Throughout the years, dress codes have become standard practice in many high schools across the country. While there may be some variation among the rules, most dress codes have a similar foundation. Many include restrictions about the length of skirts, dresses, and shorts. It is also common for there to be regulations on shirt sleeves (spaghetti straps, sleeveless shirts, etc.) as well as garments that are transparent or expose the midriff area. Most schools do not allow clothing with profanity and drug or alcohol references, or hats and other headgear. (Summers 2014) There may be other oddities and stand outs, but these make up a large chunk of high school dress code policies in America. Many of these rules are directly aimed at female students.
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These will be replaced with shorts, tank tops, and flip flops. But many high school students will not be able to wear those - no matter how hot it is. Most dress code policies won’t allow most types of tank tops, and shorts will have to be the length the school has deemed “appropriate.” However, what is appropriate for the weather might be different from what has been deemed appropriate for school. Should students be forced to sweat it out during the summer months spent in school? No, but many, especially girls, will have to anyway because of restrictive policies. Students should be able to be comfortable at school, as that would help them be able to focus in class and learn better. What a girl wears is not intended to be a distraction, and it’s not her fault if it is. What a girl wears is intended to be comfortable and conform to the weather.
While there are dress code policies that apply to both genders, most of the policies are targeted at female students. Dress codes may help maintain a clean image for a school, they can have harmful effects on the female targets. Public humiliation, especially in front of classmates, can permanently wreck a young girls self-esteem. Punishments leading to missing class time may hurt the student’s ability to perform as well in class. Dress codes also teach victim blaming while inadvertently supporting the practice of objectifying and sexualizing females. In summation, dress codes are doing more harm than good for both the schools and the
These will be replaced with shorts, tank tops, and flip flops. But many high school students will not be able to wear those - no matter how hot it is. Most dress code policies won’t allow most types of tank tops, and shorts will have to be the length the school has deemed “appropriate.” However, what is appropriate for the weather might be different from what has been deemed appropriate for school. Should students be forced to sweat it out during the summer months spent in school? No, but many, especially girls, will have to anyway because of restrictive policies. Students should be able to be comfortable at school, as that would help them be able to focus in class and learn better. What a girl wears is not intended to be a distraction, and it’s not her fault if it is. What a girl wears is intended to be comfortable and conform to the weather.
While there are dress code policies that apply to both genders, most of the policies are targeted at female students. Dress codes may help maintain a clean image for a school, they can have harmful effects on the female targets. Public humiliation, especially in front of classmates, can permanently wreck a young girls self-esteem. Punishments leading to missing class time may hurt the student’s ability to perform as well in class. Dress codes also teach victim blaming while inadvertently supporting the practice of objectifying and sexualizing females. In summation, dress codes are doing more harm than good for both the schools and the