When I was in high school, I remember many students that were dressed to the nines. I would wake up early in the morning to straighten my hair and put on makeup (things I never do today), and plenty of my friends would show up for class in dresses, skirts, lots of jewelry and sometimes even heels. 

But apparently, times have changed. Selma Doganson, an exchange student from Sweden who’s currently studying in the United States, recently shared a video documenting how often she sees fellow teens at her high school wearing pajamas. Below, you’ll find the full video that Selma posted documenting the “fashion” at her school, as well as a conversation between Selma and Bored Panda!   

After noticing many of her American classmates wearing pajamas to high school, this exchange student decided to document the phenomenon online

Image credits: selma.doganson

Image credits: selma.doganson

Image credits: selma.doganson

Image credits: selma.doganson

Image credits: selma.doganson

Image credits: selma.doganson

Image credits: selma.doganson

Image credits: selma.doganson

Image credits: selma.doganson

Image credits: selma.doganson

Image credits: selma.doganson

Image credits: selma.doganson

Image credits: selma.doganson

Image credits: selma.doganson

You can see the full “fashion show” right here

@selma.doganson Love going to school in pajamas #pajamas #us #exhangestudent #exhangeyear #jkitspajamaday #spritweek ♬ USA – The Star Spangled Banner – American National Anthem (Instrumental) – Glocal Orchestra

“If you wore pj’s to school in Sweden, I think a lot of people would look down on you and comment on how tired you look”

Image credits: Kenny Eliason / unsplash (not the actual photo)

To find out what inspired Selma to post this video in the first place, we got in touch with her via TikTok. She was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and share some of the differences she’s observed between school in the United States versus school in her home country of Sweden.

“I noticed people wearing pj’s for the first time maybe a week into school,” Selma says. “Before I got here, I heard that a lot of people wore pj’s, but I didn’t think it was that many. If you wore pj’s to school in Sweden, I think a lot of people would look down on you and comment on how tired you look.”

But this is far from the only difference in education that she’s noticed. “In Sweden, the school is so different. We go with the same 30 people in every class, and every class at the school has a different schedule, so we don’t have the bell,” Selma explained. “Some days, you can start at 8:30 and some days at 12.”

“In Sweden, we also get free school lunches,” the student noted. “The school in the U.S. is a lot easier than in Sweden, but since English isn’t my first language, it makes it a bit harder.”

We were also curious about the best and worst parts of being an exchanged student in the U.S. “My favorite aspect is the school spirit,” Selma says. “We don’t have school sports or anything in Sweden, so it’s fun to experience those kind of things. The school here is also more fun since the lessons are easier. But I can’t focus for 90 minutes every lesson, so that’s one of the things that is not the best here.”

“Another thing that I don’t like here is that the lunch is only 30 minutes, and you only have 5 minutes between classes. In Sweden, we have at least 1 hour for lunch and 15 minutes between classes. And in Sweden, we get paid $120 every month just to be in school, and I kind miss that.”

It’s important to be comfortable to be able to focus during class

School is about much more than just getting an education for many teens. It’s a place to socialize, form potentially life-long friendships, participate in extracurricular activities and learn about the world around you. And while I don’t think my parents would have ever let me leave the house wearing pajama pants as a teen, school doesn’t necessarily have to be a fashion show. So what’s the big deal with wearing leisure clothes to class?

Being comfortable in class can help students remain focused on their lessons, without being distracted by itchy pants, stiff uniforms or clothes that they don’t feel like themselves in. It can be challenging enough to grab the attention of teens who would rather be scrolling on TikTok than listening to chemistry lessons, so if pajama pants can make a difference in the classroom, they’re not harming anyone.

I don’t remember this being a common thing at my high school in particular, as it certainly was not something I saw every day. However, I did sometimes see students in sweatpants and hoodies if they wanted to be extra cozy. It makes sense for times to have changed in the classroom though, as the world has definitely shifted since I was in high school too. 

Many remote workers prefer to wear pajamas during the workday as well

Image credits: Anastasiia Chepinska / unsplash (not the actual photo)

The National Center for Education Statistics reports that due to the pandemic, 77% of public schools in the United States moved to “online distance learning” during the spring of 2020. It’s very possible that students became comfortable wearing pajamas while learning lessons at home and simply decided that they weren’t going to change their habits when they returned to the classroom.

In fact, adults aren’t much different. One 2023 survey found that a third of employees who work from home like to wear pajamas during the workday. And one in 12 employees enjoy wearing pajamas every day. Over half of remote workers will also wear something more appropriate for the office on top while keeping sweatpants or pajamas on the bottom (as they won’t be seen in video calls).

However, not everyone is on board with students showing up to class in the pajamas that their grandmother mailed them for Christmas. Nearly 19% of public schools in the United States actually require students to wear uniforms, along with 57% of private schools. Despite the fact that a whopping 90% of middle schoolers don’t like wearing uniforms and only 17% think wearing them actually helps them focus in class, there are some benefits to them as well. 

The vast majority of American schools have dress codes, but they don’t always prohibit pajamas

Image credits: Assad Tanoli / unsplash (not the actual photo)

Schools with uniform policies have been found to report less gang activity, alcohol usage, hate crimes, drug use, firearms, insubordinations and attacks than schools where students aren’t required to wear uniforms. Plus, 37% of students who wear uniforms to school admit that they worry less about their appearance since they never have to choose an outfit in the morning or compare their clothes to what their peers are wearing.

And even if teens aren’t expected to wear button down shirts and slacks to school, every institution will have a dress code deeming certain clothing appropriate for an educational setting. According to Education Week, many dress codes in the U.S. prohibit teens from wearing hats, bandanas, anything with foul language or suggestive images, anything that promotes drug or alcohol use, tank tops, short skirts and shorts, leggings worn as pants, open toed shoes, holes in jeans, shirts that expose cleavage, visible piercings and visible undergarments. 

Pajamas, however, are not directly prohibited in many schools’ dress codes, meaning that as long as they don’t break any other rules, students are free to wear them. We would love to hear your thoughts on this video in the comments below, pandas. Do you see any issue with high schoolers wearing pajamas to class? Feel free to share, and then if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article discussing dress codes, look no further than right here!     

Viewers were quick to weigh in on Selma’s video, and many mentioned that this would never happen at their schools

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