The Dress Code At School

The controversy about dress codes asks an important question: are dress codes targeting girls and transgender students? Several sites including:https://www.adl.org/education/resources/tools-and-strategies/table-talk/what's-fair-and-unfair-about-student-dress-codes, stated that when they spoke to girls they said they feel shamed and judged by dress codes. Are dress codes limiting students creativity. Should these girls really feel harassed men and boys at their school?

Students all over the world are being bullied because of what they wear. Whether they wear the clothes to stand out or if it is related to their culture, bullies are going after them because they may look different than the average student. Dress codes are a great option for schools with reports of students being bullied because of what they wear. Dress codes are beneficial in schools by reducing bullying opportunities and promoting a more serious school atmosphere.

"I just feel like [the dress code] needs to be explained better, like they need to do a better job of presenting it to us, instead of just saying we can wear crew necks and then taking us out of class if we wear our crew necks," (Tori Taylor). This quote is a perfect example of how dress codes are not properly executed in schools all across America. Varying depending on school, dress codes can be confusing and extremely hard to navigate. Girls all over the country have been forced to take time out of their day to change or even leave the school, because of shirts they’ve worn a thousand times before. If there is a shirt that supposedly breaks dress code, a girl should be reprimanded every single time she wears it, right? Wrong. This is because

School dress codes have been a prominent topic of discussion the past few years. Largely, young girls and some school board members are fighting against these sexist codes that govern schools across the world today. Dress codes target young women by stating they should dress appropriately so they do not distract the male students. This leads to men thinking it’s acceptable to disrespect women, and also women feeling like what they wear is more important than their academics. This results in a number of large issues such as gender inequality, stereotyping, and sexual harassment.

In all schools over the United States students are fighting over clothing. Some children have no respect for themselves when it comes to what they are wearing. They dress like it is a night club or like they are out on a nice sunny day at the beach. This is not appealing to everyone. This is one reason why many schools have gone to school dress codes or uniforms. Dress codes help prevent fighting, many unwanted distraction, and embarrassing moments for students. Uniforms also help decrease the number of thieves in school. In Long Beach, California the school district has made it mandatory for all kids in k-8 grade to wear school dress codes. Fifty-six

There is a huge problem with the whole “Dress code Policy” thing in all schools. Enforcing the dress code rule is very hard because, as a student, we do not listen. “Pants at the waistline” or “long shorts” are all kind of unrealistic. What if i wanted to wear high waisted pants? Would i be punished because it’s not necessarily at my waist? There is no such thing as “long shorts”, in that case wouldn’t it just be pants?

“Lift up your arms!” My 6th grade teacher ordered. Unwillingly, I stood from my seat and raised my arms. Naturally, my shirt raised along with it, exposing my midriff. Dresscoded. I followed her to a drawer in the back of the classroom, the whole classroom staring, as she pulled out a long, oversized T-shirt with the school logo on it. It nearly swallowed me whole. The embarrassment of being in the limelight made my cheeks hot and flushed. When I asked her what I was dress-coded for, she said that my shirt wasn’t ‘work-appropriate’. Irritated, I walked back to my desk and rejoined my friends to continue our lunch. Suddenly, a boy in our class returned from a basketball game in the 90º weather and pulled up a chair to our table. My entire body was sweating, and the long pants and t-shirt I was being forced to wear didn’t help. He leaned back in his seat and stretched his arms behind his head. His T-shirt rose up and exposed his stomach, but my teacher said and did nothing. I envied how attention wasn’t being drawn to him because his stomach was exposed. I Instantly pointed out the double-standard. Why is my shirt considered provocative while his is considered work-appropriate if they both expose the same midriff?

Its 2017 and dress codes are outrageous and they make it hard on parents to shop for their daughters when school comes around. As parents try to make it okay and meet the requirement for the school's dress code, the school still finds ways to punish and embarrass girls for their clothing. Not only is it making them miss educational and instructional time but it hurts their ultimate performance. (Sorto) School dress codes have a big impact on what girls wear and buy. They also prevent freedom of expression and can affect them in bad ways. Schools should change their dress code because dress codes body shame girls, sexualize girls, and projects a contradictory standard.

School dress code is possibly one of the most enforced rules in today's school system. Despite the issues of drugs, alcohol, or dangerous weapons on campus, the dress code system is clearly the most important issue in schools today. Who cares about the fighting, the bullying, or the education of students? A teenage girl's shoulder being shown is obviously much more distracting and dangerous to the school environment than kids throwing punches left and right.

“Tallie Doyle was sent to the principals office at her elementary school recently for violating a dress code prohibiting spaghetti-strap tank tops, she and her mother publicly challenged the policy as sexist and silly”(Maclean’s) More than half of public schools enforce a dress code and they all contain an underlying basis of sexism because of the stereotypes lain out by past generations. But the world is becoming more and more open-minded, so why not schools and their dress codes? Dress codes are sexist and should be changed seeing as they target girls with a specific body type, teach boys to objectify women, and the schools in which they are implemented in are reinforcing gender inequality through them.

Dress codes are not helping schools like they are meant to do; they are actually harming students in the school. Dress codes shame students and make them insecure about their bodies. They also disrupt precious class time that is vital to students. Buying clothes to fit the school dress code is costlier than some families can afford. Not only are dress codes stifling, but they are also unfair toward specific body types and different genders. Dress codes also decrease a student’s ability to be different from all of their peers in the way they dress. Schools should not have dress codes because they are sexist, unfair and disrupt class time.

The school dress code limits the way girls/boys dress,so they don't "distract the learning environment", and most rules are targeted towards young women. For example, “All shirts/blouses must have sleeves”, “Halter tops/tank tops/strapless tops/spaghetti straps/off shoulder garments are unacceptable”, etc. I also recognized that specific sets of genders are rarely applied to these set of rules. I do recognize that there are certain rules that apply to young men, and some rules are reasonable like “no short shorts”, “no cleavage exposing shirts”, but I do feel that instead of defining the way women should dress is not right. Young men and women should be able to wear what they want to wear as long as it is not too revealing. I do feel young

Statistics show that 57% schools now have a strict dress code. Students should be able to wear whatever they want to. School dress code is mainly targeted at girls. Boys dress code is not strict and usually never get dress coded which is unfair.

Dress codes in schools were originally put into place to prevent students from dressing inappropriate clothes that would distract from their learning, while still allowing students to express themselves freely. However, these days, schools are enforcing dress codes that differ greatly from their original purpose. Schools shouldn’t be able to enforce dress codes because they’re unreasonable, they waste people’s time, and they enforce sexist ideals.

Every school has a dress code in their extensive school handbook. There are mountains upon mountains of dress code lists that go on and on forever, and many people are wondering why. Many schools believe that school dress codes help the environment of the school. That is why there are so many more dress codes pertaining to girls than to boys, just what OCR thinks as well by stating a dress code, “Shorts too short. Shoulder straps on her top too thin. Skirt exposing too much skin above her knees,” (Hardesty). School dress codes are not beneficial for students because they are not able to express their opinions, they are unfair mostly to girls than boys, and they have grown too much over the years.