Across the United States, many schools have strict dress codes outlining what is appropriate to wear and what is not. These regulations may force students to wear a specific set of clothing or ban other items such as leggings, shorts, jewelry, hats, and much more. School administrators argue that these restrictions are necessary to prevent students from being distracted by clothing. However, the intentions of some dress codes are questionable, especially since some students have been punished in disturbing ways, including being humiliated, sent home, or suspended.
One of the most common reasons why dress codes are harmful is that they target girls, with stricter rules regarding feminine clothes. Common dress code rules are that shorts and skirts cannot be above fingertip length and that students cannot wear any tight clothing like leggings or anything revealing the chest or midriff like a crop top. This is under the premise that these articles of clothing may be too distracting for other students. These regulations completely objectify young girls by implying that their bodies are distracting and must be covered up.
There have also been schools that ban students from wearing cultural outfits or hairstyles. These schools have banned “distracting” or “unpresentable” hairstyles like dreadlocks, cornrows, mohawks, twists, and afros with over two inches of length. These dress codes are directed towards African-American students. In 2013, the Deborah Brown Community School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, sent 7-year-old Tiana Parker home after telling her that her locs were not “presentable” for school. Discriminatory dress codes have also targeted different religions, with students being punished for wearing yarmulkes, hijabs, and headscarves.
Dress codes also have prevented students from expressing themselves, with some schools punishing students for not conforming to gender norms. In Houston, a student was sent home because his wig violated the school’s dress code. In Mississippi, A student’s senior portrait was removed from the yearbook because she wore a tuxedo. These dress codes don’t only stifle self-expression, they could also be used to target a transitioning student. In Georgia a trans student was dress coded constantly for wearing make up, however, her cis peers who were also wearing make up were never acknowledged. Uniforms can also be very harmful to students, especially those in lower-income households. Although uniforms are supposed to ease the pressure of buying a full wardrobe, low-income students often have trouble purchasing uniforms as some cost over a hundred dollars.
Schools argue that dress codes and uniforms will keep students out of trouble, but there is very little proof of this. Many students get into more trouble because they don’t follow the dress code. After a school in New York adopted their dress code, around 200 students got detention in the following months because they broke those rules.
From preventing self-expression to just being blatantly racist, dress codes have been anything but helpful. Of course, there must be some guidelines to how a student will present themselves, but teaching young minds to hide their bodies, culture, and other aspects of who they are should not be a message promoted by the school system.
