Personal appearance
Article 13 of the UNCRC stipulates that children have the right to freedom of expression (United Nations, 1989). “The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice.”
As we can see article 13 stipulates that the child has a right to freedom of expression and that the right can be expressed through any 'other media of child's choice' ('other' here means something other than 'orally', 'in writing' or in the 'form of art)'. So it can be argued that the article includes the right to express oneself in the form of dress. Dress functions as a means of communication as adolescents assign meaning to dress. Young people use particular types of clothes and music to signal that they have a unique style that differentiates them from other groups and that they use as part of the construction of their identities. …show more content…
Students explained that having restrictions on their appearances prevented them from expressing themselves. They wanted to highlight their differences through their appearance and disliked the uniformity of student appearance.
There is a discrepancy then in what the school wants and what the student desires. Some students want to express him or herself through dress, hair and facial decoration however their schools require a certain standard of dress or forbid certain forms of adornment. School management may trivialise a student’s desire for such self-expression, usually suggesting that the student should simply give up and conform. The researcher observed that older students had less problem adhering with the school dress code than the younger
Article 13 of the UNCRC stipulates that children have the right to freedom of expression (United Nations, 1989). “The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice.”
As we can see article 13 stipulates that the child has a right to freedom of expression and that the right can be expressed through any 'other media of child's choice' ('other' here means something other than 'orally', 'in writing' or in the 'form of art)'. So it can be argued that the article includes the right to express oneself in the form of dress. Dress functions as a means of communication as adolescents assign meaning to dress. Young people use particular types of clothes and music to signal that they have a unique style that differentiates them from other groups and that they use as part of the construction of their identities. …show more content…
Students explained that having restrictions on their appearances prevented them from expressing themselves. They wanted to highlight their differences through their appearance and disliked the uniformity of student appearance.
There is a discrepancy then in what the school wants and what the student desires. Some students want to express him or herself through dress, hair and facial decoration however their schools require a certain standard of dress or forbid certain forms of adornment. School management may trivialise a student’s desire for such self-expression, usually suggesting that the student should simply give up and conform. The researcher observed that older students had less problem adhering with the school dress code than the younger