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Should School Dress Codes Be Enforced?

School dress coding was established in 1969 when the U.S Supreme Court passed a law

that allowed disciplinary actions if one came to school wearing an outfit that was deemed a

disruption to the learning environment of other students. Today, most states have laws that allow

a school to administer a dress code in order to promote a safe school environment, prevent

interference with school work, and to encourage uniformity within the student dress. However,

research on this specific topic, shows how dress coding has become unlawful and utterly

outrageous. This paper will tell exactly why school dress coding should not be enforced and the

negative effects that follow. Clothing can be worn in many ways, meaning different things to a

specific person: Expression, beliefs, and freedom of speech are all appropriate regarding this

topic and reasons why school dress coding should be banned and not enforced in today's

schooling environment.

While school dress coding was meant to increase the conductivity of a school learning

environment, it quite frequently does the opposite. According to research school dress coding

disciplines the female body, teaching women to view themselves as a problematization towards

the world regarding their attire. Meredith D. Neville-Shepard who earned her Ph.D in

Communication Studies with an emphasis in Rhetoric and Argumentation wrote an article

stating, “Dress expectations have long been used to discipline female bodies and marginalize

their voices” and “Societal judgments about dress and the female form are often still used to

undermine female credibility and to facilitate a rhetoric of victim blaming” (Neville-Shepard).

Shadowing young women's voices, stops them from expressing who they truly are. Dress codes

sit at the intersection where it impacts young woman differently. Young women are taught that
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they should not show off their bodies in fear of “distracting” young men, making them feel

entirely uncomfortable in their own skin. Instead of controlling the way women dress, school

administration should teach young men not to view women as a sexual object and more as a

human being. In the end, this proves that showing a shoulder or wearing shorts above your knees

should not be considered a dress code violation.

Other than discriminating against the female body, school dress coding tends to turn

focus on students with color. In 2018, a black high school wrestler was given the ultimate

decision: cut off all his hair or forfeit his wrestling match. In this study, the American Civil

Liberties Union of New Jersey made a statement regarding the situation. “How many different

ways will people try to exclude Black people from public life without having to declare their

bigotry? We’re so sorry this happened to you, Andrew. This was discrimination, and it’s not

okay” (Alvarez). Students come to school believing that they are in a safe environment. It is

expected for them to learn and participate in activities to allow themselves to become well-

rounded individuals. However, these grooming policies make it incredibly difficult for students

to achieve such responsibilities. Black students have been told to straighten or cut hair to meet

dress code requirements and some schools have even banned certain hairstyles that include afros,

braids, and locs. School dress coding creates a barrier regarding African American students

because clearly these rules do not affect students of all races.

Since school dress coding is such a large issue and a controversial topic, some school

administrators have considered taking the easy route by switching to a uniform policy. A

uniform policy controls the student body by enforcing them to wear a specific style, color, and

choice of a certain uniform. In 1996, President Bill Clinton made the statement, “If it means

teenagers will stop killing each other over designer jackets, then our public schools should be
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able to require their students to wear school uniforms” (Pavlakis and Roegman). Although school

uniforms would allow a diminishing of economic and social barriers between students, it simply

violates the student’s right of freedom of speech. In the long run, uniforms are preventing young

students' voices to be heard. Wearing uniforms in schools show how discipline is encouraged and

creates a prevention from gangs forming on campus. However, conducting a school uniform

policy would only be a Band-Aid on the issue of school violence and a financial burden for low-

income families. Students would become a target for bullying from other schools and would

rather show their character, which is prevented by wearing the same uniform, daily. Taking

everything into consideration, uniforms would only cause dress coding policies to suffer, and

would not be the answer to any dress coding issue.

In the end, school dress codes must not be enforced since society cannot act accordingly.

Labeling and victimizing young students for simply showing expression or freedom of speech is

wrong and proves that dress coding laws have turned into something more personal. Students

should be able to style their hair and dress themselves in a way they feel is the most comfortable

without fear of unnecessary punishments or body shaming. Students of different races, gender

expressions, body shapes, and backgrounds should all be treated equally and with the same

respect. However, if school dress codes continue to stay intact, young adults may never be able

to have the ability to find who they truly are.

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Works Cited:

Alvarez, Brenda. “When Natural Hair Wins, Discrimination in School Loses.” NEA

Today, 18 Sept. 2019, neatoday.org/2019/09/17/banning-black-hair-discrimination/.

Neville-Shepard, Meredith1, mnevshep@uark.ed. “Disciplining the Female Student

Body: Consequential Transference in Arguments for School Dress Codes.” Women’s

Studies in Communication, vol. 42, no. 1, Feb. 2019, pp. 1–20. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1080/07491409.2019.1573771.
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Pavlakis, Alyssa, and Rachel Roegman. “How Dress Codes Criminalize Males and

Sexualize Females of Color.” Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 100, no. 2, Oct. 2018, p. 54.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/0031721718803572.