The Positives and Negatives of School Dress Codes

The Positives and Negatives of School Dress Codes

I. INTRODUCTION--DEFINITION AND SCOPE OF THE PAPER

Why is the topic important?

Over the past few decades, the school dress has become a controversial debate among teenagers worldwide. Dress codes in school refers to an outfit which is considered as the standardized clothes that students in the school are required to wear in their learning environment. Mostly, they are common in primary and secondary schools. It represents the traditional and professional look which is imposed by the authorities of the schools. As opposed to this dress code requirement, dress codes are the forms of uniforms which provide guidelines to students to wear specific type of clothing in schools according to the rules and regulations of the school and discipline of the class (Gentile and Imberman, 2009). Apparently, the purpose of dress code is to create a learning and formal environment in the schools.

There are many educational institutions that encourage freedom of clothing and have no such restrictions over the type of clothing that the students wear in schools. But considering recent trends and fashion among teenagers and young children, all educational institutions must impose and adopt this rule to promote proper education environment and give a sense of dressing in a formal way of clothing (http://www.schoolsecurity.org, 2012). In this scenario, many parents appreciate and encourage the dress code requirement in order to ensure that their children are dressed properly in a more formal presentation and avoid odd and casual dressing in a school environment.

Why were "dress codes" implemented?

Today, in this modern world, many schools have imposed dress codes requirements but history of wearing school uniforms is quite different. School uniforms were first introduced in 16th century in England at charity schools where children could not afford their clothing and belong to poor family background. This rule was implemented until 19th century when public schools started adopting the same rule and was widely accepted in many state schools where children from high class family were required to wear specific clothing in the school environment.

With an increasing diverse nation, dress code was becoming the important subject matter among many education institutions and was likely to impose this rule in order to implement fair and justice to others who cannot afford such expensive clothing with no such dress code rule in schooling (http://histclo.com, 2012).

Most American schools have a dress code. Often, parents and students participate in the establishment of the code. But that does not mean there is less disagreement on clothing in American schools in British schools. In fact, far from reducing the conflicts that may or may not be worn, the dress code was open to contradictory interpretations that were never uniform regulations.

Are they working?

The uniforms promote discipline in school: Many teachers and parents think that the use of uniforms in school promotes discipline and sense of equality among students. The mere fact that children are wearing a uniform means they must ...