Catholic School Uniform Code

In 1987, a public school in Baltimore, Maryland became the first to instill a school uniform policy in the United States. This idea of all students dressing alike spread throughout the country, and by 1994 a school district in Long Beach, CA became the first to require a whole school district to wear school uniforms (Background of the Issue - School Uniforms - ProCon.org). Today, an average of 23% of public and private schools enforce a school uniform system (School Uniform Statistics). But this change in dress code policy did not come about without controversy. Although some will argue uniforms promote safety, focus, and an even playing field in schools, school uniform policies oppress student’s freedom of expression, advocate for conformity, and cause more problems than they fix.

for school. With such strictly enforced uniform rules, students may feel like they are being

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

Dress code is put into place to keep students from being bullied for how they dress and how some people may treat them different depending on what they wear. There is a lot of evidence that show students losing time in the class room because they are too worried about there personal apparel. David Brunsma, a sociologist who wrote Uniforms in Public Schools: A Decade of Research and Debate in 2005, says,

We all know that there is different rules in almost all school dress codes that apply to guys and girls. For example, at some schools guys can't wear beanies during class but girls can. A girl can't have shorts that reach before their fingertips when they have their arms down. I personally feel like there shouldn't be “dress code” because for many people they like to express themselves by what they wear, why should schools make people feel uncomfortable? Not having uniforms can make the students feel competitive on what they wear and where they have got their clothes from. For some students those things do matter, but for some of them it doesn’t matter they’re going to school to learn, not to impress people at school. Some schools hate what their students wear to school, but don’t they have like favorite pieces of clothing that they also love as much as the students do? If schools don't like what they are seeing in the student’s “outfits” each day then they should start making students to wear their school uniforms. 15 year old, Miranda Larkin, was sent to the nurse's office for wearing a short skirt that violated the school dress code, and they made

School uniforms have become more a distraction for teachers/administration than it has for parents and/or students. Teachers and Administrators perceptions of a uniform violation/infraction seem to have gotten out of hand. It further goes on to explain: optional articles, criteria’s to determine hardship status, and compliance measures.

Wearing school uniforms improves unity of spirit and school pride that could benefit the school and community. School uniforms can also keep students safe and it is easier to identify intruders on school grounds. Long Beach Unified School District stated that with the help of school uniforms and dress codes the number of disciplinary problems in their students has decreased. Some schools may not have school uniforms but have mandatory dress codes that prohibit certain clothing to be worn. This could include attire that reveals too much of the body, hats, printing that advertises or promotes alcohol, drugs or inappropriate

Uniforms have been around for centuries, from back in the day when women had to wear dresses or skirts and men had to wear pants. To now where students and employees have to wear certain pieces of clothing. People dress to express themselves, schools tell their students to be who they are and to be proud; however, when the student tries to do so they are sent home or held in the office which not only takes away their rights to express themselves, but takes them out of class. According to Friedrichs, “A shocking number of students are actually sent home or suspended for breaking dress code, which means even more time out of class.” A school's job is to prepare children for their futures, that can be quite hard when the student is not there to learn. Dress codes can be overwhelming to maintain. A student's wardrobe isn’t going to be full of polos and khakis because they most likely do not wear polos and khakis outside of school. Dress code should not be as strict, hoodies should be allowed, tank tops should be

Although the code—mandating that shorts and skirts must be at fingertip length and forbid any attire that exposes undergarments, it’s much more than that. There’s been an issue where a transgender individual was sent home because what they had on was inappropriate for their sex. And not only does this happen in high school, it happens in middle school and elementary. There has been a case where a girl got sent to the principal's office for showing her collarbones!!! It was said that she failed to wear a shirt that covered her collarbones, she was wearing jeans, a tank top and a white cardigan, which was a violation of the dress code at Woodford County High School. At South Orange Middle School in New Jersey, a group of girls had enough of the situation of dress code and in response, they formed a group called #IAmMoreThanADistraction to raise awareness about what it means for middle school girls to be told that their appearance is frustrating her learning environment. They had to take action because no one was doing anything about

I feel like this rule should be changed because the punishments are too strict, the dates of the punishments, and the amount of days for suspension because if they have a suspension that the students will just be missing more work and they still won’t follow the rules

In addition, many people object to this idea because they think uniforms violate their freedom of expression. They can’t express their own personal styles and characteristics because of the blandness of the uniforms. It is true that everyone has their own right to express themselves; however, they do not go to school all day and all year long, which means they can express themselves in many other situations. Furthermore, everyone lives in one big community, in which discipline is an utterly essential part. If a puppy doesn’t get trained when he is young, he will grow up a wild dog that urinates wherever he wants and barks at whom he sees. Discipline today will contribute to the success of all students in the future.

Some of the pros of schools requiring a uniform are safety issues and less stress on students. A survey done by the NAESP shows that 79% of school leaders believe that uniforms have had a positive impact on school safety (Serving All Elementary and Middle-level Principals). If a school requires uniforms, it is extremely easy to identify any individual that should not be at a school. At Jesuit, if a random person were to walk onto campus, he would immediately stand out considering all the students wearing khaki or Jesuit imprinted clothing. The similarity improves security because the sight of someone not in uniform would alert attention and could lead to a lockdown. For instance, if someone suspicious is spotted at Jesuit, the disciplinarian would immediately say a code phrase over the intercom, which would lead the teachers to locking the

Ever wonder what it would look like to have all students wearing the same white polo shirt, black pants, and a district sweater walking in the hallway? Nowadays, public school and many districts are discussing the possibilities of enforcing the uniform policy. In most places, many private schools already require students to have their mandatory uniforms; however, there are only a few public schools adopting this mandatory school-uniform polices as one of their enrollment requirements. The reason why not all public schools participated was because people believe that they are violating the freedom of choice when enforcing this mandatory uniform policy; yet problems

Dress codes is not a new article; schools have always had dress codes. Some rules were made for safety measures, others simply to regulate indecent attire. There are people who will disagree and say it two sides to uniform. Their argument is imposing school uniform creates other problems. Such as: provocative or casual attire, body piercing, outrageous hair colors and styles. I disagree school uniform have no effect on those areas. Children are trendy and the love social media so if colored hair is trending that’s what they will wear. If denim is hot they all what denim. When good teeth or putting diamond on your teeth was trendy all the children want it.

But why do schools insist on dress codes? They state they implement these codes to keep male students and male faculty members from feeling uncomfortable and distracted. As well as to stop bullying, many say it's to keep people with nicer clothes from making fun of people who do not.