Should Schools Have Dress Codes

Jo Paoletti once said, “As long as teenagers have been interested in fashion, there have been conflicts over school dress codes.” Dress code is a topic that has been in and out of the media frequently for the past several years. There are many news reports and magazine articles that have been telling stories and writing articles about how students have been violating the dress code and how they have been punished. Thinking about all of the restrictions on dress codes, there are also a lot of different negative things to go along with having a strict dress code. Having reminders about dress code frequently reminds of many things. One thing dress code reminds students of is that their individuality is not important and quite troublesome for them.

A final thing that dress codes reminds students of, especially females, is that a girl’s right to learn is but behind a male’s. Dress codes in schools limit students who they want to be and who they can become.

Firstly, having dress code reminders frequently remind students that their individuality is causing trouble for the school officials. The people in charge of the government and the schools are not wanting and do not really care about making a new generation of individual who want to express themselves however they want to. Lee Rowland, author of “Should Schools Have Dress Codes?” wrote about a student named Mary Beth Tinker. Tinker was a 13-year-old student in Iowa who wore a black armband in protest of the Vietnam War in 1969. Tinker was suspended from school, but she went back and sued the school, claiming that banning what she wears is a violation of the First Amendment of free speech. The case was fought through the courts until it reached the

On the morning new show TODAY, teen and child development specialist, Robyn Silverman, explains, “As a body image expert, I hear from students all the time that they feel it allows for a lot of comparison...So if you have a body that’s a plus-size body, a curvier body, a very tall body, a very short body, those girls often feel that they don’t look their best.” Some students are not comfortable in their body and do not want to dress on what the school dress code states how they can or can not dress. For example, in some schools, sweatshirts, sweatpants, and t-shirts are banned at some schools unless they bear the school’s logo. Schools should not be able to hold over you head what you can and can not wear, especially if it is the only thing that the student feels comfortable in. However, some people may argue with this like the educational psychologist and TODAY contributor, Michele Borba. Borba says, “They have 50,000 activities they’re signed up for, for heaven’s sake, they can be expressive there...when you walk into school, let’s be dressed for success and be prepared to learn.” Although there is a point to this logic, some student can not just express themselves by what clubs they are in. Some people express themselves by how they act or how they dress every single