Why shouldn't there be dress codes in public schools?

Answer 1

People going to college are for the most part considered adults and in a college situation a dress code is not required. To some extent there is an unwritten college dress code because if you look around you the people dress all the same. You don't find people in suits and when you do you know usually it is isn't a student. College has its own culture and tribal passages and through out the years it has developed to what you see today. For some reason the idea that it was "ok" to look sloppy, rumpled, and wear slippers to class has come about. Most college students are broke as well and they are wearing what they brought from home or picked up at a second hand store. I remember when I was in college I bought a new pair of shoes and were my first pair in 3-4 years. I was really proud of them.

Answer 2

Actually, there should be to an extent. But it should be a bare minimum needed to protect safety and prevent exaggerated disturbances. For the most part, instead of punishing students for dressing in ways that may inspire disruption in others, they should punish the ones who become disrupted by what another student wears. The rules that exist should be for practical reasons and only things that have actually been proven to cause actual disturbances. Some things are just obvious, like forbidding brass knuckles (weapon), dresses with long trains (can cause falls), racist or inflammatory t-shirts, t-shirts that promote bad things, materials and substances that trigger Allergies/Asthma, etc.

Here are some of the more specific reasons against certain aspects of dress codes:

Compliance and enforcement issues - After a while people may not even follow certain parts of the dress code. The problem with having rules that are not going to be enforced is that it sets up a system of double standards and unequal treatment.

Children need to be exposed to difference - If children can only be around children who are dressed just like them, there is no way for them to be challenged and to grow. The notion of banning certain things because of how others might right is backwards. Really, they should allow the clothing and punish the reactions. Then when they are grown, they won't be racists, bullies, and bigots. If you never saw someone with a nose piercing until after you are 17, then you might assume it is okay to stare at them, throw objects at them, or whatever. But if you acted that way in the 3rd grade and got punished for it, you'd grow up as an adult who doesn't do such things.

It puts the focus on the wrong things - All the time taken up by the teacher to fuss over a tiny nose ring that an honor student is wearing is time that could be taken to teach "Johhny" how to read or to stop bullying. The focus should not be so much on what students are wearing, but their behavior, academic success, and productivity. Look at the fictional character Penelope Garcia on Criminal Minds. She is very self-expressive, very intelligent, and very productive. Her ability to express her individuality may be why she has those very traits. But in real life students who have such traits are marginalized and held back.

It can be a way for faculty to promote bigotry - Lets look at drug laws as a comparison. The first drug laws existed to oppress members of particular races and ethnic groups. Likewise, dress codes can be used in a similar unequal manner by choosing to ban things that are staples of one ethnic culture and not others. Banning dreadlocks and cornrows could be racist against people of color and saying that Black culture and expressions are bad, but allowing them for people of color and not others would be showing special preference. Or take banning t-shirts which take a stand against a behavior or controversial issue, but allowing ones which promote the same behavior. Either allow both or forbid both, but don't take sides.

It can encourage the wrong type of people to want to become teachers - In the past, people became teachers because they wanted to teach. It was not to get to promote social agendas or to gain draconian control over others. If you don't want bigots, bullies, and control freaks to become teachers, then don't pass policies that appeal to them. Police departments have battled the same where they create certain policies and then wonder why less than honorable officers work there.

Answer 3

because it goes against our individual rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of expression and it violates our civil rights that we are guaranteed as citizens of America