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Arguments on school dress codes
Should schools have dress code policies
Dress code in schools and ethics
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People are allowed to dress however they want but when they are in school there are certain restrictions and guidelines so that the students won’t get distracted by what someone else is wearing. On court case is Briana Stephenson v. Davenport. In the eighth grade, Briana Stephenson got a tattoo of a cross between her thumb and index finger. The tattoo had gone unnoticed for three years until Briana was in the tenth grade and gang activity was increasing. A school consular had noticed the tattoo and reported it to the principal thinking it was a gang symbol. The school suspended Briana until she go the tattoo removed which was a $500 treatment. Briana’s case went to the Supreme Court where the judge ruled in favor of Briana. Another court case on dress code is Zachary Guiles v. Seth Marineau. In Williamstown, Vermont seventh grade Zachary Guiles wore a shirt of President George Bush. The school forced him to put duct tape on the images disparaging the president. The shirt had a picture of the Presidents head on the body of a chicken. The shirt also had pictures of oil rigs, dollar s...
Life is full of distractions and, for high school students, inappropriate clothing has the potential to grab much attention. However, does the matter of clothing warrant strict rules? I agree that, like alcohol, the students’ attire should have rules regarding whether or not the choices in clothing are suitable for a public school setting. I also agree that violators of school rules should receive punishment for their lack of compliance to the school policies. However, there is a fine line. Some schools, like Carroll High School, are taking dress codes too far. One rule in particular hinders the students’ ability to wear pants with holes in them. It makes sense that holes located in certain places might cause a...
Countries worldwide actively call for the banning of books that are found to be politically inconvenient, religiously awkward, or embarrassing in one form or another. But for writers like Russia's Vasily Grossman, a book's ban means far more than just a dip in sales. In 1961, he pleaded with the Soviet censors, "I am physically free, but the book to which I have dedicated my life is in jail." (Merkelson). A book represents an idea, thus limiting access to a book is banning the representation of an idea. The banning of books in American schools should not be allowed, because banning books will prevent students from learning the reason for the controversy and alternate viewpoints they can come to on their own.
The practice of the censorship of books in schools has been prevalent due to the explicit content of them. Parents have been complaining to schools about books that count as required reading because they disapprove with the points made in the book. If a book consists of offensive or sexually explicit material, then parents would challenge the schools about them in order to prevent their children from reading them. Censorship in general has been an intensely debated issue because it is considered an infringement to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution while others argue it is used to conceal inappropriate things (Aliprandini and Sprague). The banning of books in school curriculum has also been debated since parents see certain books as inappropriate while others argue that banning them hinders student learning. Against the censorship of books in schools, Fenice Boyd and Nancy Bailey, authors of Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, believe that banning books creates a barrier between students and intellectual development (Boyd and Bailey, 655). Banning books from schools and removing them from the curriculum prevents students from exploring different ideas and developing creativity and critical thinking skills.
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
School boards and teachers have a responsibility for protecting the minds of their students and covering age appropriate material. However, does this responsibility cover the extreme act of banning books from school classrooms? Does not the teacher have a duty to introduce to their students world issues in order to better the students ability to cope with problems in the world? How does a school decide which books should be banned from the classroom, and should it be left up to the teacher to decide what is decided in his/her classroom. By banning books from the classroom, we prevent our students from learning about controversial topics in a safe environment, and we also encroach upon the student’s freedom of reading what they want in school.
In a case similar to Fraser, a student was sent home twice for wearing a Marilyn Manson t-shirt with a three-faced Jesus on the back. The t-shirt also referenced biblical statements that were deemed inappropriate and disruptive to the learning environment. The court found that the school had the right to impose action for words or phrases that were considered vulgar and offensive. Just as with the Fraser case, the ethical significance is that students do not have the right to wear articles of clothing that depict messages or images in an offensive, public manner.
““Everybody goes to school looking the same, and they can concentrate on what’s going on in school, learning in their classes, concentrating on their education rather than what somebody else is wearing”, Helm said.” (Cavazos, 1) The question to answer is why don’t students follow the set rules regarding the dress code? Some parents and school officials, would argue that set polices are hard for students to follow and others would argue that policies aren’t strict enough. “More than a year ago, about 100 parents and students expressed their outrage at the board meeting saying the dress code was too strict and limited freedom of expression.” (Ford, 1). Unlike the Easton Area School board, Lima City Schools left their policy open so students would not have to wear the same uniform every day if they wished not to. They have options within the set policy.
School uniforms are not new to society. The use of uniforms in schools dates back to the fall of the Roman Empire in the 400s A.D. School uniforms were first widely used by students who went to “song schools.” Private schools and religious schools have also been requiring school uniforms for a long time, and most still require them today. In more recent history school uniform policies first started to find their way into schools in the United States in the 1950’s. Dress codes, which are lesser versions of uniform policies, were established to make sure students wore clothes that were more appropriate to a learning setting. Prohibiting girls from showing too much skin, and boys from wearing blue jeans, black leather jackets, and other such clothing were widely viewed as a good thing. Then as time went on the occurrence of gang violence also began to increase in schools, so schools began to ban students from wearing gang colors, numbers, or drug related clothing (McVeigh).
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).
Of course, students and school officials can often disagree about what may or may not be disruptive. For example, in 1998, the Rhode Island ACLU successfully challenged the suspension of a student for wearing a rock band t-shirt with the numerals “666” on it. On the other hand, although the ruling might come out differently today, a Virginia court ruled two decades ago that a school could decide to ban as “vulgar” a t-shirt with the phrase “Drugs Suck.” If you think you were unfairly disciplined for something you wore to school, you should contact the ACLU. Administrators have the responsibility to protect the health, welfare, and safety of students. And can stop conduct that interferes with the operation of schools or impinges on the rights of other students. Also, administrators can stop conduct that interferes with schoolwork during school
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.
The subject of censorship is a very controversial one, especially the banning of books. Many people believe they must protect themselves and others from the "evils" of many classic books and works of art because they can be deemed "indecent" in one way or another. Many believe that this is absurd and censorship in its current form is a violation of our First Amendment right to free speech. Personally, I align myself with the latter, however I do feel there are occasions where censorship is justifiable.
Proponents of school uniforms agree that students’ school uniforms are not a violation of their First Amendment of the U.S. constitution right. In the case of Canady v. Bossier Parish School Board, the Fifth Circuit upheld that “students remain free to wear what they want after school hours. Students may still express their views through other mediums during the school day” (Canady v. Bossier Parish School Board). Advocates for school uniforms argue that school is for learning, and that self-expression is for after-school hours. Some people will say that there is room for self-expression such that students’ can use hairstyles and accessories to start forming their individuality. However, proponents of school uniforms need to
The first dress code was sent to be decided by the Supreme Court. The problem was that students were protesting against the Vietnam War by wearing black wristbands which educators thought to be disrupting to the classroom. However, these codes help prepare kids for the real world where they must dress to the appropriate attire. Research shows, that students learn better when there is a dress code in place and the staff says many students are less worried about what they are wearing and focusing more on completing their school work. Dress codes also introduce a healthy learning environment for kids and help reduce violence. Other statistics have changes as well. Attendance has gone up and gang violence has gone down. Some students are feeling uncomfortable and are saying students are going to have to start dressing the same due to the dress code. On the same note, students also feel that their individualism has gone down because there are so many restrictions on what they can and cannot
Dress codes and uniforms have been deemed legal by the United States Supreme Court. As long as the dress code or uniform regulations pass a four-pronged test. Opposition for school uniforms holds fast to preserving the sanctity of freedom of speech. The supreme court ultimately has decided that dress codes and uniforms do not violate the freedom of speech. In Harold W. Mitchell and John C. Knechtle’s study of the first amendment rights and dress code, they note that in 1968 in Ginsberg v. New York the supreme court ruled that “[t]he state has power to control the conduct of children that reaches beyond its scope of authority over adults (491).” Mitchell and Knechtle go further into explaining the 4 pronged rule the supreme court uses to judge if a rule is against the freedom of