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Views on school dress code
School uniforms limit students freedom to choose what to wear
Importance of dress code in school
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Should Relaxed Dress Code Be Allowed in Schools? Why is our dress code so up tight and hard to follow? The dress code law started in the year of 1969. Over half (58%) of the schools in the U.S. follow a dress code and 155 wear uniforms. Some believe that dress code should be very strict in schools, but kids have their own style; the weather changes year round, and if we didn’t have dress code you could see the kids true personality. The truth is dress code is too strict and shouldn’t be a thing in schools. First of all, kids have their own style and when they have to go by a dress code it’s not expressing their style when they have to wear clothes that match a rule. With the dress code most kids don’t get to keep up with the new trends or
The belief that public schools should enforce strict dress codes has been the topic of many controversial and heated debates throughout history. Although it is uncommon for public schools to require uniforms, every school has some type of dress code. Elizabeth Forward High School in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, is no different than the rest of the nation. When caught violating the dress code, some teachers will choose to ignore it, whereas others will send the student to the high school office. If sent to the office, students are penalized with a day of in-school suspension instead of being allowed to call for a change of clothes. At first glance, the prohibition of tank tops, jeans with holes above the knee, and shorts and skirts shorter than fingertip length, among many other guidelines, seems reasonable, but after further reconsideration, it is clear that the dress code at Elizabeth Forward High School is ridiculous and hypocritical. I think that Elizabeth Forward High School should lift the harsh policies because of the temperature fluctuation in the building throughout the school year, recent trends among teens, and the hypocrisy associated with the dress code.
Dress codes are essentials for all schools across America. Dress codes will set the tone for students to be safe because they will help reduce violence, increase student safety, and provide a positive learning environment.
School is in the 'business' of learning. School is the place where the next lawyers, bankers, CPA's and Doctors are given the fundamentals of working in this economy. One of the basics of our culture in the working world is conservative dressing, dress code, or even uniforms. What is wrong with sending our kids the message that they are in 'the business of learning' by enforcing dress codes?
The Dress Code is also to help from distractions like weird, strange clothes, it often distracts the students from learning. Not only that, but in High School there is large groups of gangs, and they can’t wear clothing that represents them and wear anything offensive, because then less violence will occur.
One main reason public schools have uniforms / dress code is because in 1996, President Clinton allowed the school uniform movement and said, “If it means teenagers will stop killing each other over designer jackets, then our public schools should be able to require their students to wear school uniforms.” This gave schools the power to control the students with dress code. A few pros about having dress code in public schools are prevention from formation of gangs, identify intruders, resist peer pressure, and take away social barriers. But the cons give more reasons on why not to have dress code. Some are violation of freedom of expression, “Band-Aid” on school violence, bully targets, financial issue for certain families, and difficult to enforce. Dress code can vary from a button down solid polo with a tie, to solid colors, navy / khaki pants, to any polo shirt without offensive print / sayings and unholy jeans. Dress code also can exclude tattoos, baggy clothes, holes, scarves, leggings, strapless garments, and visible piercings (except in ear).
School dress code is controversial, sometimes being the cause of inner-school violence. The censorship of this raises issues when students complain that their personal rights to express themselves after schools limit what they can or cannot wear. School dress code are the guide lines that schools set that define what is acceptable to wear to school. An example of student dress code censorship was the case involving a thirteen year-old student in Williamstown displaying his political opinion about former President Bush (Nguyen). Because the shirt contained drug references and words calling the president a "crook", an "AWOL, draft dodger" and a "lying drunk driver," he was told to go home after refusing to take it off (Nguyen). This case went to two different courts, a US District Court, and the Second Circuit Court. The US District Court agreed with the school's opinion because they believed the images on Guille's shirt were not appropriate for a school atmosphere (Nguyen). Meanwhile, the Second Circuit Court ruled that the school should not have censored the shirt because even thou...
Ensuing President Bill Clinton's State of the Union address in January of 1996, more and more public schools are implementing dress codes and uniform policies in their schools. As a result, there has been an increase in legal controversies dealing with the issue. The reason that dress codes are not conclusively enforced is due to the application of the First Amendment to juveniles in the public school setting. The First Amendment states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Should children in public schools be able to wear whatever they want because of the freedoms classified in the First Amendment? I feel that the answer is no. Institutionalizing dress codes in public schools would do a great good for students and the entire academic community. I base my opinion on the fact that the pros of imposing dress codes outweigh the cons of the argument. By imposing dress codes or uniforms for students, it would eliminate opportunities for the ridicule of less popular or less fortunate students based on their attire, help prevent gang violence and gang members from wearing gang colors and insignia in schools, and generate an overall better academic concentration and discipline in the educational community.
Dress codes in middle/high schools need to be changed to be made more reasonable. Dress code standards are set for girls to dress in ways that will not distract the boys from learning. For them to be dressed appropriately, they need to follow specific guidelines on what is acceptable and what is not. For example, how wide their shirt straps are or how long their shorts are. How is that fair to the girls? Is a boy’s education more important than a girl’s education? Should girls have to wake up every morning and worry about getting taken out of class, or missing class because she decided she was going to show her shoulder? The answer to all these questions is no.
Every year parents, students and teachers argue about the issue of applying school uniform, and if it is going to be put into effect or not. Each year, school dress code is being pushed away. Year after year, to help stop violent behavior and encourage order in schools, dress codes are applied. Does the fact of students having to wear a certain dress code reduce the violent behavior and encourage order in schools? (“The Controversial School Uniforms and School Dress Code Debate”, 2008). Research shows, that dress code policies may increase the chance of a child safety in school by a very low percentage, but that still affects the child in a positive way (“Do uniforms make schools better?”, 2004).
Rheanne Sargent was given in-school suspension last October for dying her hair pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and she isn’t the only one. All over the country students are being sent home or punished because their hair color isn’t “natural” or their clothing is “unprofessional”. This is unfair and unjust punishment to students who are just trying to express themselves through clothing or hair. Schools should only be able to enforce a clothing dress code if it is proven that it is distracting or harmful.
Are students being dress code profiled? That is the question one must ask oneself, because the clothes that an individual wears can definitely play a huge role in the impression others may have on them. When a student hits adolescence, their body starts to go through a variety of changes. They begin to find their inner being and start to become the person they want to be. Often times, pre-teens find this stage of life to be very intimidating. The pre-teen usually experiences this important stage of transformation during the middle school period. This is the stage in life when everything begins to change, their emotions begin to run high because of the chemical and physical changes happening in
America’s school systems seem to have many issues concerning students receiving a quality education without distraction. A current debate argues weather a dress code policy is efficient or takes away from student’s expression. Administrators at schools should regulate a dress code policy because the system improves discipline and student’s attention, reduces social conflict and peer pressure related to appearance, and dress code provides a more serious learning environment.
Some people might say that “school uniforms are a financial burden to low income families,” (Pros and cons, 2014, p. 4) but the average cost per year for school uniforms are only $249. The Education Commission of the States writes that their “research has identified 21 states and the District of Columbia that have passed policies authorizing districts or schools to require uniforms” (Safety/school, 2014, p. 1). Lumsden writes, “When developing a dress code policy, the school should specify how the policy relates to its ability to educate students in a safe, orderly environment” (2014, p. 1). Schools should improve and enforce their dress code policies. FindLaw states that “generally schools have the right to create rules that provide an effective public school education
This doesn't give anyone the freedom to choose what they want to wear, but instead, they are given instructions how they should dress; a dress code. Similarly, many students are required to wear uniforms at school or adult at work as well. For example, numerous middle and elementary schoolers are required to wear a certain color of shirt depending on their grade level leaving them incapacitated to wear what they please. With this in place, kids are left feeling bland in the way they
Alyssa Norden Princess Storrer AP Composition 20 May 2014 Dress Codes: More Than Just Clothing Regulations Schools all over the world have created and enforced dress codes. Some schools are more relaxed than others; however, they all share the common theme of regulating what students can and cannot wear during the school day. But what happens when the latest fashion trends completely compromise the implemented dress code? That is the problem student’s-particularly young women- are facing in today’s society. The overwhelming increase in dress code violations has brought to light another issue associated with the codes: sexism.