After moving from California to Texas, I was fortunate enough to still be in a great public school system, but I was not lucky enough to escape an excessively strict dress code. While many people in private schools have complete uniforms to implement equality, being confined through a severe dress code not only impaired my freedom of expression, but also the ability to grow into myself. As an adult, I am expected to make choices for myself, present myself in a certain way, and often times how important I am depends on how unique I am. Spending some of the most impressionable years of my life in a high school priding itself in a firm dress code, I feel as though it held me back from the experience I needed to be a confident adult. Now that I’m in college, arguably one of the most important time periods in someone’s life, I still don’t know how I want others to see me, which is a very important skill. Through expression, people can decide if they feel most confident when they appear professional, artsy, trendy, or simply casual, and oftentimes how you appear on the outside reflects who you are as a person because dress style is a way of self discovery and communication.
Because the dress code is enforced by the school, the source of the constraint is the school district. Each morning, an announcement was sent over the intercom instructing teachers to do a dress code check. They looked for any kind of pants that were shorter than mid-calf, ripped jeans, any other shirt
The prominent reason behind the various overdone school rules regarding dress is the loose power that administrators have been given. They have been “reserve[d] the right to determine if a clothing item or accessory is appropriate for school” (Carroll High School Student Handbook 2010-2011 18). The officials at school are using their own personal opinions to judge the students’ dress. Since styles change as time goes on, the generation in control and the
Any girl that has ever attended public school knows about the struggle of a dress code. On those hot days as the school year approaches, girls pour over their closets trying to find an outfit they won’t get called out for or sweat to death in. All their dresses are too revealing, their shorts too short, and their shirts reveal way too much shoulder—or so the schools say. Girls have been attacked time and time again with dress codes. Policies are almost always directed strictly towards girls; some even specify for girls only. These dress codes are not only sexist towards women, but they limit female’s freedom of expression and their choice to feel comfortable, and they do not teach female’s to have self confidence.
Young girls across the world are constantly being sexualized and told to cover up their bodies. Girls starting from middle school through high school are told to meet ridiculous standards that are required to be appropriate to attend public school. Girls who are forced to change or go home based on these absurd demands are being told that putting their education on pause, is more important that being comfortable in their clothes they are wearing. A boys wears a shirt to school with a bikini model on it, and nothing is said. A girl wears a tanktop on a 90 degree day, and she is pulled out of class. Standards like this are interrupting the education of many young women across the world, and they need to be stopped. Ruining self esteem for
America, the “land of the free, and home of the brave.” Unfortunately, this doesn 't mean “land of the free to wear whatever one desires.” In fact, school dress codes are taking away American students’ self expression, infringing on their freedom of speech, and enforcing sexist discrimination all over the country. A recent case, that occurred at Tottenville High School in Staten Island, New York, blatantly displays the negative effects dress codes are having on students, especially females. In the first couple of days of the semester, this high school managed to give 200 detentions to students for violating the dress code. Ironically enough, 90 percent of these students were girls (Swafford). The discouraging part is that schools are easily able to get away with this kind of discrimination. This is made possible by state laws that give school boards the power to enforce whatever dress codes they think are necessary to promote a distraction free learning environment, maintain discipline, and to push students to dress similarly in order to create a uniformity in the schools (“School Dress Codes”). The purpose of dress codes may be to create a distraction free learning environment; in reality, however, they produce an environment where students feel discriminated against and aren 't free to express themselves.
Ever thought that not having a school dress code could lead to violence over something so simple as to what a person might own or wear? To many people 's surprise, school dress codes can be a very important topic to discuss at any and every public school. This essay will summarize, critique, and evaluate the article "School Dress Codes" by Krystal Miller.
As a teenager, growing up tends to be a struggle for us. Most girls would say that fitting in is a huge deal. Nine times out of ten, finding that one outfit is difficult when you have all these rules. Dress code at school has been a battle between who can get away with it the most. An unknown author once said, “Self-confidence is the best outfit, rock it and own it.” This quote hit home for me in multiple ways. For starters, teenage girls are having trouble trying to be confident and when we have so many restrictions it is hard to feel comfortable in our own skin. With all these restrictions we feel as if we can’t express ourselves. On the other hand, the guys get away with almost everything when it comes to the dress code. I feel as
It is of no possible argument that some of the most valuable and lasting ideas of life and the world around us are taught and learned at school. Hard work does you well. Cheaters never prosper. Education is the key to success. Girls bodies are a distraction and objects to be inevitably sexualized and harassed. This may sound over exaggerated, but this is the message beings sent to millions of students near and far by the sexist, self-esteem demolishing, unfocused dress codes in schools today. This said, dress codes in schools create a negative environment, putting the focus on the wrong things and ideas, both promoting rape culture and a strong sense of sexism.
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
It's that time of the year again, back to school. As much as I'll miss my 15 year old daughter, I am so glad that we are back in session, that is unless we're talking about the Dress Code Blues. It is the third day of school today. My daughter casually informed us that she has already seen ten students get "dress coded". Now, the paraprofessional in me knows that you have to start the school year off strong. You enforce the rules early, and can relax a little once they are established and being followed. That's how it works in so many places, from group homes to high schools.
Approximately 64% of the United States public education system requires a strict dress code. How does the dress code affect the students and how does it benefit them? Do the students have a say in this dress code policy? Do they have a fair vote on how dress code violations should be addressed? So many questions on how the students defend their rights in the public-school system, yet they cannot have the opportunity to have their opinions heard. Dress code amongst the years have changed amongst the years and not for the better. High School dress code is demoralizing towards females and the consequences are exorbitant.
A group of girls sit at a table at their after-school activity in early May in Brookline. As they talk about their days at school, one girl suddenly says, “Another girl got dress-coded today. She was crying in the bathroom afterwards. It’s so unfair! Her shorts weren’t even that bad, and she was dress-coded by a teacher she’d never talked to before-- in the middle of math!” Everyone else at the table looks around worriedly -- they know what’s coming. For the next two months, they’ll choose one of two routes: be way too warm in their dress-code-conforming jeans and unable to learn effectively, or go to school apprehensively every day in something that they’re not sure will pass the test, but knowing that at least physically they’ll be comfortable throughout the day.
Dress codes are worldwide and many people have problems dealing with them. Uniforms or dress codes are implemented at both jobs and school. Some dress codes make it to where people cannot express who they are or how they may feel. Dress codes should be implemented but not as strict. Uniforms help many people financially, but that does not keep the issues such as bullying away. They also limit people to who they are and that is not okay. Lighten up on dress codes.
Students struggle throughout high school and go through a great deal of stress. Whether it be making friends, or working hard to pass a difficult class. To make things more pressuring, they are not allowed to wear what they want. The administration made the decision that it is best to suspend a student for their choice in clothing. If they go against the rule of dress code, there will be serious consequences. What students wear should not affect their class work. If a student gets sent home for their outfit, it is affecting their grades and attendance. Punishment disrupts the students education more than what they are wearing. High school students should feel free to embrace their individuality without being pressured by dress codes; therefore, it should be eliminated from all schools indefinitely.
“Cover up, you’re being too distracting.” ‘Don’t wear that, boys’ll get the wrong idea.” “Go put on a different bra, no one wants to see your bra strap .” These words have been heard by girls in high schools nationwide for the sole reason of controlling what these young girls can wear in a school environment. The teenage years are a time for finding and expressing yourself, and it’s extremely hard to do this already monumental task while being told the way you dress is “wrong”.
The ringing of the alarm clock that is placed conveniently beside your bed wakes you. The sound startles your brain into getting out of your warm, cozy bed. It is time to go to school. You must wake up now in order to make it on time. If you are late again, your teacher will probably give you that nasty look of dismissal. What are you going to wear?