School Dress Codes

Ever since the introduction of school dress codes in the year 1969, schools nationwide have been in constant debates with student boards on whether to implement a dress code or not. Once I heard news of the potential decision by the school board, I was taken aback as ever since my freshman, I grew to love this school and all the people involved in making it what it is today. However, the one thing I believe this school does not need is a student dress code. After all, these dress codes cause more harm to the students that whatever good you may think they cause. These codes take away our sense of identity in a time where we need it most as we are growing and learning, and becoming independent adults. It because of this reason that I believe

Just like their journey through high school, a student’s clothes represent much more than what means the eye. The teenage years are known to be the most active and important years in an individual’s lifetime, and our clothes allow us to represent the way we feel about our surroundings, our varying identities, and a certain feeling of uniqueness that allows us to get through the most difficult of days. However, when we are stripped of this basic privilege, it becomes difficult to find school interesting as everywhere you look you find a reflection of yourself. That feeling of uniqueness and identity are taken from us, and this may have far reaching effects into the lives of other students. Take for instance some of the students that may have personal and psychological issues that may threaten their well-being, and they fight against these issues by communicating their feelings through their clothing. When they longer have that ability, they no longer feel needed or important for that matter, and this may cause them to spiral into more serious problems such as those of

This is so because most school uniforms need to be purchased and are not usually cheap, so unnecessary extra expenses do more harm than good. Furthermore, these uniforms send the message that “this is the way you should dress” and if students were not able to purchase the uniform, the psychological effects of being considered an outcast with the issue of poverty, in addition to all the hormones teenage minds secrete – as not previously mentioned – may cause these students to also fall into the issues previously outlined, but to a greater extent. For the fact that they may feel as an outcast, or a clone will, as previously mentioned, make them feel unimportant, and they will thus feel that if they were to end their unimportant lives, their families and society would be better off without