Dress Codes: A Necessary Restriction?

Dress codes are a common practice in most US public schools as well as American schools around the globe. In recent years, there has been increasing resentment for the sexist dress codes which target females and give them, some claim, unnecessary restrictions, which aren’t placed on males at all. The issue of dress codes has been widely debated for a long time and the question of how important they are for schools has also been raised.

AISG also uses a dress code for student professionalism, but in my experience, it doesn’t appear to be widely enforced. The student handbook reads “AISG students are expected to wear clothing that is appropriate, respectful, and safe for a learning-focused school environment. ” I believe its possible that sometimes the conflict or contrast between what students and faculty see as “appropriate” or “respectful” occurs because of the vagueness of the words. “Appropriate” and “respectful” mean different things to different people, which is expected. This is somewhat clarified through the short explanation for this rule: “clothing worn to school is expected to be appropriate for a professional organization and place of employment.” This suggests a level of professionalism, and perhaps even modesty that is expected of students; however, the description as a whole still does lack a level of communal understanding of ‘appropriate’ and ‘respectful’ clothing. I’m not suggesting that we should go back to restrictive, or perhaps more defined, rules on what to wear like last year in which “all students” were expected to wear shorts that reached the end of their fingers, to cover their midriff and to not wear tops with spaghetti straps. I use the quotation marks when describing “all students” because it’s kind of obvious that these restrictions don’t apply to everyone. Either way, what I find the more important issue is the connection between professionalism and modesty. The rules last year required students to be appropriately modest and cover their skin in order to be considered dressed professionally, which maybe hasn’t changed this year, but it isn’t recorded in that phrasing in the student handbook.

This is a common fact in many high schools, specifically in the US, as most other countries usually have a uniform. Usually, the main purpose of having a dress code is to “avoid distractions,” but, in opposition, people claim that having one obstructs a student’s first amendment right to the freedom of speech and expression. But, what does this really mean? On ThinkTheVote.com, there are many passionate contributors for and against dress codes, and one such contributor, Nathaniel, says that “school is for learning. Learning should come first. Things that distract from learning should be reduced if possible. Students are not allowed to bring their dogs to school or to play video games during class, because those are distracting. So, if a boy wears a minimalist tank top or a girl wears a revealing dress, it is a distraction, and thus it should be avoided if possible.” He makes a valid argument in this statement because any distraction or hindrance from learning during school, however random or unintended, is still a distraction at its core. He also adds that the freedom of expression argument, in that students should be allowed to wear whatever they like to express their inner identities is invalid because “it forgets the context of school. Allowing all free speech would mean that the school would have to allow passing notes or allow students to disrupt class by interrupting the teacher. But, obviously, that is not allowed, because it distracts from learning.” Though his explanation seems a bit exaggerated, he does have a point: why doesn’t the context of school and its appropriate expectations of behavior not also apply to clothing? Perhaps, the real argument here is that there should be uniforms so that everyone wears the same clothes as to not have to place restrictions on what is acceptable.

On the other hand, another commenter, Morgan, wrote “while some people see new trends as “distracting”, and “unprofessional” we need to think of what we are trying to teach our kids of these days. We try to teach kids that being different is better than being the same, but by possibly giving them a uniform, that’s taking the message away.” This focus on the individuality and the key message behind dress codes could be relevant, but in all honesty, in my experience, I don’t think that many people truly express their personality or themselves through carefully deciding their outfit for school every day. Instead, I think its more of the comfort or freedom aspect; it’s about simply having the freedom to be able to wear anything they want to school, even if they never choose to wear something that could possibly violate the dress code.

So, in terms of AISG’s dress code, I don’t think its necessary that we modify it, as it’s either not widely enforced now, or doesn’t need to be because no one is outrageously flouting the dress code. Overall, I guess it depends on your personal view whether or not you believe in dress codes and how they should be implemented. Comment down below with your views.