School dress codes across the nation are becoming ridiculous and students are being reprimanded for no reason at all. School dress codes have always been active throughout every school system but lately, these rules are being taken too far. These students don’t deserve to be punished for wearing clothes that express their personality. Every school year begins with the same thing; students are issued the dress code policy. Dress code policies include rules about what type of clothes, jewelry, hair styles, and anything else that can be placed on one’s body. Schools are worried that clothes, or other items, might send the wrong message to other students. A third grader was suspended for shaving her head to support a friend battling cancer. Shaving her head violated the school's policy of banning shaved heads. (Anna Hovel) But really? She’s being suspended for supporting her friend with cancer? Some school’s idea of a “wrong message”, is absolutely ludicrous. School’s need to have a little more common sense before assuming a type of dress is bad. There are many cases of these unbelievable suspensions caused by violating the dress code. One case states that a boy was suspended for wearing an out of state shirt. Another student was suspended for trying to grow out his hair for Locks of Love because the school policy said it had to be “Off the collar, off the ears, and out of the eyes.” One girl was suspended because her necklace had rosary beads on it and the school thought it supported the neighboring gangs. In 2010, schools across the nation banned bracelets that read “I heart boobies.” These bracelets were made by the non profit group “Keep a Breast Foundation” to raise money and awareness among young people. (Anna Hovel) If the “... ... middle of paper ... ...s. The school looks irrational and petty, for example, by suspending a third grader for shaving her head to support her friend battling cancer. Schools are looking too far into these policies, need to loosen up a little bit, and use common sense. Works Cited Hovel, Anna. March 25th, 2014. When School Clothes Lead To Suspension. Cnn Living Article. Irvine, Martha. April 16, 2014. What should students wear? Who decides? Dress codes can be a real minefield for schools. Beck, Koa. 2011. Why Do Schools Treat Girls Who Violate The Dress Code As Little Harlots? Opinion Article. Prableen, Chowdhary. October 17th, 2013. Schools Should Strictly Enforce A Dress Code: Pro. Staff Writer. Opinion. Paint Branch High School. Culp-Ressler, Tara. March 25th, 2014. Middle School Girls Protest Sexist Dress Code: ‘Are My Pants Lowering Your Test Scores?’. Think Progress.
America was founded on popular sovereignty and individual freedoms. What do Americans do when the freedoms given to them from birth are restricted or taken away from them? They fight! Throughout time the government has attempted to take away our civil liberties because they viewed them to be for the greater good. One huge government failure was the attempted prohibition of alcohol. It is well known that alcohol can be very dangerous and it should be restricted. However, the government went too far when it tried to take it away completely and just like their rebellious founders the American population just found ways around the law. Similarily, Carroll High School and other schools throughout the nation are severely restricting the students’ rights to express themselves through their visual appearance. The administration, relying on the crutch of limiting distractions and violence, is taking the dress code over the line and is infringing on our right of expression regardless of the lack of results that they are witnessing.
Although this pressure to have a perfect appearance doesn’t stop after high school, the Bedford North Lawrence Community Schools should be understanding and more lenient on some of the less scandalous clothing choices to make students feel comfortable and give them a realistic feel for how people dress and behave in public. In the end, everyone’s body is their own personal business and should not be dictated by another person or shamed for how it is presented, however BNL behaved the exact opposite of this at the beginning of the school year, making the way the administration handled the situation inappropriate.
Dress code enforces the modest dress of students, preventing bullying and distractions.Numerous people believe clothing is a distraction and when eliminated the school environment is more professional and gives a better education to a student. Authority figures consider the school apparel enforcements are constitutionally sound, not affecting the child’s right to freely express, and providing a professional and working setting causing a better learning environment and decreased amount of bullying due to clear differences in appearance. However, opposers disagree with the restrictive code because of its limitations on individuality
Censorship even extends to school dress codes. A school dress code is a set of rules about what clothing may or may not be worn in schools. As previously mentioned, a set of criteria are used to determine whether or not student expression should be censored in schools. For censorship involving dress codes, there are two: the “Tinker disruption standard” and the “forum issue,” which determine if student expression disrupts the school day and by who it is regulated, respectively (Emert). One case involving censorship of the school dress code was of a boy who violated his school’s dress code (Nguyen). Zachary Guiles, a thirteen year old boy, had to cover up his shirt denigrating former President George W. Bush, which violated his First Amendment rights (Nguyen). The shirt showed President Bush’s head on a chicken with derogatory names. It had images of oil rigs and lines of cocaine (Nguyen). A student, who had opposite views as Guiles, notified the administration of the shirt (Nguyen). Guiles was sent home on May 13, 2004, when he didn’t cover up the shirt after being asked to. The next day, Guiles’ wore the shirt, which was covered with tape and the word ‘censored’ was written on the tape (Nguyen). The school which Guiles attended, Williamstown Middle High School in Vermont, said that the shirt violated the dress code. Guiles’ parents felt that their son’s “rights to engage in political speech” were violated, and they sued the school (Nguyen). Guiles did not win the lawsuit in December 2004, when the US District Court for Vermont ruled in favor of the school, saying the images were “’plainly offensive and inappropriate’” (Nguyen). Guiles appealed, and the Second Circuit court ruled that the images were not offensive an...
I was in trouble for breaking dress code because of a pair of jeans I wore. My jeans had a miniscule hole that was barely noticeable; however, a substitute teacher noticed and told me to cover the hole that was in my jeans and told me that if I did not then I would be sent to the office where they would deal with punishing me. I did as I was told, but I felt it was unfair that I was the only one punished for this incident when there were several other violations that other students did not receive punishment for. However, I was not the only one with holes in my jeans a male student had holes in his pants that were large and he did not receive punishment for his clothing choice. The reason being because he was a male student and was also well known by many and they overlooked his violation. There was also a male student who wore an inappropriate shirt to school who was not punished for his clothing choice when I was putting tape over the miniscule sized hole I had in my jeans that the substitute teacher punished me for. This was an unfair enforcement and punishment of dress code violations that should not have occurred. Schools should have the same rules when enforcing dress codes for students to
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.
Many schools have dress codes or uniforms, but in some situations the dress codes are tossed to the side and not worried about. However, dress codes should be implemented in schools for more than just safety reasons. Dress
People say that we should have dress codes just for the safeties but really should they? Lots of schools have dress schools like Grayhawk elementary and Mountain trail middle school because they think it’s right but should they? Although these schools are really good schools but they really shouldn’t have a dress code.
In a bigger picture, students don’t come to school for a fashion show they come to school for an education. Somewhere along the line some students and parents have forgotten that simple fact. In some districts, like Wilson County Schools, the dress code violations got so out of hand that administration had to threaten suspensions, “During the first six days of the policy change 184 high school students were suspended.” (Creech, 1). The Lima Senior High School campus made the same decision as the Wilson County Schools. On Tuesday January 27, 2009, the Lima City Schools suspended about 164 students for dress code violations. They both knew that their students were having problems following the rules, and since the punishments that were set didn’t affect the students they did the one thing that got the students attention.
According to greatschools.org, “Enforcing a strict dress code can place the focus of school on clothing and rules, rather than on education.” Most schools have specific uniforms that a child must wear in order to attend. Many children that go to school, have single parents and / or more than one ...
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...
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.
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.
We see stories Social media has more stories of girls being sent home because of dress code violations. Maybe the problem isn’t the students, but dress codes in general. Dress codes ultimately disrupt the pursuit of knowledge for the students, encourage gender bias, and can be dangerous. If we want the younger generations to succeed in the education system, we should utilize school uniforms. Uniforms in schools from elementary to high schools, will promote gender equality and facilitate student safety.