Dress Code Controversy

Dress code is a major controversy that has been raging in public schools for decades. The first dress code law was established in 1969 by the U.S. Supreme Court. The incident that caused this law to take effect was one in which several high school students wore black armbands to school in order to protest against the Vietnam War. This was considered offensive, and the Court decided that schools may limit the students’ freedom of expression if there is a legitimate concern that it will disturb the learning environment for other students or disregard the rights of others. Today, over half of the Dress codes in public schools are constantly being updated and modified, what with students’ ever-changing fashion trends. The purpose of dress codes

In other words, as long as a dress code is in place in public schools, students are able to receive a better education.As stated in an article written by Rosalind Wiseman of the Anti-Defamation League, “In contrast to boys, girls often get in trouble for presenting themselves as too sexual. Girls who go through puberty earlier... are disproportionately targeted” (Unspoken Messages of Dress Codes). This statement justifies the idea that dress codes are extremely biased towards females because they are told what to wear at an earlier age than males. They are told that they are a distraction to males in the classroom setting from the time that they hit puberty, which is, on average, at the age of 12 or so. Nicole Johnson, an editor of the Athens Oracle, states that “because male students may find parts of the female body... distracting, girls cannot wear [certain items of clothing], regardless of how tasteful they may be” (Dress Code Unfairly Targets Females). In this article, she is hinting that the female body is the reason that males are unable to concentrate in the classroom setting. As always, female fashion is ever-changing. The way that young women dress has changed drastically, even in the past decade. In

One of these trends, which is also common at Siskiyou County high schools, is wearing leggings or yoga pants (a type of flexible, form-fitting athletic pant) rather than normal pants. A high school graduate named Ashley Crtalic from Skyview High School in Billings, Montana, witnessed this style of fashion become a violation of school dress code. Upon finding out about the new-found policy at her old school, she became upset; she felt that it would make no difference and stated that “dress code serves to humiliate females for having bodies” (Why Yoga Pants Are Dangerous to Today’s Youth). She also mentioned that when she attended Skyview High School, she was constantly sexually harassed by the male students no matter what type of clothing she was wearing. In her blog post on the Billings Gazette, she explained that on her first day of junior year, a teacher “loudly announced that [she] was going to have to go home because [her] clothing was inappropriate.” She claimed that she was extremely upset, to the point of tears. The males at her school were never punished for sexual harassment, yet she was punished for simply wearing a top that exposed her shoulders. A teacher at my school explained to me that during staff meetings, when the issue of dress code comes up, mostly females are discussed. However, there are many males at our school who “sag” their pants or wear wife-beaters and