the point of the theme days is to rally the student body and promote a sense of community before the dance. This theme day will do the opposite. 

Iced Out day will split the student body into groups of haves and have-nots. It will make a small number of students feel good at the expense of other students feeling bad. It’s simply not equitable. 

It could also promote an environment of bullying and exclusion. We’ve all seen the movies where the high school mean girls make the other characters feel bad for what they are wearing. Iced Out day practically presents the reason on a silver platter to exclude others for what they wear. How shallow is that? 

I’m disappointed in the suggestion for this theme day, and ashamed that the administration approved it. Why are we trying to make students feel bad about what they don’t have? Especially after the last two years we’ve all had, it seems like the last thing that we need is something that separates us. 

There were other options for a theme day then Iced Out. What about a meme day, where everyone dresses like a pun? Or backwards day, where students wear their clothes backwards or inside out? Now that is something everyone can do. 

In the future, let’s do better. Next time, pick theme days that everyone can participate in.