Haley Lajoie, a Grade 12 student at J.M.A. Armstrong School, calls the policy silly. (CBC)

Several students at a Salisbury high school wore yoga pants on Friday to protest a new dress policy at the school.

Officials at J.M.A. Armstrong High School had asked students to think twice when wearing leggings and yoga pants.

But students like Haley Lajoie say they don't like being told what to wear and want the school to reconsider the policy.

"I think it's kind of silly," said Lajoie, who is in Grade 12.

"They say we're not supposed to do this because it accents certain places that are inappropriate," she said.

Grade 11 student Kennedy Selwah told CBC News: "There was an announcement saying that all leggings and yoga pants and tights were really tight and revealing, and it doesn't matter how much you paid for them, we're not allowed to wear them anymore."

Policy backfired

Zack Dryden wore a Morphsuit to school on Friday. (CBC)

Word spread through social media and many students showed up at school on Friday wearing them.

"All the girls wore them. There's even some guys wearing them, as you can see," said Selwah.

Grade 12 student Zack Dryden was among them, wearing a so-called Morphsuit — a full-body suit made of spandex.

"Closest thing I had to tights or yoga pants," he said.

School principal Bill Robinson contends it was not a ban, but simply a reminder to students to wear leggings and yoga pants appropriately.

'Some people don't wear the long shirts, they just wear the tight pants and you can see through them sometimes.'—Kennedy Selwah, Grade 11 student

Lajoie admits some of her classmates wear the pants inappropriately — either too tight, or so thin their underwear is visible.

"The guys are always like, 'Oh look at those girls, they're wearing yoga pants'" she said. "That's one of the biggest reasons why we can't because a lot of people are realizing they are a distracting and they do show a lot."

"Some people don't wear the long shirts, they just wear the tight pants and you can see through them sometimes," added Selwah.

The students CBC News spoke to said they believe those students should be dealt with individually.

Across the province, it's up to individual schools to deal with issues as they come up.

Carole Murphy, community engagement co-ordinator for the Anglophone East School District, said it's never the intention of a school to limit the freedoms of students.

"Every article of clothing has an appropriate place. And the students were just being encouraged to think about gym clothes for the gym. And dressing for success in the classroom, just like we dress appropriately for work," she said.