Persuasive Essay About Dress Code

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We’ve all seen it, don’t lie. Boys and girls alike, blurting out sexist jokes in the hallway and laughing as though it’s funny. Seeing boys objectifying girls, and vice versa, as if it is not an action that is humiliating and ridiculous. Young and impressionable, we have been taught from a young age to fight and bully each other with a simple saying: “Girls rule, boys drool! Boys rule, girls drool!” Regrettably, the idea is displayed on T-shirts at Target and Justice, and it’s tearing schools apart. This mindset of the superior sex is a horrible misconception of the world, implanted by ignorant adults to make ignorant children. Made by some people who didn’t think it threw, one of the most ignorant rules in schools yet was created: dress code …show more content…

In some institutions, the dress code is held for all students, both boys and girls. While this is better than to just girls, the dress code is still unfair to students in general. For example, “...forcing students to wear uniforms squelches kids’ freedom of expression and ability to be creative — that uniforms highlight conformity, not individuality.” (ParentMap Article by Andrea Dashiell) The school dress code can hinder creative expression. While some institutions allow different shoes and headbands to be worn, this does not hide the fact that they are still squashing children’s freedoms. A part of adolescence is to have fun and be deranged, something that is ignored by the school dress code policy. Strict and demanding, the dress code resembles a mother looming over a child's shoulder, trying to control all of the details, however so insignificant. On the contrary, the opposition claims that shoes and headbands are enough. For instance, “...the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a school board's right to implement a mandatory uniform policy, stating that requiring uniforms for the purpose of increasing test scores and improving discipline is in no way related to the suppression of student speech.” (School Uniforms, ProCon.org). This quote implies that there is nothing wrong with enforcing a dress code, as it is not against anything in the Constitution. Conversely, while legally it is …show more content…

The dress code supports the idea that the possible attractiveness in a student’s body is a shameful target. Those with opposing views may claim that the dress code is helping education because the students do not focus on their looks, just their studies. To show, from 18 Significant School Uniform Pros and Cons, “Because a school uniform limits the options a student has for clothing, there is less pressure to get through the morning routine. This often allows students to sleep a bit more because less time is required to get ready.” Though this is completely true, the most prominent idea of a uniform is to make sure a student is properly covered. Uniforms are a way of objectifying girls and boys alike (at least there is no unfairness within the concept of gender). Still, there is a lack of logic to why anyone should be required to cover up as if it makes peers feel uncomfortable. Teaching both children at a young age to respect those of all ages is imperative; they should treat others how they should be treated: appropriately. From a first-hand account, Lindsay Merbaum, a teacher, “Male colleagues would sometimes approach me and point out the offending ensembles, as they felt uncomfortable addressing female students about their attire. I didn’t blame them — there’s something unseemly about telling a teenage girl that what she is wearing is wrong. It reveals that you’re looking at her closely, that you’re looking at

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